Polymers news

Tiny particles can deliver antioxidant enzyme to injured heart cells

Chemistry / Polymers

Nov 16, 2009 | 5 / 5 (1) | 0

Researchers at Emory University and the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed microscopic polymer beads that can deliver an antioxidant enzyme made naturally by the body into the heart.

New look for antiques: Paintings and gilt surfaces can be effectively and gently restored with water-based microemulsion

Chemistry / Polymers

Oct 26, 2009 | 4 / 5 (2) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- In the past, restoration of paintings and other old artwork often involved application of acrylic resins to consolidate and protect them. One of the most important tasks for modern restorers ...

Major advance in organic solar cells

Chemistry / Polymers

Oct 19, 2009 | 4.5 / 5 (14) | 0

Professor Guillermo Bazan and a team of postgraduate researchers at UC Santa Barbara's Center for Polymers and Organic Solids (CPOS) today announced a major advance in the synthesis of organic polymers for plastic solar cells. ...

'Non-trivial' Crystallization Reveals Antibiotic's Molecular Mode of Action (w/ Video)

Chemistry / Polymers

Aug 03, 2009 | not rated yet | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- With the "last resort" antibiotic Vancomycin now plagued by the first signs of bacterial resistance, a scientific collaboration centered at Duke University has identified how a candidate successor antibiotic ...

HIPS fireproof coatings can really take the heat

Chemistry / Polymers

Jul 20, 2009 | 4 / 5 (2) | 0

Tough new fire-resistant coating materials called HIPS ('hybrid inorganic polymer system') are being developed by CSIRO researchers in Melbourne.

Proteins in gel

Chemistry / Polymers

Jun 24, 2009 | 4 / 5 (1) | 0

Biochips carrying thousands of DNA fragments are widely used for examining genetic material. Experts would also like to have biochips on which proteins are anchored. This requires a gel layer which can now ...

New polymer that changes color instantly in response to external magnetic field (w/Video)

Chemistry / Polymers

Jun 16, 2009 | 4.9 / 5 (19) | 2

A research team led by a chemist at the University of California, Riverside has fabricated microscopic polymer beads that change color instantly and reversibly when external magnetic fields acting upon the microspheres change ...

Biodegradable synthetic resin replaces vital body parts

Chemistry / Polymers

Jun 09, 2009 | 4.8 / 5 (24) | 7

Researchers at the University of Twente (UT) have developed a new type of resin that can be broken down by the body. This new resin makes it possible to replicate important body parts exactly and make them ...

Colorful columns: Simple method for the production of microcylinders with multiple compartments

Chemistry / Polymers

May 25, 2009 | 4.2 / 5 (5) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Under a microscope they look like tiny pie charts or colorful candy canes: A team led by Joerg Lahann at the University of Michigan has been able to produce micrometer-wide discs and elongated rods precisely ...

Mechanical stress leads to self-sensing in solid polymers (w/Video)

Chemistry / Polymers

May 06, 2009 | 4.3 / 5 (3) | 0

Parachute cords, climbing ropes, and smart coatings for bridges that change color when overstressed are several possible uses for force-sensitive polymers being developed by researchers at the University of ...

'Self-healing' polymer may facilitate recycling of hard-to-dispose plastic

Chemistry / Polymers

Apr 23, 2009 | 4.8 / 5 (5) | 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers in The Netherlands are reporting development of a new plastic with potential for use in the first easy-to-recycle computer circuit boards, electrical insulation, and other electronics ...

Synthetic Capsules Made of Natural Building Blocks

Chemistry / Polymers

Mar 23, 2009 | 3 / 5 (2) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- The basis of all life forms are vesicles: membrane-enclosed, liquid-filled “bubbles” made of lipids, proteins, and carbohydrates. Cells, which are separated from the surrounding medium by their cell membrane, ...

Bristly Spheres as Capsules

Chemistry / Polymers

Mar 06, 2009 | 3 / 5 (1) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Amphiphilic molecules, which have one water-friendly (hydrophilic) end and one water-repellant (hydrophobic) end, spontaneously aggregate in aqueous solutions to make superstructures like ...

Single polymer chains as molecular wires

Chemistry / Polymers

Feb 27, 2009 | 5 / 5 (1) | 0

The research team of Leonhard Grill at Freie Universität Berlin - in collaboration with the synthetic chemistry group of Stefan Hecht from Humboldt University of Berlin and the theoretical physics group of Christian ...

Probing and Controlling 'Molecular Rattling' May Mean Better Preservatives

Chemistry / Polymers

Feb 25, 2009 | 5 / 5 (8) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- For centuries, people have preserved fruit by mixing it with sugar, making thick jams that last for months without spoiling. Now scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology ...