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Category: chemistry

The First Molecules In The Universe Reveal Surprises After Being Bombarded With Deuterium

In new experiments, the team attempted to recreate the conditions of the early universe, and test whether HeH+ could provide the cooling needed to form the universe’s first stars. The team bombarded the molecule with deuterium at varying temperatures, simulated by varying the relative speed of the beams of particles. To their surprise, and contrary to previous predictions, the reaction rate did not slow as temperatures significantly decreased.

“Previous theories predicted a significant decrease in the reaction probability at low temperatures, but we were unable to verify this in either the experiment or new theoretical calculations by our colleagues,” Dr Holger Kreckel from the Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik (MPIK) explained in a statement. “The reactions of HeH⁺ with neutral hydrogen and deuterium therefore appear to have been far more important for chemistry in the early universe than previously assumed.”

These results could have profound implications for our understanding of the early universe, and may even force a bit of reevaluation.

New theory may solve quantum ‘jigsaw puzzle’ for controlling chemical reactions

In the past, chemists have used temperature, pressure, light, and other chemical ways to speed up or slow down chemical reactions. Now, researchers at the University of Rochester have developed a theory that explains a different way to control chemical reactions—one that doesn’t rely on heat or light but instead on the quantum environment surrounding the molecules.

In a paper published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, the researchers—including Frank Huo, the Dean and Laura Marvin Endowed Professor in Physical Chemistry in Rochester’s Department of Chemistry and graduate students Sebastian Montillo and Wenxiang Ying—argue that traditional theories used to predict how fast occur may not fully capture what happens under certain quantum light-matter interaction conditions.

To address this, they developed a new theory showing how —specifically, an effect called vibrational strong coupling (VSC)—can influence chemical reactions.

New physical model aims to boost energy storage research

Engineers rely on computational tools to develop new energy storage technologies, which are critical for capitalizing on sustainable energy sources and powering electric vehicles and other devices. Researchers have now developed a new classical physics model that captures one of the most complex aspects of energy storage research—the dynamic nonequilibrium processes that throw chemical, mechanical and physical aspects of energy storage materials out of balance when they are charging or discharging energy.

The new Chen-Huang Nonequilibrium Phasex Transformation (NExT) Model was developed by Hongjiang Chen, a former Ph.D. student at NC State, in conjunction with his advisor, Hsiao-Ying Shadow Huang, who is an associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the university. A paper on the work, “Energy Change Pathways in Electrodes during Nonequilibrium Processes,” is published in The Journal of Physical Chemistry C.

But what are “nonequilibrium processes”? Why are they important? And why would you want to translate those processes into mathematical formulae? We talked with Huang to learn more.

The US just got a new X-ray laser toolkit to study nature’s mysteries

With a suite of reimagined instruments at SLAC’s LCLS facility, researchers see massive improvement in data quality and take up scientific inquiries that were out of reach just one year ago.

Some of science’s biggest mysteries unfold at the smallest scales. Researchers investigating super small phenomena—from the quantum nature of superconductivity to the mechanics that drive photosynthesis—come to the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory to use the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS).

Like a giant microscope, LCLS sends pulses of ultrabright X-rays to a suite of specialized . With these tools, scientists take crisp pictures of atomic motions, watch unfold, probe the and explore fundamental processes in living things.

Frustrated by Design: Chemistry Triggers Exotic Electron Behavior in New Quantum Material

In a striking demonstration of how chemical bonding can engineer exotic physics, researchers at Columbia University have discovered that quantum frustration —a key ingredient for superconductivity and other correlated quantum phases—can be induced not just by geometry, but directly through chemistry. The new material, Pd5AlI2, showcases this unusual electron behavior in a two-dimensional crystal structure with orbital configurations that mimic flat-band lattice geometries.

🔗 Original article on Phys.org

Maximizing direct methanol fuel cell performance: Reinforcement learning enables real-time voltage control

Fuel cells are energy solutions that can convert the chemical energy in fuels into electricity via specific chemical reactions, instead of relying on combustion. Promising types of fuel cells are direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs), devices specifically designed to convert the energy in methyl alcohol (i.e., methanol) into electrical energy.

