What's Hot In Chemistry> 2011
Year: 2011
The Top Ten lists in Chemistry feature papers published during the last two years (excluding review articles) that were most cited in current journal articles indexed by Thomson Reuters during a recent two-month period. Papers are ranked according to the latest bimonthly citation count. The articles below are accompanied by expert discussion and analysis (including comments from the papers’ authors) written by one of four veteran scientist-journalists and longtime ScienceWatch.com contributors.
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2011
Superconductors, Solar Cells Appearing in New Films
by John Emsley
Interest in iron-based superconductors continues, as
evinced by citations to a report on an iron selenide compound in which
the superconductivity increases under pressure. Solar cells are also
keeping researchers busy, including a team that describes a
roll-to-roll technique in the production of “printed”
solar cells. Another solar-cell group reports on a new
solution-processed film that successfully conducts without the
problems usually associated with conducting polymers.View Article
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011
Oxide-Coated Nanoparticles Applied to SERS, with Love
by John Emsley
The latest manifestation of graphene’s current
dominance of the Chemistry Top Ten is a paper discussing hybrid
nanocrystals of titanium dioxide and graphene, fashioned into
so-called functionalized graphene sheets that proved capable of
serving as electrodes for a lithium-ion battery. Another hot chemistry
report centers on gold nanoparticles and their application in greatly
increasing the sensitivity of surface-enhanced Raman
spectroscopy.View Article
JULY/AUGUST 2011
Screens of Carbon and Yttrium, and Screening for SilveR
by John Emsley
A team of researchers reports a means of mass-producing
30-inch-wide strips of graphene, resulting in a material that is
sufficiently transparent, adhesive, and conductant to serve in
touch-screen electronics and other applications. Another highly cited
chemistry paper examines the genotoxicity and cytotoxicity of silver
nano-particles, which are now placed in some items of clothing and in
household products.View Article
MAY/JUNE 2011
Fuelling the Future with PTB and PCBM
by John Emsley
Materials scientists continue to develop organic
photovoltaic compounds for use in solar cells. These compounds include
polymers with thienothiophene and benzodithiophene units along their
chains, collectively given the acronym PTB. Some polymer compounds
have achieved energy-conversion efficiency at rates of upwards of 8%,
a figure that researchers are striving to improve as these compounds
move toward viability as alternatives to inorganic materials.View Article
MARCH/APRIL 2011
Palladium(III), An Unusual State for Chemical Catalysis
by John Emsley
A team of chemists has reported an advance with the use
of palladium as a catalyst in the formation of carbon-chlorine,
carbon-bromine, and carbon-oxygen bonds, with the discovery that the
palladium, in contrast to its typical catalytic actions, operates via
an unusual oxidative state, designated palladium(III). This
observation has stimulated fresh investigation into palladium
catalysis and a new impetus to develop commercial applications.View Article
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2011
Recharge Your Gadgets in Minutes? A Step Closer
by John Emsley
Advances in the technology of rechargeable batteries
include recent work on lithium iron phosphate, a material which, when
properly synthesized, can speed lithium ions more than a hundred times
faster than in a conventional lithium battery. Many engineering
challenges remain to be solved, but the material points the way to a
time when cell phones, computers, and electronic appliances will take
only minutes to recharge.View Article
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