Ya Sneaky! :)

Earlier this fall, I attempted my first corn maze. It didn’t work out very well. Early on I unknowingly cut through an area meant to be impassable and thus ended up missing the majority of the maze. Soap, as it turns out, is a much better maze-solver, taking nary a false turn as it heads inexorably to the exit. The secret to soap’s maze-solving prowess is the Marangoni effect. 

Soap has a lower surface tension than the milk that makes up the maze, which causes an imbalance in the forces at the surface of the liquid. That imbalance causes a flow in the direction of higher surface tension; in other words, it tends to pull the soap molecules in the direction of the highest milk concentration. But that explains why the soap moves, not how it knows the right path to take. It turns out that there’s another factor at work. Balancing gravitational forces and surface tension forces shows that the soap tends to spread toward the path with the largest surface area ahead. That’s the maze exit, so Marangoni forces pull the soap right to the way out! (Video credit: F. Temprano-Coleto et al.)

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by: Jannik Obenhoff

The Poplar Avenue at Moret, Cloudy Day, Morning via Alfred Sisley

Size: 59x73 cm Medium: oil on canvas

How do you build a metal nanoparticle?

Novel theory explains how metal nanoparticles form

Although scientists have for decades been able to synthesize nanoparticles in the lab, the process is mostly trial and error, and how the formation actually takes place is obscure. However, a study recently published in Nature Communications by chemical engineers at the University of Pittsburgh’s Swanson School of Engineering explains how metal nanoparticles form.

“Thermodynamic Stability of Ligand-Protected Metal Nanoclusters” (DOI: 10.1038/ncomms15988) was co-authored by Giannis Mpourmpakis, assistant professor of chemical and petroleum engineering, and PhD candidate Michael G. Taylor. The research, completed in Mpourmpakis’ Computer-Aided Nano and Energy Lab (C.A.N.E.LA.), is funded through a National Science Foundation CAREER award and bridges previous research focused on designing nanoparticles for catalytic applications.

“Even though there is extensive research into metal nanoparticle synthesis, there really isn’t a rational explanation why a nanoparticle is formed,” Dr. Mpourmpakis said. “We wanted to investigate not just the catalytic applications of nanoparticles, but to make a step further and understand nanoparticle stability and formation. This new thermodynamic stability theory explains why ligand-protected metal nanoclusters are stabilized at specific sizes.”

Read more.

Faster, smaller, more powerful computer chips: Hafnia dons a new face

Materials research creates potential for improved computer chips and transistors

It’s a material world, and an extremely versatile one at that, considering its most basic building blocks – atoms – can be connected together to form different structures that retain the same composition.

Diamond and graphite, for example, are but two of the many polymorphs of carbon, meaning that both have the same chemical composition and differ only in the manner in which their atoms are connected. But what a world of difference that connectivity makes: The former goes into a ring and costs thousands of dollars, while the latter has to sit content within a humble pencil.

The inorganic compound hafnium dioxide commonly used in optical coatings likewise has several polymorphs, including a tetragonal form with highly attractive properties for computer chips and other optical elements. However, because this form is stable only at temperatures above 3100 degrees Fahrenheit – think blazing inferno – scientists have had to make do with its more limited monoclinic polymorph. Until now.

Read more.

Insecticides Mimic Melatonin, Creating Higher Risk of Diabetes

Synthetic chemicals commonly found in insecticides and garden products bind to the receptors that govern our biological clocks, University at Buffalo researchers have found. The research suggests that exposure to these insecticides adversely affects melatonin receptor signaling, creating a higher risk for metabolic diseases such as diabetes.

The research is in Chemical Research in Toxicology. (full access paywall)

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Your blog is super cool! I have a few questions. How do you get your equipment and chemicals to carry out your experiments? I was just wondering as I'd like to start doing experiments at home. What would be a good experiment to start with also? Sorry if you have already answered these questions

Hey, thanks for the kind words! This is going to be a long answer! Let’s start with equipment:

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