University of Pittsburgh

Thanks in part to their distinct electronic, optical, and chemical properties, nanomaterials are utilized in an array of diverse applications from chemical production to medicine and light-emitting devices. But when introducing another metal in their structure, also known as “doping,” researchers are unsure which position the metal will occupy and how it will affect the…

Pennsylvania’s energy history is rich with the quantities of fossil fuels that it has produced, but is also rife with the environmental legacies of coal mining and, more recently, hydrofracturing. Water that finds its way into abandoned coal mines dotted throughout the Commonwealth resurfaces as acid mine drainage (AMD), while freshwater used to fracture or…

The silk fibers produced by Bombyx mori, the domestic silkworm, has been prized for millennia as a strong yet lightweight and luxurious material. Although synthetic polymers like nylon and polyester are less costly, they do not compare to silk’s natural qualities and mechanical properties. And according to research from the University of Pittsburgh’s Swanson School…

Polyisobutylene (PIB) is a workhorse polymer that is found in a multitude of products, ranging from chewing gum, to tires, to engine oil and gasoline additives. Although commercially produced in large quantities since the 1940s, PIB chemistry was a mystery – scientists weren’t sure how the reaction mechanism that creates the polymer happens at the…

Engineered nanomaterials hold great promise for medicine, electronics, water treatment and other fields. But when designed without critical information about environmental impacts at the start of the process, the materials’ long-term effects could undermine those advances. With a Yale-led project, a team of researchers hopes to change that. In a study published in Nature Nanotechnology, Yale…

Although scientists have for decades been able to synthesize nanoparticles in the lab, the process is mostly trial and error, and how the formation actually takes place is obscure. However, a study recently published in Nature Communications by chemical engineers at the University of Pittsburgh’s Swanson School of Engineering explains how metal nanoparticles form. “Thermodynamic Stability of…

 Numerous studies have raised critical concerns about the promise of corn ethanol’s ability to mitigate climate change and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. Some of the studies have suggested that after a full life cycle assessment–meaning an analysis of environmental impact throughout all stages of a product’s life–biofuels like corn ethanol may not offer any…

Capitalizing on previous studies in self-powered chemo-mechanical movement, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh’s Swanson School of Engineering and Penn State University’s Department of Chemistry have developed a novel method of transporting particles that utilizes chemical reactions to drive fluid flow within microfluidic devices. Their research, “Harnessing catalytic pumps for directional delivery of microparticles in…

Research at the University of Pittsburgh’s Swanson School of Engineering focused on developing a new catalyst that would lead to large-scale implementation of capture and conversion of carbon dioxide (CO2) was recently published in the Royal Society of Chemistry journal Catalysis Science & Technology. Principal investigator is Karl Johnson, the William Kepler Whiteford Professor in the…