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Category: chemistry – Page 41

Harnessing gravity to create a low-cost microfluidic device for rapid cell analysis

A team of researchers at the George R. Brown School of Engineering and Computing at Rice University has developed an innovative artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled, low-cost device that will make flow cytometry—a technique used to analyze cells or particles in a fluid using a laser beam—affordable and accessible.

The prototype identifies and counts cells from unpurified blood samples with similar accuracy as the more expensive and bulky conventional flow cytometers, provides results within minutes and is significantly cheaper and compact, making it highly attractive for point-of-care clinical applications, particularly in low-resource and rural areas.

Peter Lillehoj, the Leonard and Mary Elizabeth Shankle Associate Professor of Bioengineering, and Kevin McHugh, assistant professor of bioengineering and chemistry, led the development of this new device. The study was published in Microsystems & Nanoengineering.

Rechargeable paper battery is cheaper, safer & as powerful as lithium

A battery that’s safer and cheaper than lithium-ion while offering comparable energy density? That sounds like a pipe dream. But such a battery is in fact in the works, using a chemistry of renewables to store over 220 Wh/kg. Singaporean startup Flint believes it has the formula for the most sustainable battery the world has ever seen, capable of replacing lithium for applications like EV power and grid storage. Maybe that is a dream. Or maybe it’s the revolutionary eco-optimized battery of the near-future.

A fully sustainable paper battery that can be recycled and dropped in compost at the end of its life cycle sounds too good to be true. It kicks off a major cynicism alert, and the questions flow like water through a burst dam.

Does it offer such low capacity as to be useless for anything outside a laboratory? No, Flint estimates energy density at 226 Wh/kg, which falls comfortably within the range of existing lithium tech.

New Tech Lets You Taste Digital Food

Summary: Scientists have developed e-Taste, a novel technology that digitally replicates taste in virtual environments. Using chemical sensors and wireless dispensers, the system captures and transmits taste data remotely, enabling users to experience sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami flavors.

In tests, participants distinguished different taste intensities with 70% accuracy, and remote tasting was successfully initiated across long distances. Beyond gaming and immersive experiences, this breakthrough could enhance accessibility for individuals with sensory impairments and deepen our understanding of how the brain processes taste.

Nanomanufacturing process slashes chip production costs by 99%

The current microelectronics manufacturing method is expensive, slow and energy and resource intensive.

But a Northeastern University professor has patented a new process and printer that not only can manufacture and chips more efficiently and cheaply, it can make them at the nanoscale.

“I thought that there must be an easier way to do this, there must be a cheaper way to do this,” says Ahmed A. Busnaina, the William Lincoln Smith professor and a distinguished university professor at Northeastern University. “We started, basically, with very simple physical chemistry with a very simple approach.”

Creating a common language

Kaiming He, a professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, believes AI can create a common language that lowers barriers between scientific fields and fosters collaboration across scientific disciplines.

“There is no way I could ever understand high-energy physics, chemistry, or the frontier of biology research, but now we are seeing something that can help us to break these walls,” said He.

MIT Associate Professor Kaiming He discusses the role of AI in interdisciplinary collaborations, connecting basic science to artificial intelligence, machine learning, and neural networks.

Contamination detection tool merges synthetic biology and nanotech for ultrasensitive water testing

A platform developed nearly 20 years ago previously used to detect protein interactions with DNA and conduct accurate COVID-19 testing has been repurposed to create a highly sensitive water contamination detection tool.

The technology merges two exciting fields— and nanotechnology—to create a new platform for chemical monitoring. When tuned to detect different contaminants, the technology could detect the metals lead and cadmium at concentrations down to two and one parts per billion, respectively, in a matter of minutes.

The paper was published this week in the journal ACS Nano and represents research from multiple disciplines within Northwestern’s McCormick School of Engineering.

