Infrared Spectrum and Structure of Thorimine (HNThH2)

Laser-ablated thorium atoms react with ammonia to form thorimine (NHThH2), the first actinide imine to be reported. For details, click here

Fluorescence, Phosphorence and Photoluminescence

Fluorescence and phosphorence are types of photoluminescence. When the bonds of the luminescent molecules absorb some of the energy to which they are exposed, part of it can be released as visible light. These processes are important to analytical chemists. To learn a bit about them, check out this site on About.com: Click Here.

Phateful Phate of Phthalates

Phthalates have been widely used for more than 50 years. The phthalate family of chemicals is used in a variety of products from cosmetics, shampoos, soaps, lotions, lubricants, paint, pesticides, and plastics. Phthalates soften plastic tubing, PVC, and are also used in the coating of some timed-release medicines. Exposure to phthalates already has been connected to reproductive problems. Now, for the first time, is linked to abdominal obesity and insulin resistance in adult males, according to a study by the University of Rochester Medical Center. Sounds like a chemical analysis opportunity to me!

Click here to learn more


Source University of Rochester Medical Center and the Science Blog

Fourier Transform Deconvolution of Noisy Signals

I have some long time interest in approaches to deconvoluting noisy signals with Fourier Transforms. The problem with the approach is the division step that often results in the creation of noise rather than extraction of the underlying signal. Today, I came across a paper entitled "Fourier Transform deconvolution of noisy signals and partial Savitzky-Golay filtering in the transformed side" that I found intriguing. Check it out at this link.

Mathamatical Details on the Savitzky-Golay Filter

The Savitzky-Golay Filter is an often occurring data processing step in instrumental analytical chemistry. The following link presents a pretty straightforward explanation on the mathematical background involved. You will need knowledge of linear algebra...

http://www.vias.org/tmdatanaleng/cc_filter_savgol_math.html

A more detailed explanation with some sample code and spectral results are on this link:
http://www.ma.utexas.edu/documentation/nr/bookcpdf/c14-8.pdf

How to Make Red Cabbage pH Indicator: Acid-Base Chemistry

For those of you who want to help the public understand some basics around analytical chemistry, I came across an interesting page in About.com. Below is an abstract to peak your interest. The link includes a lab you might want to give to the experimentalists you know as an acid test (every pun intended).

Red cabbage contains a pigment molecule called flavin. Very acidic solutions will turn it a red color. Basic solutions appear in greenish-yellow. Intermediate, neutral solutions result in a purplish color. It is possible to determine the pH of a solution based on the color it turns the pigments in red cabbage juice, because the color of the juice changes in response to changes in its hydrogen ion concentration. pH is the -log[H+]. Acids will donate hydrogen ions in an aqueous (water) solution and have a low pH (pH <> 7). This concentration change, in turn, affects the structure of the pigment resulting in a different absorption spectrum (i.e., different color).

Find out more at this link.

Scanning-tunnelling spectra of cuprates

The following abstract is based on this link at Nature an International Weekly Journal of Science

Nature 446, E3-E4 (8 March 2007) doi:10.1038/nature05709; Published online 7 March 2007
Jungseek Hwang1, Thomas Timusk1,2 and Jules P. Carbotte1,2

Arising from: J. Lee et al. Nature 442, 546–550 (2006)

The study of bosonic modes that couple to the charge carriers is a key element in understanding superconductivity. Using atomic-resolution scanning-tunnelling microscopy (STM) to extract the spectrum of these modes in the high-temperature superconductor Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+, Lee et al.1 infer a role for lattice modes (phonons). The lattice mode seen by Lee et al.1 is concluded to be irrelevant to superconductivity and is due to inelastic tunnelling through the insulating oxide layer5.

Department of Physics and Astronomy, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4M1, Canada
Canadian Institute of Advanced Research, Toronto, Ontario M5G 1Z8, Canada
Correspondence to: Thomas Timusk1,2 Email: timusk@mcmaster.ca

EnvironmentalChemistry.com article on CO2 and Global Warming

CO2 Pollution and Global Warming (EnvironmentalChemistry.com) - Why is carbon dioxide, a life sustaining compound, considered pollution?

Star Trek 'Tricorder' For Chemical Analysis

Scientists Invent Real-life 'Tricorder' For Chemical Analysis. Purdue University researchers have created a handheld sensing system its creators liken to Star Trek's "tricorder" used to analyze the chemical components of alien worlds. But the system could have down-to-earth applications, such as testing foods for dangerous bacterial contaminants including salmonella, which was recently found in a popular brand of peanut butter. - from ScienceDaily

Today's Updates

Terahertz electrical and optical characteristics of double-walled carbon nanotubes and their comparison with single-walled carbon nanotubes

In Research Profile: Reliable dispensing of attoliter volumes of fluid, Stephen Jacobson has been hashing out some of the basic infrastructure of this nanorealm. An initial step “is to see how well things from the microfluidic regime scale to the nanofluidic regime,” Jacobson says. “What can you transfer from microfluidics to nanofluidics, and does it work?”
from Analytical Chemistry A-Pages

In this month's "Analytical Currents" from Analytical Chemistry A-Pages appears
Microfabricated Fabry–Pérot interferometer with nanochannels

As nanochannels become thinner than ~20
nm, optical microscopy can’t distinguish
between gas and liquid phases because
the differences in the optical path length
become negligible. To overcome these challenges, Jan
Eijkel and colleagues at the University of
Twente (The Netherlands) designed a
miniaturized Fabry–Pérot interferometer
with micromachined channels that had silver
mirrors embedded in both channel
walls.

Spectrum of Extrasolar Planet Reported

This C&EN article summarizes the results of some researchers led by L. Jeremy Richardson, of the Goddard Space Flight Center’s Exoplanets and Stellar Astrophysics Laboratory. They report the the first spectrum of an extrasolar planet, an IR spectrum of a planet transiting HD 209458. It is 150 light years from earth, in the Pegasus constellation, and visible through binoculars. Read the details here.