Chemical Applications Research Articles

Network analysis to reveal the most commonly detected compounds in predator-prey pairs in freshwater and marine mammals and fish in Europe

Marine and freshwater mammalian predators and fish samples, retrieved from environmental specimen banks (ESBs), natural history museum (NHMs) and other scientific collections, were analysed by LIFE APEX partners for a wide range of legacy and emerging contaminants (2545 in total). Network analysis was used to visualize the chemical occurrence data and reveal the predominant chemical mixtures for the freshwater and marine environments. For this purpose, a web tool was created to explore these chemical mixtures in predator-prey pairs. Predominant chemicals, defined as the most prevalent substances detected in prey-predator pairs were identified through this innovative approach. The analysis established the most frequently co-occurring substances in chemical mixtures from AP&P in the marine and freshwater environments. Freshwater and marine environments shared 23 chemicals among their top 25 predominant chemicals. Legacy chemical, including perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), brominated diphenyl ethers (BDEs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), hexachlorobenzene and mercury were dominant chemicals in both environments. Furthermore, N-acetylaminoantipyrine was a predominant pharmaceutical in both environments. The LIFE APEX chemical mixture application (https://norman-data.eu/LIFE_APEX_Mixtures) was proven to be useful to establish most prevalent compounds in terms of number of detected counts in prey-predator pairs. Nonetheless, further research is needed to establish food chain associations of the predominant chemicals.

Harnessing Cooperative Multivalency in Thioguanine for Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS)-Based Differentiation of Polyfunctional Analytes Differing by a Single Functional Group.

Small-molecule receptors are increasingly employed to probe various functional groups for (bio)chemical analysis. However, differentiation of polyfunctional analogs sharing multiple functional groups remains challenging for conventional mono- and bidentate receptors because their insufficient number of binding sites limits interactions with the least reactive yet property-determining functional group. Herein, we introduce 6-thioguanine (TG) as a supramolecular receptor for unique tridentate receptor-analyte complexation, achieving ≥97 % identification accuracy among 16 polyfunctional analogs across three classes: glycerol derivatives, disubstituted propane, and vicinal diols. Crucially, we demonstrate distinct spectral changes induced by the tridentate interaction between TG's three anchoring points and all the analyte's functional groups, even the least reactive ones. Notably, hydrogen bond (H-bond) networks formed in the TG-analyte complexes demonstrate additive effects in binding strength originating from good bond linearity, cooperativity, and resonance, thus strengthening complexation events and amplifying the differences in spectral changes induced among analytes. It also enhances spectral consistency by selectively forming a sole configuration that is stronger than the respective analyte-analyte interaction. Finally, we achieve 95.4 % accuracy for multiplex identification of a mixture consisting of multiple polyfunctional analogs. We envisage that extension to other multidentate non-covalent interactions enables the development of interference-free small molecule-based sensors for various (bio)chemical analysis applications.

Mining Medicinally Relevant Bioreduction Substrates Inspired by Ligand-Based Drug Design.

Exploring the scope of biocatalytic transformations in the absence of enzyme structures without extensive experimentation is a challenging task. To expand the limited substrate capacity of carrot-mediated bioreduction and hunt for new medicinally relevant ketones with minimum cost of labor and time, we deployed a practical method inspired by ligand-based drug design. Through analyzing collected literature data and building pharmacophore and reactivity prediction models, we screened a self-built virtual library of >8000 ketones bearing the most frequently used N,O,S-heterocycles and functional groups in drug discovery. Representative examples were validated, expanding the bioreduction substrate scope. The public availability of our models alongside the straightforward screening workflow makes it time-, labor-, and cost-saving to evaluate unknown bioreduction substrates for medicinal chemistry applications, especially for a large set of structurally differentiated ketones. Our studies also showcase the novelty of utilizing medicinal chemistry principles to solve a general biocatalysis problem.

Strong NIR-II Magneto-Optical Activity of a Chiral Sm15Cu54 Cage.

