Bits of Chemistry

Graphene and water: another perfect mix

We’ve said it before and we will say it again: graphene is here to stay. This time researchers of the Monash University Department of Materials Engineering seem to have lived up to one of graphene’s long due promises: an extremely … Continue reading →

DNA: the building block of a new class of nanomaterials

For years, nanotechnologists have been captivated by the potential of quantum dots – semiconducting particles that can absorb and emit light efficiently and at custom-chosen wavelengths. Their true potential however, has been difficult to grasp because of the lack of … Continue reading →

A new hope for hydrogen energy: nanoparticle driven and solar powered

Hydrogen would be an excellent clean energy source, were it not for the fact that it costs a tremendous amount of energy to produce and is thus quite expensive. Researchers have been looking for ways to cheaply and sustainably produce … Continue reading →

Using gold nanoparticles to recover old fingerprints

Fingerprinting is one of the essential techniques of modern-day forensic science. Be that as it may, only a fraction of fingerprints can actually be detected using traditional powdering and cyanoacrylate fuming. But now, using gold nanoparticles, even year-old evidence can … Continue reading →

New graphene production methods open new scale-up possibilities

2004 was the birth year of the new material called graphene. Graphene can be created in various methods in the lab, but the scale-up has remained a challenge for scientists. Additionally, graphene remains suspended in solution, which further limits its … Continue reading →

Proteins as a base for biorefining and biofuel

Researchers at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, in Los Angeles have developed a way to utilise proteins, one of the most abundant biomolecules in the world, as a raw material for biorefining and biofuel production. … Continue reading →