New PhD candidate standing by a cake and holding a bouquet of flowers

We are happy to share with you that Evan Benbow, of the Brock Lab, passed his oral exams yesterday today and is now a PhD candidate. Congratulations, Evan! #wsuchemistry #phdlife #chemistryindetroit #materialschemistry

Diagram showing two reaction pathways: alkenes attack and hydride attack, leading to 1,2-hydride shift and electrophilic C-H borylation steps.

New insights in C–H borylation: this Editor’s Choice paper studies NHC-boranes, selective boracycle formation, and unexpected alkene saturation during acid-mediated reactions.

Full paper ▶️ https://ow.ly/KW5950Yhm2h

#Chemistry #MaterialsChemistry #Boranes
📸 cjc-2025-0061_sc2

A Catalyst That Heats Itself Up Can Turn Sunlight and CO2 into Fuel Light hits a particle of indium oxide, and something unusual happens. The palladium clusters dotting its surface don’t just absorb the photons. They convert them into heat, raising the catalyst’s skin temperature to around 230 degrees Celsius within seconds, even though the source of illumination is nothing more exotic than simulated sunlight. That warmth is ... Read more

A Catalyst That Heats Itself Up Can Turn Sunlight and CO2 into Fuel #Science #Chemistry #MaterialsChemistry #CatalystInnovation #SustainableEnergy #SolarFuel

scienceblog.com/sciencechina/2026/03/31/...

Selective Sorbent Design: CaS Aerogel for Rapid Remediation of Aqueous Pb (II) Heavy metals are a persistent environmental problem due to their high toxicity, even at very low concentrations (parts per billion, ppb). The removal of such diluted heavy metals is challenging because of the competition the counterions (Ca2+, Na+, Mg2+, etc.) present in natural water bodies. The design of sorbents capable of removing ions below the action limit (15 ppb for Pb2+) requires a strong driving force for selective uptake and rapid removal. In this work, we report the synthesis of porous CaS aerogels (surface area = 143.6 m2/g) by oxidative assembly of CaS nanoparticles and describe their use in selective Pb2+ ion remediation from water. Despite the presence of amorphous CaCO3 (up to 50 wt %) in the gel network, the gels demonstrated a capacity of 17.1 mmol Pb/g aerogel (3543 mg/g), and this could be augmented to 22.5 mmol Pb/g aerogel (4593 mg/g) by modifying the synthesis to reduce CaCO3 content to ca. 15 wt %. Moreover, the selectivity of CaS aerogels toward Pb2+ ions is high, as evidenced by little-to-no change in the distribution constant (Kd ∼ 104) in the presence of competing ions (1 M) such as Na+, Mg2+, and Ca2+. During remediation with low concentrations (100 ppb) of Pb2+ with CaS aerogels, the level of Pb2+ dropped to 5.4 ppb (below the 15 ppb EPA limit) within 1 h with a 95.4% removal efficiency. In contrast to the CO2 supercritically dried aerogels, lower surface area ambient dried gels (xerogels) only remove 40% of the lead ions from a 100 ppb solution, saturating within 1 h. The efficiency and rapidity of selective Pb2+ uptake using CdS aerogels arise from a combination of a strong thermodynamic driving force for cation exchange (Keq = 2.5 × 1027) and chemisorption along with favorable kinetics associated with the high surface area porous architecture. These results show that formation of high surface area metal chalcogenide aerogels by oxidative assembly to form nanocrystalline architectures, as previously demonstrated for II–VI and IV–VI semiconductors, can be extended to the more highly ionic alkaline earth sulfides.

The latest research article from the Brock Lab — “Selective Sorbent Design: CaS Aerogel for Rapid Remediation of Aqueous Pb (II) has been published in Chemistry of Materials! #wsuchemistry #ChemSky #materialschemistry

doi.org/10.1021/acs....

Scientists Build Five-in-One “Super Molecule” for Next-Gen Electronics A hybrid synthesis strategy enables complex molecular architectures to function as a single electronic system.

Scientists Build Five-in-One “Super Molecule” for Next-Gen Electronics #Science #Chemistry #MaterialsChemistry #SuperMolecule #NextGenElectronics #MaterialsScience

scitechdaily.com/scientists-build-five-in...

