11-01 :: December 2010 / January 2011

nanotimes News in Brief

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From left, Professor Qilin Li, graduate student Michael Liga, alumna Huma Jafry and Professor Andrew Barron have published a paper outlining their method to dramatically improve the effectiveness of a common disinfectant. © Jeff Fitlow / Rice University

Huma Jafry what she had done. Jafry, the paper‘s first author, said, “I didn‘t do anything,” Barron recalled.

When Barron questioned Jafry, who has since earned her doctorate, he discovered she used silicone grease to seal the vessel of P25 before heating it. Subse- quent testing with nonsilicone grease revealed no

change in P25‘s properties, whether the sample was heated or not. Remarkably, Barron said, further work with varying combinations of titanium dioxide and silicone dioxide found the balance between the two at the time of the discovery was nearly spot-on for maximum impact.