The Alchemist Newsletter: August 11, 2010

Bullet-proof "cornstarch"

A new impact-resistant composite material that is both flexible and lightweight has been developed by researchers in Singapore. The thixotropic material stiffens, in a similar way to cornstarch solution, when struck. A sheet of the new material just 20 mm thick is comparable in performance to hard ceramic or steel plates used as protective padding in ballistic vests. It could find use in replacing the thick, heavy steel plates worn by soldiers and law-enforcement officers beneath Kevlar body armor so improving mobility and comfort for the wearer.

Body armour and protective sports padding made from cornstarch solution?

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X-rayed transfer

X-ray absorption spectroscopy can be used to observe electron transfer, the movement of electric charges from solute to solvent, according to German researchers. The group at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie (HZB) used EXAFS of iron ions in both iron chloride and organic compounds such as hemin, the active center of hemoglobin to explain the hitherto inexplicable negative peak in its spectra. Measurements made using synchrotron light from the BESSY II X-ray source, allowed the team to show that certain solutes emit no fluorescent light after excitation because the radiationless return to the ground state takes place through a so-called "dark channel". The revelation could explain the contribution of solvent to the function of biochemical systems such as proteins.

Help from the dark side

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Oil, out of sight?

The sudden "invisibility" of BP's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico was widely reported in the media at the end of July, but the seeming absence of oil residues following the capping of the damaged oil well does not necessarily mean that chemistry, biology, and the weather have eradicated the problem. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration stated that almost three fourths of the spilled oil has gone, either through capture, skimming, burning, evaporation, dissolution or dispersion, but that means that a fourth remains in the water and represents and ongoing threat to marine life and the coast.

Federal Science Report Details Fate of Oil from BP Spill

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Society fellows

192 distinguished scientists who have demonstrated outstanding accomplishments in chemistry and made important contributions to the American Chemical Society will be named the 2010 class of ACS Fellows on August 23 at the Society’s national meeting in Boston, Massachusetts. ACS President Joseph S. Francisco described this year's Fellows as "consummate volunteers who contribute tirelessly to the community and the profession.” This year’s Fellows, as with the inaugural 163 named in 2009 were chosen from academe, industry, and government.

AAmerican Chemical Society names 2010 Fellows

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