Thomas Di Nardo (MSc) and Audrey Moores discovered a new method, based on mechanochemistry and aging, allowing to turn chitin into a new, long molecular weight chitosan. This new material has interesting mechanical properties and is envisaged for applications to biomedical, food packaging and high value fibers. This discovery was covered in a number of news outlets:
CRISPR has jumped to the forefront of gene editing, with game-changing applications like gene therapy, GMO-free designer crops, and synthetic organisms. It makes precise engineering and control of nearly any genome possible. But CRISPR is not perfect and its continued development relies on understanding and modifying the naturally occurring enzymes.
Professor is the recipient of the prestigious for his exceptional contributions to Green Chemistry research in Canada. He is the third 捆绑SM社区 professor to win the Steacie Prize, and the first ever 捆绑SM社区 professor to win it for chemistry. The two previous winners from 捆绑SM社区 are Vicky Kaspi, Physics and Astronomy (2006) and Phil Gold, Medicine (1973).
Researchers from 捆绑SM社区鈥檚 Department of Chemistry have found a cleaner, easier way to make biaryls, an important ingredient in synthetic chemistry with applications across a wide range of fields including pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, pigments, natural products and polymers. Conventional processes for making biaryls rely on stoichiometric metal reagents, resulting in large amounts of metal waste. In their paper published in Nature Communications in November 2018, the 捆绑SM社区 scientists describe a new method for synthesizing biaryls using hydrazine (N2H4) as a metal surrogate.
A new type of cellulose nanoparticle, invented by 捆绑SM社区 researchers, is at the heart of a more effective and less environmentally damaging solution to one of the biggest challenges facing water-based industries: preventing the buildup of scale.
Aur茅lie Lacroix (currently PhD student in Dr Hanadi Sleiman lab) and Dr Maryam Habibian (former student from Dr Masad Damha lab and currently postdoc fellow at Stanford in Dr Eric Kool laboratory) were both awarded the for Early Career Women in Science.The award by is given to 3 women bi-annually in the field of nucleoside/tide and/or nucleic acid research a
捆绑SM社区 chemistry professors Karine Auclair and Tomislav Fri拧膷i膰听are following a promising lead on using听enzymes to recycle polyethylene terephthalate (PET), one of the world鈥檚 most widely used plastics.
The runaway popularity of personal electronic devices has led to a huge global demand for compact yet powerful rechargeable batteries. Since hitting the market in the 1990s, lithium-ion technology has taken the lead in meeting this need.
But concerns over the relative scarcity of lithium and the toxicity of other common lithium-ion battery ingredients such as cobalt are driving the search for an alternative. Sodium, around 1000 times more abundant than lithium, could be the answer.
A fundamental component of protein, nitrogen is the most common pure element on Earth, making up nearly 80 percent of our atmosphere. Yet despite its abundance, atmospheric nitrogen cannot enter the food chain without first being converted into a form that can be used by plants.
捆绑SM社区 chemistry professor Matthew Harrington is aiming to develop a renewable alternative to petrochemical plastics by mimicking the astonishing chemistry of the velvet worm 鈥撎齛 creature that has made a name for itself through its projectile slime.
Inhabiting the forest floors of Australia and South America, velvet worms catch their prey by shooting out a jet of liquid that rapidly thickens to a sticky gel before hardening into polymer fibres comparable in stiffness to nylon.
Cellulose, one of the three major components of plants, is showing great promise as a renewable source for many convenience products. It is made of glucose, a molecule which can be fermented by microorganisms into virtually any desired small molecule of interest. More especially it can be converted to ethanol to make sustainable biofuels.
The way individual atoms and molecules move in materials has important consequences on properties such as electrical conductivity, heat capacity and acoustics. 听Even in solids, atoms are always moving back and forth about some average position, and this motion occurs through specific wave-like modes called phonons. Phonons form elementary excitations in the material and can therefore carry energy in the form of heat.听 As temperature increases, so do the number of phonons and vice-versa.听 The group of Dr.
捆绑SM社区 researchers have discovered the consequence of adding titanium and other stabilizing agents to high performing stainless steel on the material鈥檚 localized corrosion mechanism.
In a study published in npj Materials Degradation, the researchers describe a suite of electrochemical techniques used to characterize the material鈥檚 corrosion properties both on the macro and micro scale.听