Let's Speak Chemistry

Let’s Speak Chemistry!

"I think your website is beryllium!" (read as brilliant)

"That's a pro-phosphorous idea!" (read as preposterous)

"I can't be arsenic-ed!" (read as arsed)

"This is so boron!" (read as boring)

"Pick it up off the fluor-ine!" (read as floor)

"Lith-ium alone!" (read as leave him)

"This is a-bismuth!" (read as abysmal)

"I've got a bad gold" (read as cold)

"Is she Indium?" (read as Indian)

"Did he have a car-bon?" (read as car bomb)

"Pass the lattice" (read as lettuce)

"Would you like a polo-nium t?" (read as polo mint)

"Can you iron my shirt please?" (read as iron)

"I can't bar-ium" (read as bare him)

"Can they cur-ium?" (read as cure him)

"Caes-ium!" (read as caese him)

"That was so-dium good" (read as so damn)

“How many have we done sul-phur?” (read as so far)

"Keep your i-on the ball" (read as eye on)

"A friend of mine pierced his tung-sten" (read as tongue)

"A-cid that one" (read as I said)

"A-mine the other one" (read as I mean)

"You're too easily lead" (read as lead)

Julian: "My trousers keep falling down!"

Nick: "This man-ga-nese a belt!" (read as man needs)

Nick: "We need to get so many things for our cat"

Julian: "I don't think we'll be able to remember them all"

Nick: "Well then we will have to make the cat-a-lyst!"

”I zinc we are done because all the other jokes ar-gon!”

Nanotube Catalysts

Nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes could make fuel cells more affordable
Bethany Halford

CARBON NANOTUBES doped with nitrogen have the potential to replace the pricey platinum catalysts used to reduce oxygen in fuel cells, according to research from scientists in Ohio (Science 2009, 323, 760). The finding could bring down the cost of fuel cells, a promising energy technology that's had trouble breaking into large-scale applications—such as automobiles—because of costly catalysts and durability issues.
Doped up: Nanotubes made from carbon (yellow) and doped with nitrogen (blue) could replace platinum in fuel cells.© 2009 Science
Doped up Nanotubes made from carbon (yellow) and doped with nitrogen (blue) could replace platinum in fuel cells.

A team led by Liming Dai of the University of Dayton discovered that a forest of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes, in which some of the carbon atoms have been swapped with nitrogen, can reduce oxygen in alkaline solution more effectively than the platinum catalysts that have been favored in fuel cells since the 1960s. Furthermore, the nanotube catalysts aren't susceptible to the carbon monoxide poisoning that's known to deactivate platinum catalysts.

Dai attributes the high activity of the N-doped nanotube catalyst to the electron-accepting ability of the nitrogen atoms, which creates net positive charge on adjacent carbon atoms. This charge readily attracts electrons from the anode and drives the oxygen reduction reaction. "The demonstration of this new role of nitrogen doping in this paper is important and could be applied to the design and development of various other metal-free, efficient, oxygen-reducing catalysts—even new catalyst materials for applications beyond fuel cells," he says. Dai's group is currently working to incorporate the nanotube catalyst into a working fuel cell.

"This new discovery could have a fundamental impact on the commercial viability of the fuel-cell technology," says Yushan Yan, a chemical engineering professor at the University of California, Riverside. He notes that the results would have been more compelling if Dai's team had carried out the experiments in an acidic medium, where platinum seems to be necessary, instead of in an alkaline medium, where nonprecious metals are known to be as effective as platinum. "Nonetheless, seeing anything that is free of platinum rival platinum in activity and durability is absolutely exciting," Yan adds.

a week of exposure for the new comers (MMK)

MMK stands for Minggu Mesra Kampus. Basically, it is a week to expose the new comers what are the clubs available here in UTP as well as the events that are going to be held by their clubs. The event, starting today, is going to be held until this Friday from as early as 8 am till 5pm at Pocket D. Well, of course Ichem-E booth is one of the booth available , teehee =)) In fact, is one of the most informative booth there! hmph..

Erm.. ow yah, please take note ok for all icheme members, we are distributing your membership card at the booth, so please do drop by and collect them ok.

So, for the new comers, please do have a peep visit there ok, u might get something useful apart from the extraordinarily huge amount of flyerssss @.@.