Author: darcience

Prettier than dyed eggs?

The cocoons, the silkworm itself, and the produced silk become colored when dye is incorporated into the silkworm feed. The concentration of dye in the produced silk changes based on how hydrophobic the dye is (increasing partition coefficient).

Thanksgiving chemistry- cranberries and your blood

To do the biological study of how particular (good) chemicals like antioxidants affect people, there needs to be a quick, reliable, and consistent way to measure those chemicals in humans. Furthermore, a good method would test for multiple chemicals, because the health benefits from some chemicals only exist in the presence of others (phenolic acids and flavonoids in this case). The authors of this paper demonstrate a gas-chromatography mass-spectrometry (GC-MS) method to investigate how some of the chemicals present in cranberries (from cranberry juice) go into your bloodstream after you ingest them.

Molecular-scale versions of diodes invert “normal” diode behavior

Article Title: Inverse Rectiﬁcation in Donor-Acceptor Molecular Heterojunctions Authors:  Shannon K. Yee, Jibin Sun, Pierre Darancet, T. Don Tilley, Arun Majumdar, Jeffrey B. Neaton,  and Rachel A. Segalman Journal: ACS Nano Affiliation: University of California- Berkeley: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Department of…

Tiny stamps make patterns with different energy levels for LEDs

Title: Spatially Modulating Interfacial Properties of Transparent Conductive Oxides: Patterning Work Function with Phosphonic Acid Self-Assembled Monolayers Authors: Kristina M. Knesting , Peter J. Hotchkiss , Bradley A. MacLeod , Seth R. Marder , and David S. Ginger Journal: Advanced Materials Affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Washington, and School of Chemistry and…

Surface science and electrical properties from a nice, short “reporter” molecule on the surface of a nanocrystal

Title: Thiocyanate-Capped Nanocrystal Colloids: Vibrational Reporter of Surface Chemistry and Solution-Based Route to Enhanced Coupling in Nanocrystal Solids Authors:  Aaron T. Fafarman, Weon-kyu Koh, Benjamin T. Diroll, David K. Kim, Dong-Kyun Ko, Soong Ju Oh, Xingchen Ye, Vicky Doan-Nguyen, Michael R. Crump, Danielle C. Reifsnyder, Christopher B. Murray, and Cherie R.…