Methanol—a colourless liquid that can be made from agricultural waste—has long been touted as a green alternative to fossil fuels. But it’s toxic and only has half the energy as the same volume of gasoline. Now, Chao-Jun Li and colleagues report they’ve created a potentially cheap way to use sunlight to convert methanol to ethanol, a more popular alternative fuel that’s less harmful and carries more energy.

Classified as: Green Chemistry, Chao-Jun Li, methanol, ethanol, fuel, Research, Faculty of Science, Department of Chemistry
Published on: 21 Feb 2019

The John S. Bates Memorial Gold Medal is the highest distinction awarded to a Member of PAPTAC (the Pulp And Paper Technical Association of Canada). The Gold Medal is in recognition of long term scientific and technological contributions to the pulp and paper industry. The last time this medal was awarded to a Member of the Chemistry Department was in 1994, when David Goring received this award. Prof.

Classified as: chemistry, Department of Chemistry
Category:
Published on: 18 Feb 2019

Two McGill chemistry professors, Theo van de Ven and Jean-Philip Lumb, have developed a new way to make textiles from cellulose, the basic building block of plants, in a breakthrough that has the potential to revitalize Canada’s forestry industry.

Published on: 11 Feb 2019

Imagine a waterproof computer. It’s not going to happen tomorrow, but it may no longer be a pipedream since a McGill-led international research team has shown for the first time that it is possible to form strong, stable attractions between some of the heavier elements in the periodic table.

Classified as: Department of Chemistry, Science research, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), Tomislav Friščić
Published on: 22 Jan 2019

Thomas Di Nardo (MSc) and Audrey Moores discovered a new method, based on mechanochemistry and aging, allowing to turn chitin into a new, long molecular weight chitosan. This new material has interesting mechanical properties and is envisaged for applications to biomedical, food packaging and high value fibers. This discovery was covered in a number of news outlets:

Classified as: plastic, discovery, Shell, lobster
Category:
Published on: 20 Dec 2018

CRISPR has jumped to the forefront of gene editing, with game-changing applications like gene therapy, GMO-free designer crops, and synthetic organisms. It makes precise engineering and control of nearly any genome possible. But CRISPR is not perfect and its continued development relies on understanding and modifying the naturally occurring enzymes.

Category:
Published on: 19 Dec 2018

Professor Tomislav Friščić is the recipient of the prestigious Steacie Prize for Natural Sciences for his exceptional contributions to Green Chemistry research in Canada. He is the third McGill professor to win the Steacie Prize, and the first ever McGill professor to win it for chemistry. The two previous winners from McGill are Vicky Kaspi, Physics and Astronomy (2006) and Phil Gold, Medicine (1973).

Classified as: Tomislav Friščić, chemistry, Green Chemistry, Faculty of Science, steacie award
Published on: 14 Dec 2018

Researchers from McGill University’s Department of Chemistry have found a cleaner, easier way to make biaryls, an important ingredient in synthetic chemistry with applications across a wide range of fields including pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, pigments, natural products and polymers. Conventional processes for making biaryls rely on stoichiometric metal reagents, resulting in large amounts of metal waste. In their paper published in Nature Communications in November 2018, the McGill scientists describe a new method for synthesizing biaryls using hydrazine (N2H4) as a metal surrogate.

Published on: 16 Nov 2018

A new type of cellulose nanoparticle, invented by McGill University researchers, is at the heart of a more effective and less environmentally damaging solution to one of the biggest challenges facing water-based industries: preventing the buildup of scale.

Published on: 31 Oct 2018

Aurélie Lacroix (currently PhD student in Dr Hanadi Sleiman lab) and Dr Maryam Habibian (former student from Dr Masad Damha lab and currently postdoc fellow at Stanford in Dr Eric Kool laboratory) were both awarded the Chu Family Foundation Scholarships for Early Career Women in Science.The award by The International Society of Nucleosides, Nucleotides & Nucleic Acids (IS3NA) is given to 3 women bi-annually in the field of nucleoside/tide and/or nucleic acid research a

Classified as: award, Graduate Students
Category:
Published on: 6 Sep 2018

McGill University chemistry professors Karine Auclair and Tomislav Friščić are following a promising lead on using enzymes to recycle polyethylene terephthalate (PET), one of the world’s most widely used plastics.

Published on: 4 Sep 2018

The runaway popularity of personal electronic devices has led to a huge global demand for compact yet powerful rechargeable batteries. Since hitting the market in the 1990s, lithium-ion technology has taken the lead in meeting this need.

But concerns over the relative scarcity of lithium and the toxicity of other common lithium-ion battery ingredients such as cobalt are driving the search for an alternative. Sodium, around 1000 times more abundant than lithium, could be the answer.

Published on: 27 Aug 2018

A fundamental component of protein, nitrogen is the most common pure element on Earth, making up nearly 80 percent of our atmosphere. Yet despite its abundance, atmospheric nitrogen cannot enter the food chain without first being converted into a form that can be used by plants.

Published on: 20 Aug 2018

McGill University chemistry professor Matthew Harrington is aiming to develop a renewable alternative to petrochemical plastics by mimicking the astonishing chemistry of the velvet worm – a creature that has made a name for itself through its projectile slime.

Inhabiting the forest floors of Australia and South America, velvet worms catch their prey by shooting out a jet of liquid that rapidly thickens to a sticky gel before hardening into polymer fibres comparable in stiffness to nylon.

Classified as: food and sustainability
Published on: 13 Aug 2018

Cellulose, one of the three major components of plants, is showing great promise as a renewable source for many convenience products. It is made of glucose, a molecule which can be fermented by microorganisms into virtually any desired small molecule of interest. More especially it can be converted to ethanol to make sustainable biofuels.

Classified as: mechanochemistry, press release, enzymes
Published on: 13 Jun 2018

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