Researchers have developed a new method for producing tandem solar cells, in which two solar cells working together to use a wider range of the solar spectrum. The physical properties of the semiconductor materials in each cell allow one to absorb light at longer wavelengths and the other to absorb light at shorter wavelengths. Researchers […]

Thank God for Greg’s post “Odeur d’Asperge” over at Carbon Tet! The mystery is solved, and I thought my kidneys were failing and I would have to spend the rest of my life on dialysis. This spring I had become an avid admirer of the young asparagus shoots. And practically everyday for breakfast I had […]

Scientists from Georgian Institute of Technology created a prototype nanogenerator that can generate electricity inside a human body. Tiny little devices traveling in our bloodstream while performing complete blood analysis and monitoring our well-being is the future of implantable biosensors. However, these nanorobots will need to be self-powered and there are two ways for achieving […]

New research examines a class of reactions between neutral free radicals and neutral molecules that, unlike most reactions, happen rapidly at very low temperatures. Chemical reactions generally accelerate when temperature increase. However, in today’s issue of Science Magazine [1] a research group from France revealed a class of gas-phase reaction between oxygen atoms and alkenes […]

Cocaine is presently the most abused substance in Americas; however, the stimulant is gaining new advocates at an alarming rate in western Europe as well. In 2005, a group of researches from Italy analyzed water samples from the Po River in northern Italy for the presence of cocaine and its main urinary metabolite – benzoylecgonine […]

As I mentioned in the last post from this series, capillary columns of 10–100 μm inner diameter are commonly used in nano-liquid chromatography setups. They are typically made either from fused silica or PEEK materials currently found in your everyday Gas Chromatography or HPLC, respectively. There are three basic types of capillary columns used in […]

As our planet is running out of petroleum resources, a new energy source must be found. Hydrogen is regarded as an ideal alternative to fossil fuel because of its abundance in environment, renewability, and zero emission. However, the most challenging and important aspect for the successful transition to a hydrogen economy is the problem of […]

Has anyone seen today’s issue of Science? There is a research paper by Shannon Yan and colleagues “Do Vibrational Excitations of CHD3 Preferentially Promote Reactivity Toward the Chlorine Atom?” I had a difficult time following the authors – physical-molecular chemistry is not my strongest field, but nevertheless … The study shows the energy of the […]

“What is the response factor in chromatography?” is a question on Yahoo Answers. So far there has been two answers: 1) A wordy and a bit confusing text book reply tailored more towards Gas Chromatography. Response Factor The size of a spectral peak is proportional to the amount of the substance that reaches the detector […]

“HPLC for Pharmaceutical Scientists” is a new hardcover book edited by Yuri V. Kazakevich and Rosario LoBrutto with a price tag of $159 at Amazon. This is an excellent book for both novice and experienced pharmaceutical chemists that provides a unified approach to HPLC with a balanced treatment of the theory and practice of HPLC […]