Chemistry World Blog

7 February 2011: Have something to say about an article you’ve read on Chemistry World this week? Leave your comments below…This week’s stories:

First purely organic phosphor
The design of a new type of phosphorescent materials from purely organic materials could open the way to a new generation of light-emitting systems

Guiding electrons through graphene
New device does for electrons what fibre optic cables do for light

Waking up to new possibilities in imaging
Scientists have developed a complex for medical imaging that is only absorbed into cells when its luminescent metal cargo is inside

Fighting back against antibiotic resistant bacteria
Vancomycin dimers have been found to be effective against vancomycin-resistant bacteria

Breakthrough for bacterial hydrogen production
Hydrogen could be produced from organic materials by bacterial metabolism at low temperatures without the enzymes’ ability to break down the materials being affected

Enzyme logic biosensor for security surveillance
A system that quickly detects the presence of explosives and nerve gases has been developed

Thirty minute flu gene detector
A portable device to detect influenza is more accurate than current methods and can give a result in 30 minutes

Space ice goes against the grain
A solid mixture of methanol and water expands under pressure and shrinks when heated

Molecular motor controls chirality
Controlling the chirality of a molecule can be achieved using a light-driven molecular motor, say scientists in the Netherlands

US jury convicts Dow scientist of selling trade secrets to China
After nearly three decades at Dow, Wen Chyu Liu is found guilty of stealing trade secrets to sell in China

Neurotoxin detection using brain nanotubes
Nanotubes from the brain could be used to detect organophosphate neurotoxins

The true cost of getting energy from the sun
A new model to calculate the cost of solar energy may give more accurate results than current models

Targeting memory loss
Engineering multifunctional agents for treating Alzheimer’s disease

Cells as test tubes
Chemists have used living cells as test tubes to carry out chemical reactions never before seen within living cells