Are tattoos safe?

Tattoo inks in Europe are mislabeled and some contain banned ingredients

08-Oct-2024 - If you plan on getting a tattoo, consider this: A new study from Binghamton University, State University of New York looking at green and blue tattoo inks from Europe found that most contained ingredients that are not listed on the label – and some contained ingredients that are outright ...

Breakthrough Study Unveils Key Steps for Turning CO2 into Valuable Chemicals

These findings can have significant implications for the chemical industry

16-Sep-2024 - A groundbreaking study by the Interface Science Department at the Fritz Haber Institute and the Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia has been published in the journal Nature Energy. The paper, entitled „Key intermediates and Cu active sites for CO2 electroreduction to ethylene and ...

Pocket-sized invention revolutionizes ability to detect harmful materials

The low-cost cellphone-based Raman spectrometer system can make identifications of unknown biological molecules within minutes

18-Jul-2024 - Imagine knowing what berry or mushroom is safe to eat during a hike or swiftly detecting pathogens in a hospital setting that would traditionally require days to identify. Identification and detection of drugs, chemicals and biological molecules invisible to the human eye can be made possible ...

Gold membrane coaxes secrets out of surfaces

Thousand-fold signal amplification

26-Jun-2024 - Using a special wafer-thin gold membrane, ETH researchers have made it significantly easier to study surfaces. The membrane makes it possible to measure properties of surfaces that are inaccessible to conventional methods. “Surfaces were invented by the devil” - this quote is attributed to the ...

New ways to fine tune electrochemistry

Scientists have found new paths to steer and optimize electrochemical processes

15-Apr-2024 - Optimizing electrochemical reactions is essential for the transition to renewable energies. In electrochemical reactions, electric currents and potential differences are used to binding and induce reactions. Electrochemistry is a pre-requisite for hydrogen production, and for batterie technology, ...

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 ...

Novel Raman technique breaks through 50 years of frustration

04-Aug-2023 - Raman spectroscopy — a chemical analysis method that shines monochromatic light onto a sample and records the scattered light that emerges — has caused frustration among biomedical researchers for more than half a century. Due to the heat generated by the light, live proteins are nearly destroyed ...

Tracing invisible particles

Automated analysis of microplastics

28-Jul-2023 - How high are concentrations of microplastics in the environment, in our drinking water or in foods? Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have developed an automated analysis method for the identification and quantification of particles. Microplastics are everywhere in the ...

Detecting pollutants at ultra-trace levels

Material scientists develop nano-structured and reusable substrate for ultra-sensitive detection of low-concentration analytes - Spin-off planned

29-Mar-2023 - Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (or Spectroscopy), known as SERS, is an advanced analysis method that extends the range of Raman applications to trace analysis such as part per million level detection of a pollutant in water or different liquids. SERS has a high potential to be used in the ...

Capturing nanoplastics in tap water with light

Electro-photonic tweezer captures and detects trace amount of nanoplastics through surface-enhanced Raman scattering

06-Mar-2023 - Nanoplastics are plastics that have been discarded from our daily lives and that enter ecosystems in the size scale below 1 micro-metter after their physical and chemical disintegration. Recent research has shown that the concentration of microplastics in the major rivers in South Korea is the ...