Physical Chemistry News

Scientists Observe Mysterious Phase Transition in Supercooled Water

For a substance that is ubiquitous on Earth, three quarters of our planet is covered with it, scientists can still be surprised by some of water’s properties. Image credit: Brisch27.
Mar 9, 2018 by News Staff

An international team of researchers, led by Arizona State University chemist C. Austen Angell and University of Amsterdam’s Dr. Sander Woutersen, has observed one of the more intriguing properties predicted by water theoreticians — that, on sufficient supercooling and under specific conditions it will suddenly change from one liquid to a different one. The new liquid is still water but now it is of lower density and with a different arrangement...

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Gas-phase structure of alpha-pinene was experimentally unveiled, using Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy and quantum chemical calculations. Image credit: Elias M. Neeman.

Scientists Determine Structure of Alpha-Pinene, Major Component of Forest Aroma

Dec 11, 2017 by News Staff

An international team of scientists from France and Spain has accurately determined the gas-phase structure of alpha-pinene, a molecule emitted into the...

Zeolitic ice (left) and aeroice (right) are illustrated: their structure can be regarded as combinations of a couple of polyhedral building blocks. In molecular scale, each polygonal face of the polyhedra is made of water molecules (left bottom); yellow lines are hydrogen bonds. Image credit: Masakazu Matsumoto / CC BY 2.0.

Scientists Predict Existence of Ultralow-Density Ices: ‘Aeroices’

Sep 6, 2017 by News Staff

A research team at Okayama University in Japan has theoretically predicted a new class of ice phases, called aeroices, likely the most stable solid phases...

Experimental configuration of the X-ray Free Electron Laser probe and optical laser; the shock freezing behavior of water captured in a Debye-Scherrer geometry. Inset: schematic of target package as a cut away side view. Image credit: Gleason et al, doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.025701.

Researchers Observe Real-Time Growth of Exotic ‘Ice VII’

Jul 12, 2017 by News Staff

A Stanford-led research team has captured the freezing of water, molecule-by-molecule, into a super-dense, exotic form of ice called ice VII. The results...

Amaya et al created 78% cubic ice crystals. Image credit: Ohio State University.

Physical Chemists Create 78% Cubic Ice Crystals

Jul 10, 2017 by News Staff

Physical chemists from Ohio State University and elsewhere have set a new record for creating ice crystals that have a near-perfect cubic arrangement of...

Continuous motion of a self-propelling droplet of Galinstan under a pH gradient, shown at different time intervals. The droplet is placed in a fluidic channel, midway between two reservoirs filled with different electrolytes of acidic and basic nature. Image credit: RMIT University.

Elastic Electronics One Step Closer with Self-Propelling Liquid Metals

Aug 5, 2016 by News Staff

A pioneering work by an international team of scientists from Australia and Switzerland is setting the foundation for moving beyond solid state electronics...

Security screening area. Image credit: Dan Paluska / CC0 1.0.

Real-Time, Hand-Held Scanner to Revolutionize Airport Security

Jul 20, 2016 by News Staff

A real-time, hand-held chemical scanner with stand-off detection capabilities has been unveiled by a team of researchers and engineers from nine European...

Brewing more flavorsome coffee could be as simple as chilling the coffee beans before grinding, say scientists. Image credit: Shixugang.

Chill Coffee Beans to Brew Tastier Beverage, Say Researchers

Jun 15, 2016 by News Staff

An international team of researchers has found that chilling roasted coffee beans before grinding results in narrower distribution of small particles,...

Geckos can stick to walls and ceilings because of Van der Waals forces. Image credit: Skitterphoto.

Physical Chemists Demonstrate Wave-Like Nature of Van der Waals Forces

Mar 21, 2016 by News Staff

According to an international team of physical chemists, led by University of Luxembourg researcher Prof. Alexandre Tkatchenko, intermolecular attractions...

An illustration of the ice XVII’s molecular configuration. Image credit: Yingying Huang / Chongqin Zhu.

Ice XVII: Chemists Predict Existence of New Form of Ice

Feb 15, 2016 by News Staff

An international team of scientists, led by Xiao Cheng Zeng from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Jijun Zhao from the Dalian University of Technology,...

Porous liquid. Image credit: University of Liverpool.

Scientists Invent Liquid with Permanent Porosity

Nov 12, 2015 by Natali Anderson

An interdisciplinary team of chemists, physicists and material scientists from France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Argentina, has invented a ‘porous...

The study offers new insights into the formation of fat bloom, an unwelcome white layer that occasionally forms on chocolate. Image credit: Alexander Stein.

X-ray Study May Aid in Making Better Chocolate

May 7, 2015 by News Staff

A new study published online in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces provides information that could help chocolatiers prevent a whitish...

Ooids, Gallstones, Otoliths: Study Provides New Insight into Formation of Mysterious Natural Structures

Feb 28, 2014 by News Staff

Temperature oscillation produces stunning self-assembled mineral microspheres containing rhythmic ‘growth rings,’ providing new insight into the formation...

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