College of Chemistry

One-of-a-kind course aims to build the bioeconomy workforce

July 7, 2021

Tiffany Chen, a UC Berkeley chemical engineering student,

Tiffany Chen, a UC Berkeley chemical engineering student, loads a sample into the AMBR 250 device as part of UC Berkeley’s “Advanced Bioprocess Engineering Laboratory” class, which introduces advanced concepts of bioprocessing to chemical engineering students, at Berkeley Lab’s...

Cannabinoids are the next big thing in the pot industry

July 5, 2021

marijuana leaf

It’s 2021 and regular THC isn’t going to cut it for the budding weed industry. Neither will CBD. Instead, a host of startups are betting that weed consumers will be clamoring for something that nature alone can’t provide.

In Berkeley, California, the startup Demetrix, is preparing to manufacture “metric tons” of...

This crystal impurity is sheer perfection

June 29, 2021

STEM tomography image of a 3D-grown 100-200-nanometer crystalline disc

Scientists at Berkeley Lab, UC Berkeley design 3D-grown material that could speed up production of new technologies for smart buildings and robotics. STEM tomography image of a 3D-grown 100-200-nanometer crystalline disc. (Credit: Berkeley Lab)

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UC Berkeley celebrates the first Federal Juneteenth Holiday

June 28, 2021

Juneteenth_flag

Photo: The Juneteenth flag was originally designed in 1997 by activist Ben Haith and illustrator Lisa Jeanna Graf. The red white and blue colors represent that enslaved people were Americans. The central star represents Texas where Juneteenth was first celebrated. The outer star burst symbolizes a nova representing a new beginning for African Americans...

Michael Zuerch receives Society of Hellman Fellows award

June 20, 2021

example of extreme photonics in the lab

Extreme photonics and nonlinear optics in the lab. Photo courtesy Michael Zuerch

The College of Chemistry is pleased to announce that Assistant Professor of Chemistry Michael Zuerch has received an award in support of his research from the...

Are heavy metals toxic? Scientists find surprising clues in yeast

June 7, 2021

Rare earth elements

Elements on the periodic table that make up the lanthanides, or rare-earth heavy elements.

Lanthanides are rare-earth heavy metals with useful magnetic properties and a knack for emitting light. Researchers had long assumed that lanthanides’ toxicity risk was low and therefore safe to implement in a number of high-tech breakthroughs we now take for...

Harold Urey was not a fan of the atomic bomb he helped develop

August 6, 2020

Harold Urey, 1940s

Urey at his desk, photograph, circa late 1940s (Northwest Indiana Times)

Missoula first noticed Harold Urey in May of 1915, when the University of Montana announced the winners of the annual C.A. Duniway Scholarship Books.
Urey, a 22-year-old freshman from Indiana by way of a mining camp in the Gallatin Mountains, received the biology award....

Berkeley researchers demonstrate new technique for surface-sensitive second harmonic generation utilizing non-linear optics with a table-top laser

May 19, 2021

AAAS cover -- Michael Zuerch announcement

On the cover of Science Advances. Artist’s impression of the XUV-SHG on a titanium foil. Credit: Ella Marushchenko

Interfaces and surfaces are of central importance to many open scientific questions. For example, in order to design more energy-efficient all solid-state...

Scientists Print All-Liquid 3-D Structures

March 29, 2018

3d printed waterAn international group of scientists that includes the Aldo De Benedictis Distinguished Professor of Chemistry Phillip Geissler have developed a way to print 3D constructs using water and oil. Their fascinating findings have been published in...

Alumna Geraldine Richmond nominated to serve in the Department of Energy

May 11, 2021

Geraldine Richmond

Image credit – Todd Cooper / jasontoddcooper.com

Geraldine Richmond (Ph.D. 80, Chem), University of Oregon’s (UO) Presidential Chair in Science and Professor of Chemistry, has been nominated to serve in the Biden administration as undersecretary for science in the...