Research Article Assignment: Chemistry, Global Warming

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Chemistry
Smart surfaces are becoming quite common with the invention of nanotechnology (Bourzac). There has been quite a number of applications that have been developed and inroads are being made in several industries. The article by Katherine Bourzac describes the aspects of creating smart surfaces on a large scale. It is now possible for scientists to create surfaces that are self-cleaning, lubricating and even antibacterial, by creating patterns of nanostructures (Bourzac). In the article, Barbara Stadlober from the Joanneum institute along with some colleagues came up with a nanoimprinting method to create patterns on surfaces. The method largely involves making impressions of patterns on moving sheets of the selected material. The nanotechnology is a science that is conducted at the Nano scale which means that particles are analyzed and manipulated at that scale. Material is manipulated at the atomic levels. It is interesting to understand that there quite a number of applications that can be used on the common material and improve on their properties. Aspects, such as self-cleaning can easily be applied on certain surfaces such as cars (Bourzac). Others like the aspect of antibacterial can be used on paints on storage spaces. It is crucial for storage spaces to have such properties and nanotechnology is one of the best solutions for the same.
Global warming is an element that is affecting various industries across the globe. Some of the old models have had to be dropped to make sure that there are better and more sustainable methods that rhyme with the environmental standards. Companies are constantly being forced to come up with sustainable practices to save their business models (Reisch). On the lime light there has been the companies making refrigerant chemicals. Most of these chemicals are hydrocarbons which have been attributed with global warming with a very significant impact compared to other pollutants. In this article, OxyChem is a company that is working on 1, 1, 2, 3-tetrachloro-1-propene which is called the HCC-1230xa. This is a hydrocarbon that can be used as a refrigerant and has less impacts on the environment. Scientifically, this has lower global warming potential and thus has zero ozone depletion. This is a great step towards reducing the impacts of hydrocarbons on the climate (Reisch). It is also crucial to understand that there is a chance of making better chemicals that do not have global climatic impacts.
Regulations of laboratories that handle dangerous and contagious agents require to be reviewed to make sure that they have the right. In the article, there is a mention of an incident when the center for disease control and prevention happened to have mishandled contagious agents. This scientifically speaks to the severity of some of the agents and chemicals that are found in nature and the fact, that they have the capacity to cause great harm. Ideally, there are regulations that control the production, distribution and handling of such chemicals (Widener). Understanding the elements of severity of such chemicals is a crucial learning point. At the same time, it is crucial to understand some of the policies and regulation agencies that are involved in control of such chemical substances and agents. Safety is of paramount importance, relative to the fact that persons that are working with agents may be exposed and this may endanger their lives and those of the loved ones or persons that they interact with in general public. There is quite a number of policies, most of which require to be reviewed to ensure that they are up-to-date on the various levels of safety that they should provide (Widener).
Light is one of the many natural catalysts in nature and one that affects chemical reactions of a very wide range. As such, understanding the ways in which to use light in chemical reaction to the advantage of certain processes is crucial in the chemical engineering industry (Borman). The article discusses how researchers have come up with technique that relies on light to spur a bacteria enzyme to converting dinitrogen and changing it into ammonia. This is a method seen to be a better of making ammonia in the future with the reference to the fact that it is more environmentally friendly. In the current process called the Haber-Bosch process, iron is used as a catalyst to make ammonia from nitrogen. From the time that this method was discovered, it is today the largest industrial process through which tonnes of ammonia are produced (Borman). This process is quite crucial relative to the fact, that chemically it is used in the manufacture of fertilizers, given that ammonia is one of the main components. Given the impact that this has on agriculture, it is easy to understand why this process has such an influence (Borman). The process is a result of the efforts of a researcher to try and come with a way that involves reducing greenhouse gases, reducing the level of dependence on fossil fuels and taking advantage of the efficiency of the Haber-Bosch process.
Understanding the body processes that are associated with hunger and the relevant hormones is also important. In this research paper, the ghrelin hormone is discussed at length and how it influences hunger (Wilson). Scientifically, there is the element of the receptors and the hormones and how they can be targeted for treating obesity. As such, this is a crucial element to understand in the light of the current obesity menace and the efforts to fight the health concern (Wilson).
Works cited
Borman, Stu. "Light Sparks Conversion OfDinitrogen To Ammonia | April 25, 2016 Issue - Vol. 94 Issue 17 | Chemical & Engineering News". Cen.acs.org. N.p., 2016. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.
Bourzac, Katherine. "Speedy Printing Of Smart Surfaces | April 25, 2016 Issue - Vol. 94 Issue 17 | Chemical & Engineering News". Cen.acs.org. N.p., 2016. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.
Reisch, Marc. "Oxychem Expansion Will Support New Coolants | April 25, 2016 Issue - Vol. 94 Issue 17 | Chemical & Engineering News". Cen.acs.org. N.p., 2016. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.
Widener, Andrea. "High-Containment Labs Need More Oversight | Chemical & Engineering News". Cen.acs.org. N.p., 2016. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.
Wilson, Elizabeth. "New Study Questions Ghrelin-Appetite Link | April 25, 2016 Issue - Vol. 94 Issue 17 | Chemical & Engineering News". Cen.acs.org. N.p., 2016. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.
Articles
Speedy printing of smart surfaces
A roll-to-roll printer stamps nanoscale features onto sheets of materials
By Katherine Bourzac, special to C&EN
[+]Enlarge
A new nanoimprinting process can create complex three-dimensional shapes over large surface areas.
Credit: ACS Nano
Materials scientists can turn sheets of plastic or metal into antibacterial, self-cleaning, or lubricating coatings by patterning the surfaces with nanostructures.
To make such smart surfaces quickly and on a large scale, Barbara Stadlober of Joanneum Research, a government research center in Austria, and colleagues built upon a nanoimprinting method that uses rotating stamps to continuously and rapidly impress patterns onto moving sheets of material (ACS Nano 2016, DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.5b07411).
The sheets are coated with a polymer that hardens when exposed to ultraviolet light, curing the stamped pattern. To make a patterned metal surface, the researchers can use the sheet as a mold, coating it with metal that they can then pull off as a film. The system can continuously print features ranging from 100 nm to 25 μm wide on a substrate 250 mm wide, and at speeds greater than 10 meters per minute.
Stadlober's group tailored the recipe of the UV-curable polymer to print different types of complex three-dimensional structures, such as mushroom shapes with undercut features. They made superhydrophobic plastic coatings and transparent electrodes consisting of an invisible grid of metal nanowires.
C. Grant Willson of the University of Texas, Austin, is impressed with the system's performance and thinks the team could speed up the process by further improving the properties of the curable material.
OxyChem expansion will support new coolants
Investment is latest to help make refrigerants with low global warming potential