Scented wax melts may not be as safe for indoor air as initially thought, study finds

25-Feb-2025 - As traditional candles burn, they can contribute to indoor air pollution by emitting volatile compounds and smoke, which may pose inhalation risks. Scented wax melts are often marketed as safer alternatives to candles because they’re flame- and smoke-free. But in a study,researchers describe how ...

The fountain of life: Water droplets hold the secret ingredient for building life

Chemists discover key to early Earth chemistry, which could unlock ways to speed up chemical synthesis for drug discovery

05-Oct-2022 - Purdue University chemists have uncovered a mechanism for peptide-forming reactions to occur in water — something that has puzzled scientists for decades. “This is essentially the chemistry behind the origin of life,” saidGraham Cooks, theHenry Bohn Hass Distinguished Professor of Analytical ...

Future electronic components to be printed like newspapers

24-Jul-2018 - A new manufacturing technique uses a process similar to newspaper printing to form smoother and more flexible metals for making ultrafast electronic devices. The low-cost process, developed by Purdue University researchers, combines tools already used in industry for manufacturing metals on a ...

Chemical origami yields new plant compounds with wide potential

21-Nov-2016 - Plants produce countless kinds of compounds, also known as natural products, that the plants manufacture using the enzymes predetermined by their genetic code. Many of these natural products are very useful as antibiotics, anti-cancer drugs or vitamins, among myriad other applications. Many of ...

Hybrid system designed to harvest 'full spectrum' of solar energy

23-Aug-2016 - A new concept could bring highly efficient solar power by combining three types of technologies that convert different parts of the light spectrum and also store energy for use after sundown. Combining the technologies could make it possible to harness and store far more of the spectrum of ...

Electron spin control

Levitated nanodiamond is research gem

21-Jul-2016 - Researchers have demonstrated how to control the "electron spin" of a nanodiamond while it is levitated with lasers in a vacuum, an advance that could find applications in quantum information processing, sensors and studies into the fundamental physics of quantum mechanics. Electrons can be ...

From allergens to anodes: pollen derived battery electrodes

09-Feb-2016 - Pollens, the bane of allergy sufferers, could represent a boon for battery makers: Recent research has suggested their potential use as anodes in lithium-ion batteries. "Our findings have demonstrated that renewable pollens could produce carbon architectures for anode applications in energy ...

In plasmonics, 'optical losses' could bring practical gain

28-Jan-2016 - What researchers had thought of as a barrier to developing advanced technologies based on the emerging field of plasmonics is now seen as a potential pathway to practical applications in areas from cancer therapy to nanomanufacturing. Plasmonic materials contain features, patterns or elements ...

Nanotube coating helps shrink mass spectrometers

27-Mar-2014 - Nanotechnology is advancing tools likened to Star Trek's "tricorder" that perform on-the-spot chemical analysis for a range of applications including medical testing, explosives detection and food safety. Researchers found that when paper used to collect a sample was coated with carbon nanotubes, ...

Scotch tape finds new use as grasping 'smart material'

26-Nov-2012 - Scotch tape, a versatile household staple and a mainstay of holiday gift-wrapping, may have a new scientific application as a shape-changing "smart material." Researchers used a laser to form slender half-centimeter-long fingers out of the tape. When exposed to water, the four wispy fingers morph ...