Among the alternatives for using low-carbon steel in parts with heavy wear, as gears and bearing surfaces, Ni-B electroless coatings deposited on these steels are considered due to their wear resistance. Wear maps, elaborated from friction or wear results found for different evaluated conditions, are a very useful tool for the selection of materials based …

Element 35 in our International Year of the Periodic Table series is bromine. One of only two elements in the periodic table that are liquids at room temperature, its compounds are used as flame retardants and were historically used in dyes. Bromine is the only non-metal which is a liquid at room temperature. It’s a …

Here’s the monthly summary of chemistry stories that have hit the news. This month features news on a method for converting plastic bottles into jet fuel components, a new record for the longest half-life ever measured, and more! Larger summary images for each item are provided below, along with links to articles and studies for …

Element 34 in our International Year of the Periodic Table series is selenium. Named after the moon, selenium compounds pop up in shampoos and are also partly responsible for the awful smell of skunk spray. If you use a shampoo that boasts of anti-dandruff properties, then it might well contain selenium disulfide. This compound has …

Element 34 in our International Year of the Periodic Table series is selenium. Named after the moon, selenium compounds pop up in shampoos and are also partly responsible for the awful smell of skunk spray. If you use a shampoo that boasts of anti-dandruff properties, then it might well contain selenium disulfide. This compound has …

Element 33 in our International Year of the Periodic Table series is arsenic. Well known for its use as a poison, compounds of arsenic are also used to treat wood, while other arsenic-containing substances were previously used in poultry feed. Arsenic’s best-known use is as a poison. Most often arsenic trioxide was used for poisoning, …

Element 32 in our International Year of the Periodic Table series is germanium. Found in some camera lenses and guitar effects pedals, it’s also present in some LCD TVs. Germanium oxide has a high index of refraction, meaning light travels through it particularly fast. This gives it applications in wide angle lenses for cameras and microscope …

Element 32 in our International Year of the Periodic Table series is germanium. Found in some camera lenses and guitar effects pedals, it’s also present in some LCD TVs. Germanium oxide has a high index of refraction, meaning light travels through it particularly fast. This gives it applications in wide angle lenses for cameras and microscope …

As you might have picked up from previous pregnancy-related posts on the site (here and here), my wife and I have been expecting our first child. During labour and birth, terms like ‘epidural’, ‘gas and air’ and ‘induction of labour’ get thrown around, but what specific drugs do these involve? How do they work? What …

Element 31 in our International Year of the Periodic Table series is gallium. Gallium is a low melting point metal; combined with arsenic it is used in some types of solar cells, and it’s also a key component of the lasers that read from Blu-ray discs. Though it’s solid at room temperature, gallium’s melting point …