Issue 3 Chemical Technology 2005

A magazine highlighting the latest applications and technological aspects of research across the chemical sciences.

Issue 3

Advanced ceramics

Christian Sch�n and colleagues at the Max Planck Institute in Stuttgart, Germany, are making further progress in understanding how structure influences the properties of high-performance ceramics. Since atoms in amorphous materials have no regular arrangement in the way that crystals do it is difficult to work out how the molecules actually come together during synthesis, but computer modelling - essential for the proposal/validation of mechanisms - is producing results which may be valuable to the development of future tailored ceramics.

Arsenic and old crabs

Ulrik N�rum in Denmark and colleagues in Canada and Greece have identified the presence of arsenic in the blood of crabs for the first time, using chromatography and mass spectrometry. Their results show that arsenic in the diet of crabs is not fully metabolised. Little is known about what happens to arsenic once it is ingested or which organs process it. This research suggests a possible route for future investigation into the biotransformation pathways of arsenic compounds.

Green glycol solvents

Regulatory pressure is increasingly focusing on the use, manufacture, and disposal of organic solvents, and thus the development of non-hazardous alternatives. Jonathan Huddleston and colleagues at the University of Alabama discuss the potential for using polyethylene glycols, PEGs, as more benign solvents with uses as reaction mediums, phase transfer catalysts and in biphasic reactive extractions. PEGs are very well characterised both physically and toxicologically; an advantage over other more recently suggested green solvents.

Recycling 'sandwiches'

Paul Alsters and an interdisciplinary team from DSM Pharma Chemicals and the University of Twente, the Netherlands and the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel, have developed a lipophilic polyoxometallate (POM) catalyst which can be separated from the organic reaction mixture via nanofiltration and then reused. This is achieved by retaining the POM within a robust ceramic membrane which is permeable to both reactants and products.

Essential Elements

Chemistry World Entrepreneur of the Year

David Haddleton, chemistry professor at Warwick University, has won the 2004 Chemistry World Entrepreneur of the year award.

RSC award for synthetic inorganic chemist

Christopher C. 'Kit' Cummins, chemistry professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has been awarded the inaugural Dalton Transactions lectureship.

And finally......

Look out for the second in the series of ChemComm 40th Anniversary Articles, which is published this month

Application Highlights

A nozzle for easy introduction

Pneumatic nebuliser offers a much improved route for sample introduction

Anthrax under attack

A first step to rapid anthrax detection in tap water has been made

Heart disease test within spitting distance

US researchers have come up with a novel microchip-based assay with the potential to help diagnose heart disease and associated inflammatory conditions.

Ionic liquids clean up

A greener way to extract metal ions from water is being developed by US chemists.

Structuring electrolytes in solar cells

A new approach to improve the performance of electrolytes in dye-sensitised solar cells (DSSCs) has been developed by Japanese scientists.