Scientists make toxic gas sensing nine times more effective

A Russian-Belorussian research team has developed a new tungsten oxide–based gas sensing material that shows high sensitivity to carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and acetone. The new material's gas sensing response was ...

Bacteria upcycle carbon waste into valuable chemicals

Bacteria are known for breaking down lactose to make yogurt. Now researchers led by Northwestern University and LanzaTech have harnessed bacteria to break down waste carbon dioxide (CO2) to make valuable industrial chemicals.

Monitoring the body's fat burning by sampling breath

Your breath holds the key to monitoring fat burning, and now a research group from Tohoku University has created a compact and low-cost device that can measure how our body metabolizes fat.

Acetone plus light creates a green jet fuel additive

Take biomass-derived acetone—common nail polish remover—use light to upgrade it to higher-mass hydrocarbons, and, voila, you have a domestically generated product that can be blended with conventional jet fuel to fly ...

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Acetone

Acetone is the organic compound with the formula (CH3)2CO, a colorless, mobile, flammable liquid, the simplest example of the ketones.

Acetone is miscible with water and serves as an important solvent in its own right, typically as the solvent of choice for cleaning purposes in the laboratory. About 6.7 million tonnes were produced worldwide in 2010, mainly for use as a solvent and production of methyl methacrylate and bisphenol A. Familiar household uses of acetone are as the active ingredient in nail polish remover and as paint thinner. It is a common building block in organic chemistry.

Acetone is naturally produced and disposed of in the human body as a result of normal metabolic processes. It is normally present in blood and urine. Diabetic people produce it in larger amounts. Reproductive toxicity tests show that it has low potential to cause reproductive problems. In fact, the body naturally increases the level of acetone in pregnant women, nursing mothers and children because their higher energy requirements lead to higher levels of acetone production. Ketogenic diets that increase acetone in the body are used to reduce epileptic attacks in infants and children who suffer from recalcitrant refractory epilepsy.

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