Category archives: Chemistry

Metal substrates in catalytic reactions

Metal substrates in catalytic reactions

CatalysisChemistryDIPC BiochemistryDIPC Photochemistry

By DIPC

When we consider the concepts metal and catalysis, we tend to assume quite matter-of-factly that the metal will be the catalyst. This assumption is based on the fact that metals can be found in reactions where they act as catalysts or co-catalysts in the form of coordination and organometallic compounds, nano-sized or bulk materials and […]

Producing a large quantity of pure cyclic polymers

Producing a large quantity of pure cyclic polymers

ChemistryDIPC Polymers

By DIPC

Cyclic polymers present a topology that differ significantly from their linear counterparts due to their circular structure and, therefore, the lack of chain ends. These simple characteristics are responsible for important unique properties (e.g. lower intrinsic and melt viscosity, lower hydrodynamic volumes, slower degradation profiles, increased blood circulation times and more selective bioaccumulation) thanks to […]

From protein design to materials design

From protein design to materials design

ChemistryMaterials

By BCMaterials

A key feature that makes natural materials highly sustainable and recyclable is their modularity. Biodegradable materials are such because biological organisms can digest and break their constituting chemicals into simpler building blocks. Often such simpler building blocks are then reused for energy or structural purposes. In other words, nature needs materials that can be broken […]

Evolution of a 2D alloy throughout the metal to semiconductor transition

Evolution of a 2D alloy throughout the metal to semiconductor transition

ChemistryDIPC Advanced materialsMaterials

By DIPC

Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are layered compounds which can be thinned down to the single-layer limit. While mechanical exfoliation generates atomically thin TMD flakes possessing an area of a few square microns, chemical and physical methods provide high-quality monolayers on large-area substrates, which are suitable for actual technological applications. TMDs are a class of van […]

Lanthanide-lanthanide bonding as the basis of next-generation powerful permanent magnets

Lanthanide-lanthanide bonding as the basis of next-generation powerful permanent magnets

ChemistryDIPC Computational and Theoretical ChemistryMaterials

By DIPC

If we are asked what a metal is, most likely we would think almost automatically in those elements that we see as lustrous solids, good conductors of heat and electricity, that tend to form positive ions, and with a particular chemical bond that keep metal atoms in place, the metallic bond. And all of this […]

Highly ordered nanothread products using heteroatoms

Highly ordered nanothread products using heteroatoms

ChemistryDIPC Computational and Theoretical ChemistryMaterials

By DIPC

Nanothreads are one-dimensional nanomaterials composed of a primarily sp 3 hydrocarbon backbone, typically formed through the compression of small molecules to high pressures. In 2015, it was found that the slow room-temperature compression of benzene produced crystalline , one-dimensional polymers composed of diamond-like bonds. These diamondoid materials that border nanotubes and polymers are predicted to […]

Heavy-atom-free triplet sensitizers with predictable properties

Heavy-atom-free triplet sensitizers with predictable properties

ChemistryDIPC Computational and Theoretical Chemistry

By DIPC

An atomic state in which two spin angular momenta of electrons cancel each other, resulting in zero net spin, is called a singlet. If the angular momenta combine to give a total non-zero spin, then that state is called a triplet. A triplet state usually has lower, sometimes substantially lower, energy than a singlet. Importantly […]

Carbon nanotubes as shields to enhance photocatalysis

Carbon nanotubes as shields to enhance photocatalysis

ChemistryMaterials

By Invited Researcher

We live in a time when scientific applications are growing by leaps and bounds. This exponential growth has been possible, among other tools, thanks to the application of nanotechnology. There is something that nanotechnology has taught us: In science, size matters. When studying matter at nanometric levels, we find that the properties are completely different […]