Eye-openers
Stephan Hacker – Searching for weak points in bacteria
Stephan Hacker uses molecules to find weak spots in resistant bacteria so that we can continue to develop new antibiotics.
Maurits de Roo – Chemical reactions using electricity instead of chemicals
Maurits de Roo is looking for a way to make molecules with electricity without fossil resources.
Pascal Vermeeren – Unraveling chemical mysteries with new models
Pascal Vermeeren develops models (algorithms) to discover and unravel the mysterious world of surface chemistry.
Making products of the future from CO₂ with bacteria
Nico Claassens wants to use bacteria to make plastics using CO2 from the air as a carbon source instead of (crude) oil.
Tassos Perrakis – Proteins for the people
Tassos Perrakis studies the structure of proteins to understand how they interact and how that impacts cancer.
Alina Chanaewa – Sensing carbon fibre composite cracks
Eddytec has developed an efficient method to quickly assess carbon fibre composites.
Suzan Stelloo – Exploring early human embryogenesis using stem cells
Suzan Stelloo studies proteins to reveal what causes birth defects.
Harith Gurunarayanan – Unlocking the enigma of chemical reactions
Harith Gurunarayanan is developing a tiny sensor that can monitor and analyse in real time the molecules produced during high-temperature reactions.
Fabian Eisenreich – Sunlight-driven plastic recycling
Fabian Eisenreich is investigating how we can use light to break down plastic to reduce the amount of plastic waste that pollutes our environment.
Roy van der Meel – Making your own tailor-made drugs
Roy van der Meel is investigating whether he can use natural building blocks such as fats to transport mRNA codes around the body.
Arnon Lesage – Convert sunlight for optimal plant growth
Arnon Lesage is developing a flexible film that can convert sunlight according to the specific needs of each plant.
Thomas Hansen – Tools for a molecular cabinet
Thomas Hansen uses computer simulations to design new tools for assembling molecules in advance.
Nienke van Dongen – Uroscopy on a microfluidic chip
The earlier cancer is detected, the better the patient’s chances of survival. Nienke van Dongen uses microfluidic chips to detect cancer DNA in urine.
Arnaud Thevenon – Towards zero-waste plastic
Arnaud Thevenon creates plastics with a closed life cycle to ensure a sustainable future with plastics.
Wessel van der Woude – Recycling 2.0 with plastic analysis
Veridis is developing a technique to determine which types of plastic are in our waste.
David Rieder – The great catalyst bake off
Catalysts are the secret ingredients that speed up reactions, but it takes chemists tens of thousands of tries to find a good catalyst recipe. David Rieder uses a computer to become a better cook.
Olivier Segers – Blackteria paint it black
Olivier Segers works with genetically modified bacteria that can produce melanin like tiny factories
Sven Askes – Steering reactions with nanoparticles and light
A lot of catalytic reactions happen by means of nanoparticles. Sven Askes uses light and nanoparticles to steer reactions in the right direction.
Barbara Malheiros – Velcro made from DNA
Barbara Malheiros uses DNA to create exotic materials such as smarter biosensors and diagnostic tools.
Johan Visser – Pasting plants with bioplastic
Johan Visser is working on an adhesive bioplastic that could increase the capacity of greenhouses.
Photo Chemistry
Sensitive channels
Surprisingly little is known about the molecular basis of our sense of touch. A newly discovered ion channel fills in the picture.
Children’s experiment for adults
It is a popular experiment to introduce children to science: staining a rose with food colouring. An American student did it with fluorescent dye.
Jungle in a flask
With a little imagination, you can see a complete jungle in this picture, with large ferns and grass on the ground.
Ghost of Mesosphere Present
Stratospheric discharges are not only beautiful, they are also the subject of research into what makes them so colourful.
Blue bead parade
The audience award of the ChemistryViews 2023 Photo Competition went to this atmospheric image of blue calcium alginate ‘beads’.
Picture perfect tubes
Maciej Majdecki won first prize in the ChemistryViews Photo Competition 2023 with this collection of beautifully coloured NMR tubes.
Molecular jellyfish
Serendipity is a thread running through many extraordinary discoveries in the history of chemistry. These ‘molecular jellyfish’ are no exception.
Iron embroidery
Nature offers the most beautiful crystal structures. But beauty is certainly not absent from the lab, as shown by these iron(II) photosensitisers.
Threads of beauty
Analytical polymer chemistry can be quite colourful, as shown in this X-ray diffraction pattern of a nylon fibre.
About the birds and the genes
Chinese researchers show which gene in monkeyflowers has been altered so that the flowers no longer produce yellow pigment.
Synthetic painting
Organic chemistry is not always exciting when it comes to using colour: white powders, colourless liquids. But it can also produce beautiful pictures.
