Alfa Chemistry Blog

Carbon nanotubes are very appealing to researchers to develop novel materials with more favorable features. As a supplier of a wide array of materials, trusted by both industry and academia, Alfa Chemistry Materials further diversifies its product types and announces the offering of carbon fibers earlier this month. The practical use of carbon fibers can be traced back to the 1960s and plenty of efforts were subsequently followed to develop high mechanical performance carbon fibers. Now carbon fibers have become the top one choice fiber in industry due to their high tensile strength, low densities, good thermal and electrical conductivities, and high thermal and chemical stabilities. “Carbon fibers are fibers about 5–10 micrometres in diameter and are composed mostly of carbon atoms. As a strong, stiff, lightweight material, carbon fiber has the potential to replace steel. There is growing popularity to use carbon fibers to manufacture specialized, high-performance products like a...

Asymmetric synthesis is a process that directly produces an optically active compound from symmetrically constituted molecules without requiring resolution of a racemic mixture. With its unique advantages, asymmetric synthesis has become an enabler for green chemistry. To facilitate relevant research, Alfa Chemistry Catalysts recently announces to provide a wide array of chiral oxazaborolidines , which belong to the category of asymmetric organocatalysts, for customers worldwide. There are many approaches for asymmetric synthesis of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), including chiral auxiliary based methodologies, biocatalysis, enzymatic transformations, the derivatization of compounds from the chiral pool, and many more. The use of asymmetric catalysis makes the whole synthesis process greener, taking into consideration factors like toxicity of reagents and waste generated. “Asymmetric synthesis can be divided into three major categories: chiral pool synthesis, chiral auxil...

Semiconductor plays a pivotal role in modern electronics. The fabrication of semiconductor devices requires use of high purity wet chemicals. Considering this, Alfa Chemistry recently launches a new product line, offering a wide array of high purity wet chemicals , which can be used for clean, removal, and rinse purposes. The oncoming expansions of some IC manufacturers such as Intel, TSMC, and Samsung will push up demand for materials like solvents, photoresists, gasses, and wafers/substrates. In particular, the demand for high purity wet chemicals is extraordinarily huge and there is even a threat of running short of it if the production of semiconductor chips continues to increase. “We have a diverse portfolio of advanced chemical purification technologies, such as distillation, ion exchange, gas adsorption and filtration, which enables us to consistently provide a variety of high purity wet chemicals,” says the Marketing Chief of Alfa Chemistry. “Clients can always rely on us i...

On January 12, 2021, Alfa Chemistry announces to add a new product line of non-ionic surfactants , which is another step to the efforts of continuously enriching its product lines. Previously, the company has already released amphoteric surfactants, anionic surfactants and cationic surfactants. Anionic surfactants are recognized as the most frequently used surfactants, while non-ionic surfactants are the second most widely used surfactants in a range of areas such as cleaning, personal care, and disinfectant products as well as industrial processes. Nonionic surfactants contain no charge and so they are less likely to form a “soap scum” in hard water. “Though less effective than anionic surfactants, non-ionic surfactants also cause less skin irritation for some people. Therefore, most cleaning products usually blend anionic and nonionic surfactants to achieve a balance between cleaning potential and the risk of skin irritation, ” says one of the senior scientists from Alfa Chemistr...

Quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) are a kind of widely used cationic surfactants. They are formed by the substitution of hydrogen atoms of ammonium groups by alkanes or aromatic hydrocarbon groups. The general formula is (R4N+) X-, where R is a hydrocarbon group or a phenyl group, and X- is a halogen ion such as Cl-, Br- and so on. The properties of QACs are determined by the structure and properties of their substituted R groups, which can be divided into four categories, namely, alkyltrimethylammonium compounds (ATMACs) and dialkyldimethlammonium compounds (DADMACs), benzylalkyldimethylammonium compounds (BACs) and heterocyclic ammonium compounds (HACs). Generally speaking, the longer the carbon chain contained in QACs substituted for the R group, the weaker its water solubility and polarity, and the stronger its non-polarity. When the chain of the same length is contained, QACs without phenyl are more polar than those with phenyl. Because of its good surface activity and bacter...