It was a hit on LinkedIn: a moving droplet being chased by another droplet, which then ‘catches’ it. This experiment by Peter Korevaar’s group provides insights into physico-chemical processes that can be found in everyday life, they write in Angewandte Chemie.

In many cases, chemistry is an ‘invisible’ science: reactions between molecules are often impossible to see. But sometimes it is possible – at least indirectly – at the macroscopic level. ‘I posted a video of our research on LinkedIn and it has been viewed many times’, says Peter Korevaar, assistant professor of physical organic chemistry at the Radboud University. ‘It’s great fun to be able to visualise chemistry in five seconds. As a chemist, you’re used to relying on NMR or other indirect methods, but in our case you can actually see what’s happening.’

Korevaar’s group works on the self-assembly of chemical systems at the mesoscopic or macroscopic level. ‘We are fascinated by life, so we try to create life-like materials using relatively simple molecules and known chemical reactions. How do physico-chemical principles such as surface tension or osmosis lead to self-assembly in a way that can be observed with the naked eye?’