PhD candidate Folake Amoo in the atrium of the chemistry building with advisor Stephanie Brock

PhD candidate Folake Amoo on the stage in Schaap Hall

PhD candidate Folake Amoo standing next to advisor Stephanie Brock

Congratulations to Folake Amoo, of the Brock Group, on her successful fourth year talk: “Synthesis and Magnetic Properties of Nanoscale Transition- Metal Pnictides!” #wsuchemistry #ChemSky #materialschemistry #NextStopPhD

Modified nitrile rubber gets new lease of life as carbon capture material Two teams are exploring scaling up processes that could tackle the 800,000 tonnes of glove waste created every year

Modified nitrile rubber gets new lease of life as carbon capture material #Science #Chemistry #MaterialsChemistry #CarbonCapture #SustainableMaterials #NitrileRubber

www.chemistryworld.com/news/modified-nitrile-ru...

How chemists turned bourbon waste into supercapacitors Hydrothermal carbonization can directly convert sloppy stillage into hard or activated carbon.

How chemists turned bourbon waste into supercapacitors #Science #Chemistry #MaterialsChemistry #BourbonWaste #Supercapacitors #SustainableEnergy

arstechnica.com/science/2026/03/how-chem...

Sachini Sivirathne in Schaap Hall to deliver her fourth year talk

#NextStopPhD! Sachini Sivirathne gave a fantastic fourth year talk on: Pressure-Sensitive Luminescence of Lanthanide Fluoroacetates: The Role of Weak Interactions" today at #wsuchemistry. #ChemSky #materialschemistry

Scientists Create Powerful New Form of Aluminum That Could Replace Rare Earth Metals Researchers have uncovered an unusual new form of aluminium that challenges long-held assumptions about how this common metal behaves. Researchers at King’s College London have identified an unusual new form of aluminum, one of the most abundant metals in Earth’s crust. The discovery points to a

Scientists Create Powerful New Form of Aluminum That Could Replace Rare Earth Metals #Science #MaterialsChemistry #AluminumInnovation #RareEarthMetals #MaterialsScience

scitechdaily.com/scientists-create-powerf...

Oxford Breakthrough Reveals the Secret Ingredient Inside Lithium-Ion Batteries Scientists can now see a hidden battery ingredient — and it could supercharge how fast and how long lithium-ion batteries last.

Oxford Breakthrough Reveals the Secret Ingredient Inside Lithium-Ion Batteries #Science #Chemistry #MaterialsChemistry #LithiumIonBatteries #MaterialsScience #BatteryTechnology

scitechdaily.com/oxford-breakthrough-reve...

2025 Materials Chemistry Frontiers Most-Popular Articles – Materials Chemistry Frontiers Blog

🎉 2025 Most-Popular Articles in Materials Chemistry Frontiers

To celebrate the Lunar New Year, we’re highlighting a curated selection of 2025’s most popular papers.

blogs.rsc.org/qm/2026/02/1...

🆓 Free to read until 20 March.

#InorganicChemistry #MaterialsChemistry #RSC

2025 Inorganic Chemistry Frontiers Most-Popular Articles – Inorganic Chemistry Frontiers Blog

🎉 2025 Most-Popular Articles in Inorganic Chemistry Frontiers

To celebrate the Lunar New Year, we’re highlighting a curated selection of 2025’s most popular papers.

blogs.rsc.org/qi/2026/02/1...

🆓 Free to read until 20 March.

#InorganicChemistry #MaterialsChemistry #Catalysis #RSC

We’re excited to welcome Ellen Matson to the ChemComm Associate Editor team! A leader in inorganic & materials chemistry, Ellen’s work spans interfacial reactivity and electronic structure in energy storage and conversion.
#InorganicChemistry #MaterialsChemistry #Electrochemistry #SustainableEnergy

A new milestone for 3D COFs 🧱 We report TU-123, the first 12+3-connected imidazole-linked 3D COF—combining high rigidity, chemical stability, and selective anionic dye removal for wastewater purification. doi.org/10.1021/jacs... #COF #MaterialsChemistry #WaterPurification #JACS

One month to go until #RSCPoster 2026 🎉
3–4 March 2026 - fully online on LinkedIn
A global, low-barrier conference for students, ECRs & beyond. No travel, no fees, just great science and discussion.

All infos here: rsc.li/poster

#RSCPoster #MaterialsChemistry #ECRs #AcademicSky

Why Teflon Is Losing Its Sticking Power Why Teflon Is Losing Its Sticking Power: The substance that revolutionized cookware and helped build the atomic bomb is facing a reckoning.