Despite their potential for powering large electronics, vehicles and other systems requiring portable power, these methanol-based fuel cells still have significant limitations. Most notably, studies found that their performance tends to significantly degrade over time, because the materials used to catalyze reactions in the cells (i.e., electrocatalytic surfaces) gradually become less effective.

One approach to cleaning these surfaces and preventing the accumulation of poisoning products produced during chemical reactions entails the modulation of the voltage applied to the fuel cells. However, manually adjusting the voltage applied to the surfaces in effective ways, while also accounting for physical and chemical processes in the fuel cells, is impractical for .

Individual atoms tracked during real-time chemical bond formation

Researchers at European XFEL in Germany have tracked in real time the movement of individual atoms during a chemical reaction in the gas phase. Using extremely short X-ray flashes, they were able to observe the formation of an iodine molecule (I₂) after irradiating diiodomethane (CH₂I₂) molecules by infrared light, which involves breaking two bonds and forming a new one.

At the same time, they were able to distinguish this reaction from two other reaction pathways, namely the separation of a single iodine atom from the diiodomethane, or the excitation of bending vibrations in the bound molecule. The results, published in Nature Communications, provide new insights into fundamental reaction mechanisms that have so far been very difficult to distinguish experimentally.

So-called elimination reactions in which are formed from a larger molecule are central to many chemical processes—from atmospheric chemistry to catalyst research. However, the detailed mechanism of many reactions, in which several atoms break and re-form their bonds, often remains obscure. The reason: The processes take place in incredibly short times—in femtoseconds, or a few millionths of a billionth of a second.

DNA nanostructures can mimic molecular organization of living systems without chemical cross-linking

Newly developed DNA nanostructures can form flexible, fluid, and stimuli-responsive condensates without relying on chemical cross-linking, report researchers from the Institute of Science Tokyo and Chuo University, in the journal JACS Au.

Owing to a rigid tetrahedral motif that binds the linkers in a specific direction, the resulting string-like structures form condensates with exceptional fluidity and stability. These findings pave the way for adaptive soft materials with potential applications in drug delivery, artificial organelles, and bioengineering platforms.

Within living cells, certain biomolecules can organize themselves into specialized compartments called biomolecular condensates. These droplet-like structures play crucial roles in cellular functions, such as regulating and ; they essentially represent nature’s clever way of organizing cellular activity without the need for rigid membranes.

AI-Powered Discovery of High-Performance Polymers for Heat Dissipation

In a groundbreaking step forward for polymer science and electronics cooling technology, researchers from Japan have leveraged artificial intelligence to identify a new class of liquid crystalline polyimides with remarkably high thermal conductivity. Their work, recently published in npj Computational Materials, combines data science, chemistry, and machine learning to accelerate the search for next-generation materials capable of efficiently dissipating heat in compact, high-performance electronics.

🔗 Original article on Phys.org

Post-prandial hyperlipidaemia impairs systemic vascular function and dynamic cerebral autoregulation in young and old male adults

Dietary fat is an important part of our diet. It provides us with a concentrated source of energy, transports vitamins and when stored in the body, protects our organs and helps keep us warm. The two main types of fat that we consume are saturated and unsaturated (monounsaturated and polyunsaturated), which are differentiated by their chemical composition.

But these fats have different effects on our body. For example, it is well established that eating a meal that is high in saturated fat, such as that self-indulgent Friday night takeaway pizza, can be bad for our blood vessels and heart health. And these effects are not simply confined to the heart.

The brain has limited energy stores, which means it is heavily reliant on a continuous supply of blood delivering oxygen and glucose to maintain normal function.

One of the ways the body maintains this supply is through a process known as “dynamic cerebral autoregulation”. This process ensures that blood flow to the brain remains stable despite everyday changes in blood pressure, such as standing up and exercising. It’s like having shock absorbers that help keep our brains cool under pressure.

But when this process is impaired, those swings in blood pressure become harder to manage. That can mean brief episodes of too little or too much blood reaching the brain. Over time, this increases the risk of developing conditions like stroke and dementia.

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