Methane’s collision with gold surfaces reveals how quantum interference and symmetry dictate molecular behavior

The quantum rules shaping molecular collisions are now coming into focus, offering fresh insights for chemistry and materials science. When molecules collide with surfaces, a complex exchange of energy takes place between the molecule and the atoms composing the surface. But beneath this dizzying complexity, quantum mechanics, which celebrates its 100th anniversary this year, governs the process.

Quantum interference, in particular, plays a key role. It occurs when different pathways that a molecule can take overlap, resulting in specific patterns of interaction: some pathways amplify each other, while others cancel out entirely. This “dance of waves” affects how molecules exchange energy and momentum with surfaces, and ultimately how efficiently they react.

But until now, observing in collisions with heavier molecules like methane (CH4) was nearly impossible because of the overwhelming number of pathways available for the system to take en route to the different collision outcomes. Many scientists have even wondered if all quantum effects would always “wash out” for these processes so that the simpler laws of classical physics, which apply to everyday, “macroscopic” objects, might be enough to describe them.

From the tropics to the lab: New yeasts could transform industry

Yeast cells can be used to convert agricultural and forestry residues, as well as industrial byproducts, into valuable bioproducts. New and unexplored yeast strains may have properties that can enhance the commercial competitiveness of this sustainable production. In a study recently published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology, researchers collected and examined the biotechnological potential of 2,000 West African yeast strains.

The study—the first of its kind—is a collaboration between the University of Nigeria, Chalmers University of Technology, and the University of Gothenburg. It is based on a nationwide collection of samples from fruit, bark, soil, and waterways in Nigeria. This approach, known as bioprospecting, involves exploring various plants or microorganisms in nature to identify properties that can be utilized for different industrial or societal applications.

In this study, researchers searched for new yeast species with the potential use in industrial production of biochemicals, pharmaceuticals, and food ingredients.

Organic electrochemical transistors enhance bioelectronic sensor sensitivity by three orders of magnitude

In a breakthrough that could transform bioelectronic sensing, an interdisciplinary team of researchers at Rice University has developed a new method to dramatically enhance the sensitivity of enzymatic and microbial fuel cells using organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs). The research was recently published in the journal Device.

The innovative approach amplifies electrical signals by three orders of magnitude and improves signal-to-noise ratios, potentially enabling the next generation of highly sensitive, low-power biosensors for health and .

“We have demonstrated a simple yet powerful technique to amplify weak bioelectronic signals using OECTs, overcoming previous challenges in integrating fuel cells with electrochemical sensors,” said corresponding author Rafael Verduzco, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering and materials science and nanoengineering. “This method opens the door to more versatile and efficient biosensors that could be applied in medicine, environmental monitoring and even wearable technology.”

Biosignatures on Mars: Testing Earth’s Gypsum for Martian Microbes

What tests can be performed on Earth to help us find signs of ancient life on Mars? This is what a recent study published in Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences hopes to address as a team of researchers investigated how scientific methods used on Earth to identify fossilized microbial life could be used on a future mission to Mars to identify similar microfossils on the Red Planet. This study has the potential to help researchers develop more efficient methods in finding ancient life on Mars, which has long been the driving force behind exploring the Red Planet.

For the study, the researchers used a laser-powered mass spectrometer to identify microfossils in gypsum deposits in Algeria with the goal of using similar instruments on future missions to Mars. Mass spectrometers are used for classifying the chemical characteristics and structures of molecules while gypsum is a widely used mineral on Earth that is formed when water evaporates. On Mars, hydrated sulfate deposits, which contain water molecules, have been identified across the Martian surface, so using gypsum is an appropriate analog to study in preparation for future missions to Mars. In the end, the researchers successfully identified microfossils within the gypsum deposits using their laser-powered mass spectrometer.

“Our findings provide a methodological framework for detecting biosignatures in Martian sulfate minerals, potentially guiding future Mars exploration missions,” said Youcef Sellam, who is a PhD student at the University of Bern and first author of the study. “Our laser ablation ionization mass spectrometer, a spaceflight-prototype instrument, can effectively detect biosignatures in sulfate minerals. This technology could be integrated into future Mars rovers or landers for in-situ analysis.”