Airborne aluminium exposed

Since cumulative exposure to airborne aluminium particles can cause respiratory diseases in industrial workers, Stephan Weinbruch at Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany and Norwegian colleagues have developed a way to investigate the composition of individual aerosol particles. 

A combination of scanning and transmission electron microscopy provides information on size, morphology and chemical composition of the particles. Weinbruch shows that coatings on the particles can increase their surface area and potentially cause more complex health effects. 

Cd sensing that mimics life

Justin Gooding and colleagues at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, have developed a portable cadmium sensor with a detection limit of 0.5 part per billion. The device is based on a gold electrode covered with glutathione molecules, which bind to cadmium ions. The bound cadmium can then be detected by voltammetry. The sensor is particularly interesting because it mimics the way that biological systems bind toxic heavy metals, making it useful for environmental toxicology measurements. 

Removing stubborn sulfur

A novel approach to removing sulfur from diesel fuel, developed by a team of French scientists, could help meet strict regulations on fuel in the future. The researchers, led by Marc Lemaire from the Université Claude Bernard 
Lyon 1, Villeurbanne, France, have developed a polymer that can bind sulfur compounds that are difficult to remove from fuel using conventional techniques. The polymer can be used multiple times and the process takes place under very mild conditions, without consuming any hydrogen. 

Storing hydrogen

As part of a strategy to develop hydrogen storage materials with improved recharging/discharging kinetics, UK researchers at the Universities of Birmingham and Oxford have revealed a new way to activate MgH₂. Magnesium hydride has the highest storage capacity of all applicable hydride materials, but its hydrogen sorption rates are too slow for practical use without energy-intensive milling. Peter Edwards and colleagues have discovered they can chemically modify MgH₂ by reacting it with small amounts of LiBH₄, producing desirable kinetic properties without the need for mechanical milling.