Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Haotian Wang

Funding flows into liquid fuel strategy

The National Science Foundation awards a $2 million collaborative grant for the development of methods to convert carbon dioxide into liquid fuels.

A photo and infographic of the RAMBO system

Rice’s RAMBO-II: A sequel better than the original

First-of-its-kind spectrometer is getting stronger magnets, wider range of lasers.

The cross-section of a fiber produced at Rice University contains tens of millions of carbon nanotubes. The lab continually improves its method to make fibers, which tests show are now stronger than Kevlar. Courtesy of the Pasquali Research Group

No limit yet for carbon nanotube fibers

Rice University researchers report advances in their quest to make the best carbon nanotube fibers for industry.

Rice University graduate student Shuyuan Yang, left, and postdoctoral researcher Fanglong Zhao check samples as they work to isolate molecular drug scaffolds from fungus. (Credit: Jeff Fitlow/Rice University)

Engineers enlist fungi to advance against disease

Rice University engineers find the mechanism in fungus that produces a potential drug scaffold. The National Institutes of Health awards a multiyear grant to the lab to continue its work.

PPP

People, papers and presentations July 27, 2020

Haotian Wang, the William Marsh Rice Trustee Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, is among 59 early-career scientists selected to take up the challenge of greenhouse gas accumulation in Earth's atmosphere and oceans in Scialog: Negative Emissions Science

Diagram illustrating how a C-worthy technique that dramatically enhances the accuracy of gene editing.

‘Bystander’ Cs meet their match in gene-editing technique

Biomolecular engineers at Rice have developed new tools to increase the accuracy of CRISPR single-base editing to treat genetic diseases.

illustration of boron nitride breaking down PFOA

Boron nitride destroys PFAS 'forever' chemicals PFOA, GenX

Rice chemical engineers discovered a photocatalyst that can destroy 99% of the “forever” chemical PFOA

Rice University scientists’ simple model of T cell activation of the immune response shows the T cell binding, via a receptor (TCR) to an antigen-presenting cell (APC). If an invader is identified as such, the response is activated, but only if the “relaxation” time of the binding is long enough. (Credit: Hamid Teimouri/Rice University)

‘Relaxed’ T cells critical to immune response

Rice University researchers model the role of relaxation time as T cells bind to invaders or imposters, and how their ability to differentiate between the two triggers the body’s immune system.

A graphic shows the process by which a Rice University lab uses 3D printing to make shapeshifting materials that may be useful to make soft robots or as biomedical implants. (Credit: Verduzco Laboratory/Rice University)

Lab makes 4D printing more practical

Soft robots and biomedical implants that reconfigure themselves upon demand are closer to reality with a method developed at Rice to print shapeshifting materials.

Rice University scientists have created an open-source algorithm, SEMseg, that simplifies nanoparticle analysis using scanning electron microscope images. Courtesy of the Landes Research Group

New tool helps nanorods stand out

Rice scientists introduce an open-source method to simplify nanoparticle analysis using scanning electron microscope images.

A coating developed at Rice University made primarily with protein from eggs that would otherwise be wasted can be used to extend the freshness of produce. (Credit: Jeff Fitlow/Rice University)

Egg-based coating preserves fresh produce

Eggs that would otherwise be wasted can be used as the base of an inexpensive coating to protect fruits and vegetables, according to Rice University researchers.

NASA Flight Surgeon Dr. Rob Mulcahy '08 in Johnson Space Center's mission control room.

Meet the Rice alum in charge of NASA's prelaunch quarantine program

NASA flight surgeon Rob Mulcahy '08 was in charge of the prelaunch quarantine -- a precaution doubly important during the COVID-19 pandemic -- for the space agency's first manned mission to launch from the U.S. in almost a decade.

Rice University scientists analyzed the motion of single boron nitride nanotubes. The nanotubes are stable semiconductors and excellent conductors of heat. They could be useful as building blocks for composite materials or in biomedical studies. (Credit: Jeff Fitlow/Rice University)

Exotic nanotubes move in less mysterious ways

Rice University researchers capture the first video of boron nitride nanotubes in motion to prove their potential for materials and medical applications.

Mask transposed over a model fo the corona virus

Rice's COVID-19 research fund awards final grants

The Rice University COVID-19 Research Fund Oversight and Review Committee funds nine more faculty teams working to mitigate the effects of the new coronavirus.

Rice University scientists are analyzing the role of ferredoxin proteins produced when viral phages alter electron transfer in ocean-dwelling, photosynthetic bacteria that produce oxygen and store carbon. When the virus (pink) infects the bacteria, it produces a ferredoxin protein that hooks into the bacteria’s existing electrical structure and alters its metabolism. (Credit: Illustration by Ian Campbell/Rice University)

Ocean virus hijacks carbon-storing bacteria

Rice scientists are analyzing the role of ferredoxin proteins produced when viral phages alter electron transfer in ocean-dwelling bacteria that produce oxygen and store carbon.