New Insights Into the Hydrogen Bonding of Hydrogen Sulphide

What do ice cubes in a drink have to do with the smell of grandma's famous egg salad?

15-Nov-2024 - Water and the bad smelling molecule hydrogen sulphide do not seem to have a lot in common at first sight. However, when investing a little energy, some differences disappear. At first glance, the ice cube in your soft drink and the smell of grandma’s famous egg salad don’t seem to have much in ...

New procedure for better thermoplastics

New insights thanks to nano imaging and spectroscopy at the IRIS beamline of BESSY II

06-Nov-2024 - Bio-based thermoplastics are produced from renewable organic materials and can be recycled after use. Their resilience can be improved by blending bio-based thermoplastics with other thermoplastics. However, the interface between the materials in these blends sometimes requires enhancement to ...

How catalysts remove dangerous nitrogen oxides

”If we know exactly where the reaction takes place, the production of catalysts can be controlled accordingly”

11-Oct-2024 - Catalysts belonging to the zeolite family help to remove toxic nitrogen oxides from industrial emissions. Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI have now discovered that their complex nano porous structure is crucial. Specifically, individual iron atoms sitting in certain neighbouring ...

Paving the Way for Hydrogen from Algae Enzymes

A research team has identified a crucial detail that’s essential for the production of hydrogen using biocatalysts

05-Jun-2024 - Under certain conditions, some algae are able to produce hydrogen – a much sought-after green energy source. Its production takes place in the unique catalytic center of the unicellular algae and is only possible if certain cofactors of the relevant proteins are present. Researchers at Ruhr ...

Tiny plastic particles are found everywhere

Research leads to awareness

16-Apr-2024 - Microplastic particles can be found in the most remote ocean regions on earth. In Antarctica, pollution levels are even higher than previously assumed. This is one finding of a recent study involving researchers from the University of Basel. It’s not the first study on microplastics in Antarctica ...

Non-destructive on-site analysis of organic substances using a small modular spectrometer platform

A compact and cost-effective alternative to expensive benchtop devices based on line sensors

04-Apr-2024 - Compact and ultra-compact near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy systems for the evaluation of organic substances are critical to industries as diverse as food, textiles, and pharmaceuticals. On-site, non-destructive analysis provides confidence in quality control and saves time. The non-resonant ...

analytica 2024: Food analysis for sustainable nutrition

From PFAS to microplastics: focus on new harmful substances

16-Nov-2023 - From meat-free cold cuts to vegan salmon, the food market is changing. More and more consumers want to eat sustainably, but without sacrificing the taste of familiar products. “Modern analytical methods play a key role in the development of alternative foods, which is why analytica is ...

Checking items of clothing using a smartphone, AI and infrared spectroscopy

Also suitable for food and skin testing

06-Oct-2023 - Researchers at Fraunhofer have developed an ultra-compact near-infrared spectrometer suitable for recognizing and analyzing textiles. Mixed fabrics can also be reliably identified through the combination of imaging, special AI (artificial intelligence) algorithms and spectroscopy. The technology ...

First comparative study on automated analysis methods of large data sets in microplastics research

27-Mar-2023 - The lack of uniform analytical standards currently prevents the comparability of data on microplastics in the environment. Researchers from the University of Bayreuth and the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) have now, for the first time, compared two ...

Miniaturized infrared detectors

Integration on a chip: Tremendous effects on spectrometers of different kinds – and in various fields

31-Oct-2022 - Extreme miniaturization of infrared (IR) detectors is critical for their integration into next-generation consumer electronics, wearables and ultra-small satellites. Thus far, however, IR detectors have relied on bulky (and expensive) materials and technologies. A team of scientists lead by Empa ...