College of Science

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Researchers at Oregon State University have developed a material that shows a remarkable ability to convert sunlight and water into clean energy.

A collaboration led by Kyriakos Stylianou of the OSU College of Science created a photocatalyst that enables the high-speed, high-efficiency production of hydrogen, used in fuel cells for cars as well as in the manufacture of many chemicals including ammonia, in the refining of metals and in making plastics.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – The early worm gets the arachnid, fossil research by an Oregon State University scientist has shown.

In a parasitic first, a Baltic amber specimen has revealed that millions of years ago tiny worms known as nematodes were living inside of and feeding on the outer protective layer of pseudoscorpions.

“This is very strange,” said George Poinar Jr., who has a courtesy appointment in the OSU College of Science. “No other invertebrate-associated nematodes are known to have this detailed habit.”

CORVALLIS, Ore. – What if a common element rather than scarce, expensive ones was a key component in electric car batteries?

A collaboration co-led by an Oregon State University chemistry researcher is hoping to spark a green battery revolution by showing that iron instead of cobalt and nickel can be used as a cathode material in lithium-ion batteries.

The findings, published today in Science Advances, are important for multiple reasons, Oregon State’s Xiulei “David” Ji notes.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Silver has long been used to thwart the spread of illness and in recent years silver nanoparticles have been incorporated into products ranging from sanitizers, odor-resistant clothes and washing machines to makeup, food packaging and sports equipment.

Nanoparticles are tiny pieces of material ranging in size from one- to 100-billionths of a meter. In addition to their antimicrobial properties, silver nanoparticles are industrially important as catalysts and in electronics applications.

CORVALLIS, Oregon – An Oregon State University researcher who made color history in 2009 with a vivid blue pigment has developed durable, reddish magentas inspired by lunar mineralogy and ancient Egyptian chemistry.

Mas Subramanian, distinguished professor of chemistry, and collaborators at OSU report the findings of the study, funded by the National Science Foundation, in the journal Chemistry of Materials.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Arachnophobia can make humans flee at the sight of a brown recluse, black widow or even a daddy long legs, but animal predators of spiders know no such fear.

That’s why, paleobiologist George Poinar Jr. explains, some spider species have developed the defense of deception. They masquerade as a much less desirable prey – ants – and Poinar’s recent paper in Historical Biology presents an early record of an ant-mimicking spider in fossilized resin.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – A product used to control pest slugs on farms in multiple countries is deadly to least one type of native woodland snail endemic to the Pacific Northwest, according to scientists who say more study is needed before the product gains approval in the United States.

Dee Denver of the Oregon State University College of Science led a 10-week laboratory project that showed the effect of a biotool marketed as Nemaslug on the Pacific sideband snail. The study was published today in PLOS One.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Scientists led by an Oregon State University chemistry researcher are closing in on a new tool for tackling the global problem of weedkiller-tainted groundwater.

Kyriakos Stylianou of the OSU College of Science led an international team that identified a material known as a metal-organic framework, or MOF, that showed an ability to completely remove, and also break down, the oft-used herbicide glyphosate.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – A chemical element so visually striking it was named for a goddess shows a “Goldilocks” level of reactivity – neither too much nor too little – that makes it a strong candidate as a carbon scrubbing tool.

The element is vanadium, and research by Oregon State University scientists has demonstrated the ability of vanadium peroxide molecules to react with and bind carbon dioxide – an important step toward improved technologies for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Oregon State University researchers have discovered vitamin B₁ produced by microbes in rivers, findings that may offer hope for vitamin-deficient salmon populations.

Findings were published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology.