Advertisement
Grab your lab coat. Let's get started
Welcome!
Welcome!
Create an account below to get 6 C&EN articles per month, receive newsletters and more - all free.
It seems this is your first time logging in online. Please enter the following information to continue.
As an ACS member you automatically get access to this site. All we need is few more details to create your reading experience.
Not you? Sign in with a different account.
Not you? Sign in with a different account.
ERROR 1
ERROR 1
ERROR 2
ERROR 2
ERROR 2
ERROR 2
ERROR 2
Password and Confirm password must match.
If you have an ACS member number, please enter it here so we can link this account to your membership. (optional)
ERROR 2
ACS values your privacy. By submitting your information, you are gaining access to C&EN and subscribing to our weekly newsletter. We use the information you provide to make your reading experience better, and we will never sell your data to third party members.
Catalysis
Chemistry In Pictures
Chemistry in Pictures: Vial glow, and catalyst bubble
by Manny I. Fox Morone
January 25, 2022
Ultraviolet light really brightens up this bubbling pillar of nanoparticles, as it emerges out of its vial. The nanoparticles in the solution are made of polycaprolactone mixed with a little bit of a fluorescent thiadiazole catalyst. Samuel B. H. Patterson, a PhD student in Filipe Vilela’s lab at Heriot-Watt University, wanted to see if the catalyst could activate the oxygen gas bubbling through the solution, allowing the oxygen to react with the polycaprolactone particles and break them down. Patterson envisions making nanoparticles that could carry crop fertilizers, for example, that could slowly degrade and release their cargo while they’re exposed to sunlight on a farm. Ideally, these slow-release particles would be nontoxic and environmentally benign.
Credit: Samuel B. H. Patterson of VilelaLab. Follow Sam on Twitter and the VilelaLab on Twitter and on Instagram
Do science. Take pictures. Win money. Enter our photo contest here.
You might also like...
The power is now in your (nitrile gloved) hands
Sign up for a free account to get more articles. Or choose the ACS option that’s right for you.
Already have an ACS ID? Log in
Join the conversation
Contact the reporter
Submit a Letter to the Editor for publication
Engage with us on Twitter