Issue 10 Chemical Technology 2005

Cover image for Highlights in Chemical Technology

Chemical technology news from across RSC Publishing.

Issue 10

Bigger ions for better SIMS

Static secondary ion mass spectrometry (S-SIMS) allows direct determination of the molecular composition of intact solid samples, but its usefulness is limited by the number of secondary ions produced when a sample is bombarded by a primary ion beam. Annemie Adriaens from Ghent University, Belgium, and coworkers from the University of Antwerp compared SF₅⁺ and Ga⁺ primary ions for molecular speciation of various inorganic solids and found that the polyatomic ions gave significantly improved sensitivity and molecular specificity.

Disaccharide synthesis on a TLC plate

The development of 'carbohydrate libraries' to aid the investigation of the function of biomolecules is much sought after. Robert Field and co-workers at the University of East Anglia, UK, have now developed a system for synthesising and separating a range of disaccharides (a type of carbohydrate) in situ on a small scale. Professor Field hopes that in the future the work will lead to the multiple synthesis of these libraries.

Better microchips

Chinese researchers led by Guoan Luo of Tsinghua University, Beijing, have helped to overcome some of the unresolved problems in microchip devices for laser-induced fluorescence detection by developing a novel system that uses an organic light emitting diode as the light source, rather than a conventional laser. They improve sensitivity with a thin film filter to remove background interference, and have successfully applied the device to the detection of proteins.

Gene therapy goes nano

Synthetic self-assembled nanoparticles may hold the key to gene therapy, according to Andrew Miller and Kostas Kostarelos at University College London, UK. The lack of safe, acceptable vectors available to deliver the new genes to patients is a big problem in gene therapy. Miller and Kostarelos argue that synthetic, non-viral systems offer the most realistic choice for the future of the field and introduce a new self-assembled nanoparticle concept with great potential for synthesizing gene therapy vectors.

Essential Elements

News from across the globe

RSC events in the US and South Korea

What happened next?

'Forward linking' announced

Calling all chemical biologists!

Chemical Biology, a sister-title to Chemical Science and Chemical Technology is being launched soon

Application Highlights

Sniffer polymers hunt out explosives

A team of US researchers has found a way to sniff out plastic explosives using polymer-based devices.

Golden protein detectors developed

Taiwanese researchers have developed a new sensor for protein-protein interactions based on gold nanoparticles.

Smart nanospheres recognise dying cells

A team of Chinese and US chemists has developed a set of tri-functional nanospheres that can monitor cell death.

A drop of blood

US researchers have developed a microfluidic device that can isolate plasma from whole blood.

Fluorescence picks up bioaerosols

Taiwanese researchers have combined flow cytometry with a fluorescent technique to determine the concentration and viability of bacterial and fungal bioaerosols in environmental sa...