By Kyle Tro The summer job: a phrase that, when spoken by their well-meaning parents, causes shudders and cold sweats in even the most stoic of students. It often marks the end of the era in our childhood when the summers seem to last forever. Thankfully, this process does not have to be theContinue reading “Tips for finding opportunities to experience chemistry during the summer break”
Category Archives: BLOG
Biodegradable, Bioplastics and Green Plastics, What’s the Difference?
Biodegradable, Bioplastics and Green Plastics, What’s the Difference? by By Matthew Thompson, Kexing Xiao, Gretchen Brown and Christine Vo As plastics continue to face greater public scrutiny over pollution concerns, many companies have pounced on the opportunity to gain some good favor by rolling out nice-sounding terms like bioplastics, plant-based, biodegradable, green, sustainable, etc. WithContinue reading “Biodegradable, Bioplastics and Green Plastics, What’s the Difference?”
Electrochemistry as a Green Alternative to Power Chemical Reactions
Since the infamous key and kite experiment completed by Benjamin Franklin, electricity has proven vital to our everyday lives. It has pervaded fields such as energy storage, energy conversion, biology, pharmacy, and industrial synthesis, among many others. Despite its ubiquity and impact, the majority of electricity is generated via the burning of fossil fuels asContinue reading “Electrochemistry as a Green Alternative to Power Chemical Reactions”
Anthropogenic CO2: How Bad Is It?
Anthropogenic CO2: How Bad Is It? By Thi Viet Tran Several decades ago, the concept of global warming was unfamiliar to the general public but today, many recognize it as an urgent environmental problem. A 2017 public survey on what causes global warming revealed that most respondents believed it is due to excessive emission ofContinue reading “Anthropogenic CO2: How Bad Is It?”
Challenges to Making Lithium-ion Batteries and Electric Vehicles Environmentally Friendly
Challenges to Making Lithium-ion Batteries and Electric Vehicles Environmentally Friendly By Haochuan Zhang Batteries store electric energy in the form of chemical bonds (see this quick animated guide on how batteries work). Since their invention by Alessandro Volta at the end of the 18th century, batteries have become an indispensable part of our daily life.Continue reading “Challenges to Making Lithium-ion Batteries and Electric Vehicles Environmentally Friendly”
Where Does Our Plastic Go?
Where Does Our Plastic Go? by Amy Lai and Zach Hern What are plastics? Plastics are polymers, long repeating chains of small molecules called monomers, and are categorized by the monomers they are made of. For the consumer to know what type of plastic they using, companies have to include the Resin Identification Code, aContinue reading “Where Does Our Plastic Go?”