Why Teflon Is Losing Its Sticking Power #Science #Chemistry #MaterialsChemistry #Teflon #MaterialsScience #ChemistryNews

nautil.us/why-teflon-is-losing-its...

The paints, coatings, and chemicals making the world a cooler place It’s getting harder to beat the heat. During the summer of 2025, heat waves knocked out power grids in North America, Europe, and the Middle East. Global warming means more people need air-­conditioning,...

The paints, coatings, and chemicals making the world a cooler place #Science #Chemistry #MaterialsChemistry #SustainableChemistry #InnovationInCoatings #EcoFriendlyMaterials

Stiffest organic crystals reported to date discovered in well-known material Mucic acid crystals owe their rigidity to a dense network of intermolecular hydrogen bonds

Stiffest organic crystals reported to date discovered in well-known material #Science #MaterialsChemistry #OrganicCrystals #MaterialsScience #ResearchDiscovery

New paper accepted in J. Mater. Chem. A 🎉
Subsurface W⁵⁺/W⁶⁺ redox takes over the oxidation cycle in metal tungstate OER catalysts.
pubs.rsc.org/en/Content/A...
#OER #Electrocatalysis #MaterialsChemistry

This Simple Chemistry Fix Could Revolutionize Flow Batteries A new twist on bromine-based flow batteries could make large-scale energy storage cheaper, safer, and far longer-lasting. Bromine-based flow batteries store and release energy through a chemical reaction...

This Simple Chemistry Fix Could Revolutionize Flow Batteries #Science #Chemistry #MaterialsChemistry #FlowBatteries #ChemistryInnovation #EnergyStorage

5 graduate students in a laboratory

Happy #WarriorWednesday from the ladies of the Brock Lab! 🔬#wsuchemistry #BrockStars #ChemSky #materialschemistry

Crystal structure prediction reaches new heights with axitinib Computational strategy predicts complex polymorphs and distinguishes salts from co-crystals

Crystal structure prediction reaches new heights with axitinib #Science #Chemistry #MaterialsChemistry #CrystalStructure #Axitinib #MaterialsScience

Exquisite stereochemical control will allow creation of millions of unique polymers New method take inspiration from established techniques like those used to synthesise DNA

Exquisite stereochemical control will allow creation of millions of unique polymers #Science #Chemistry #MaterialsChemistry #Polymers #Stereochemistry #MaterialsScience

Plastics That Know When To Disappear All the science news you can handle in a single feed

Plastics That Know When To Disappear #Science #Chemistry #MaterialsChemistry #BiodegradablePlastics #SustainableMaterials #InnovativeTechnology

Spiked Nobel Prize Materials That Stab Bacteria Before They Can Stick All the science news you can handle in a single feed

Spiked Nobel Prize Materials That Stab Bacteria Before They Can Stick #Science #Chemistry #MaterialsChemistry #NobelPrize #MaterialsScience #MicrobiologyResearch

Scientists Create 7 Remarkable New Ceramic Materials by Simply Removing Oxygen Penn State scientists discovered seven new ceramics by simply removing oxygen—opening a path to materials once beyond reach. Sometimes, less truly is more. By removing oxygen during the synthesis process,...

Scientists Create 7 Remarkable New Ceramic Materials by Simply Removing Oxygen #Science #Chemistry #MaterialsChemistry #Ceramics #MaterialsScience #Innovation

The Color That Shouldn’t Exist: Scientists Find Unexpected Blue on Ancient Artifact In a groundbreaking discovery that sheds new light on the prehistoric origins of art and human creativity, researchers from Aarhus University have identified the earliest known use of blue pigment in...

The Color That Shouldn’t Exist: Scientists Find Unexpected Blue on Ancient Artifact #Science #Chemistry #MaterialsChemistry #AncientArtifacts #ColorScience

New MOF binds two gas molecules at each metal site Rare co-operative adsorption mechanism enables metal–organic framework to bind two carbon monoxide molecules at each metal centre

New MOF binds two gas molecules at each metal site #Science #Chemistry #MaterialsChemistry #MetalOrganicFrameworks #GasStorage #MaterialsScience

Mechanoluminescence goes crystal-free Bending, twisting and contact separation cause pure amorphous solids made from heteroleptic copper(i) complexes to emit light

Mechanoluminescence goes crystal-free #Science #Chemistry #MaterialsChemistry #Mechanoluminescence #MaterialsScience #Innovation