In this special podcast produced in partnership with Waters Corporation, find out how understanding the chemistry and materials that go into batteries marks the first step towards making them safer and increasing energy density, and unlocks new opportunities for reuse and recycling

Chemistry in its element

Batteries: The bedrock of the sustainable future

How did a tree bark from Sri Lanka become one of the essential flavours of the festive season? We explore the history of cinnamon and the compound that gives it its distinctive taste and aroma  

Cinnamaldehyde: Chemistry in its element

A compound so explosively unstable that nobody has been able to measure how sensitive it is without it, well, exploding.

Azidoazide azide: Chemistry in its element

How one of mankind's oldest pigments helped shepherds secure their sheep and inspired one of the most popular songs of the twentieth century

Ochre: Chemistry in its element

A sweet compound that provides ample energy for extreme endurance events – find out how maltodextrin helped Anna Ploszajski swim the English channel

Maltodextrin: Chemistry in its element

Liquid salts, ionic melts, fused salts, or ionic glasses – call them what you like, these much-hyped solvents show great promise. Katrina Krämer speaks to chemical engineer Jason Bara about ionic liquids.

Ionic liquids: Chemistry in its element

An antimicrobial compound that kills bacteria and viruses quickly – found in some of the most colourful antiseptic solutions 

Chlorhexidine: Chemistry in its element

Does asparagus give you foul-smelling urine? Helen Arney investigates asparagusic acid, and the lavatorial genetic lottery that controls whether or not you can smell its distinctive aroma

Asparagusic acid: Chemistry in its element

A sweet treat with a deadly trick for Halloween – glycyrrhizic acid, or glycyrrhizin, is found in black liquorice and sweeter than sucrose, but can cause heart problems and even prove fatal if consumed in excess

Glycyrrhizic acid: Chemistry in its element

Also known as 'milk of amnesia', propofol helps to prevent perception of pain in surgery – just don't forget its dangerous side

Propofol: Chemistry in its element

Hepatitis C drug sofosbuvir made waves when first launched – quicker to work and with fewer side effects than existing drugs, but it came with a hefty price tag

Sofosbuvir: Chemistry in its element

Meera Senthilingam makes a welcome return to the podcast with a drug that gives hope to the many sufferers of drug-resistant TB – still one of the world's biggest killers

Bedaquiline: Chemistry in its element

This summer's extreme weather prompts Katrina Krämer to investigate the history of sunblock and the ingredient blamed by some for bleaching coral reefs

Oxybenzone: Chemistry in its element

From Lavoisier’s experiments with plaster of paris to the the ‘Sistine Chapel of crystals’ in Mexico, Mike Freemantle explores the history of gypsum

Gypsum: Chemistry in its element

Originally developed to treat flu and marketed in Japan as Avigan, promising Covid-19 trial results have seen countries stockpiling this medication by the millions

Favipiravir: Chemistry in its element

A weekly tour of the periodic table, from Chemistry World, the magazine of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

hubhopper

Chemistry in its element

hubhopper