A Clear Way to Obtain Solar Energy

The world is constantly looking for cleaner ways to produce energy, and now there is a way that is barely noticeable to the average person. A team of researchers at Michigan State University have created a transparent luminescent solar concentrator that can be used on buildings, cell phones, and any other device that has a clear surface. This article explains what this new technology is made of and how it is used to harness solar energy. The transparent luminescent solar concentrator uses small organic molecules developed by the research team on a plastic-like material that absorb specific non-visible wavelengths of sunlight. The materials pick up the ultraviolet and the near infrared wavelengths that “glow” at another wavelength. The glowing light is then guided to the end of the plastic where it is converted to electricity by thin strips of photovoltaic solar cells. Because these materials do not absorb or emit light in the visible spectrum, they look transparent and do not block the view. So far, the solar conversion efficiency is close to 1 percent, but the researchers aim to reach efficiencies beyond 5 percent when fully optimized. Although it is still in its early stage, this new solar concentrator can produce energy in a non-intrusive way and has the potential to be scaled for commercial or industrial applications. (Communicated by Erika Ritchie)

Link: http://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2014/solar-energy-that-doesnt-block-the-view/

Untangling Unknown Structures in Mixtures

Scientists have come up with a way to determine the structures of individual components in an unknown crystalline powder mixture. By using two existing techniques together, the separate crystal structures can be determined. Powder X-ray Diffraction (PXRD) uses diffraction methods to determine a "fingerprint" for every crystalline structure. This works fine for pure powders, but when a mixture comes into play, the two diffraction patterns can merge making it difficult to determine the components. By pairing this with Band-Target Entropy Minimization (BTEM) in a new method known as the PXRD-BTEM-Rietveld method, it is now possible to pick apart the structures and characterize the unknown components in a powder mixture. This new method could potentially be used in pharmaceuticals by investigating polymorphism.

The article can be found here.

The First Enzymatic Fuel Cell That Can Convert Energy to Electricity at Room Temperature

Engineers from University of Utah have now developed the first room temperature enzymatic fuel cell that uses enzymes, alkane monooxygenase and alcohol oxidase, to help jet fuel convert energy into electricity. Converting traditional jet fuel cells into electricity is difficult "because jet fuel contains sulfur which can impair metal catalysts used to oxidize fuel”. The research team investigated Jet Propellant-8 or JP-8, and concluded that using enzymes as catalysts, JP-8 fuel cells can operate at room temperature and can tolerate sulfur. The report is here, and the research article can be found here. 

How Tylenol Works

The American Chemical Society produces a video series called "Reactions: Everyday Chemistry," which can be easily viewed on Youtube. Each short video gives a brief explanation of different chemical phenomenon and informs the viewer of how chemical compounds affect our everyday lives. This video in particular is about how tylenol works in our bodies to eliminate pain. Three different theories on the mechanisms of acetaminophen in the body are presented in the video, but in the end it is discussed that these three theories may work in combination to produce the effects of the drug. This is interesting and relevant considering that most of us take drugs like tylenol, advil, aspirin, and aleve without any knowledge of how these chemicals work inside our bodies. I also thought that the comparison between synthetic pain killers and the natural pain killer THC in marijuana was relevant considering the fairly new laws legalizing this natural drug in certain states.