Natural Sciences - Chemistry

New research into why lithium-ion batteries tend to lose power over cycles of charge and discharge could help unlock the next generation of more durable, fast-charging power cells. An international team of chemists and engineers from the UK, China, and Germany have published a paper which challenges the conventional assumptions about how batteries should be optimised to maximise performance, highlighting the importance of electrical, rather than ionic, conductivity.

Flexible electronics are often sold on a simple promise: bendable screens, lightweight solar cells or wearable devices that can bend and flex without breaking.

A promising new scanning agent developed by researchers at the universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh has proved suitable for further testing in humans, opening the way for further clinical exploration.

University of Warwick and MIT scientists reveal hidden microscopic networks on catalyst surfaces that could lead to cleaner and greener chemical processes.

Experiments from the Victoria era will be recreated in the Bloomsbury Theatre at an event celebrating 200 years of chemistry at UCL.

Prof James Sprittles, Dr Fredrik Schaufelberger and Alex Baker have been awarded exciting EPSRC Open Fellowships, each worth over £1M, to progress their research over the next five years.