The magneto-optical response of chiral materials holds significant potential for applications in physics, chemistry, and biology. However, exploration of the near-infrared (NIR) magneto-optical response remains limited. Herein, we report the synthesis and strong NIR-II magneto-optical activity of three pairs of chiral 3d-4f clusters of R/S-Ln15Cu54 (Ln = Sm, Gd, and Dy). Structural analysis reveals that R/S-Ln15Cu54 features a triangular prism cage with C3 symmetry. Interestingly, magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) spectra exhibit remarkable magneto-optical response in the NIR-II region, driven by the f-f transition. The maximum g-factor of R/S-Sm15Cu54 reaches 5.5 × 10-3 T-1 around 1300-1450 nm, surpassing values associated with DyIII and CuII ions. This remarkable NIR-II magneto-optical activity may be attributed to strong magnetic-dipole-allowed f-f transitions and helix chirality of the structure. This work not only presents the largest Ln-Cu clusters to date but also demonstrate the key role of magnetic-dipole-allowed transitions on magneto-optical activity.

Ag20 Nanoclusters with Surface Azides as an Easily Functionalized Platform for Diverse Chemical Applications.

Modifying atomically precise nanocluster surfaces while maintaining the cluster core remains a key challenge. Herein, the synthesis, structure, and properties of two targeted Ag20 nanoclusters (NCs) with eight surface azide moieties, [CO3@Ag20(StBu)10(m-N3-C6H4COO)8(DMF)4] (1-m) and [CO3@Ag20(StBu)10(p-N3-C6H4COO)8(DMF)4] (1-p) are reported, where DMF is N,N-dimethylformamide. These AgNCs are designed to undergo cluster surface strain-promoted azide-alkyne cycloaddition (CS-SPAAC) reactions, introducing new functionality to the cluster surface. Reactivity is screened using model strained cyclooctynes. Reaction products and parent clusters are characterized by UV-vis, FT-IR, and NMR spectroscopies. The structure of the parent clusters and presence of surface azides is confirmed by single crystal X-ray diffraction (SCXRD) analysis. Clusters 1-m and 1-p are found to be amenable to CS-SPAAC reactions with retention of the NC frameworks, opening new routes for efficient modification of AgNC for applications.

Potential multi-parametric OFDR system based on the wavelength-division cross-correlation method

In this study, an optical frequency domain reflectometer (OFDR) system for simultaneous measurement of temperature, strain, and relative humidity (RH) based on the wavelength-division cross-correlation method is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The Rayleigh scattered spectrum shifts introduced by environmental changes can be demodulated by the cross-correlation operation, and the magnitude of the shifts exhibits variability in distinct wavelength subregions. Leveraging the distinct sensitivity characteristics of different parameters across different wavelength subregions, simultaneous multi-parameter decoupling can be achieved. In the signal processing flow, the frequency domain signals in different wavelength subregions are intercepted, and then the cross-correlation operation is performed separately to obtain the spectrum shift information in different wavelength subregions. The decoupling matrix is constructed to realize the decoupling of the three parameters based on the sensitivity differences of temperature, strain, and RH in different wavelength subregions. This novel and simple multi-parameter sensing system, to the best of our knowledge, has potential applications in engineering monitoring, chemical applications, and environmental measurements.

Unveiling the Influence of Line Shape of Surface Plasmon Resonances on Exciton–Plasmon Strong Coupling

AbstractStrong coupling between surface plasmon resonance (SPR) modes and excitons holds great potential for many chemical and physical applications. However, a clear understanding on how far‐field spectral characteristics of SPR (linewidths and intensity) affect the coupling strength remains unclear because these parameters are difficult to be individually tuned. These spectral characteristics are associated with the damping rate and field enhancement that depend on the morphology of the plasmonic nanostructure. In this work, the influence of the SPR line shape on exciton‐plasmon coupling is systematically investigated by delicately tuning the linewidths and resonance intensities of the plasmonic arrays. It is found that the SPR modes with narrow linewidths or large intensity are favorable for the exciton–plasmon system to achieve strong coupling. The obtained clear relationships between the SPR line shape and coupling strength provide guidance for the design and optimization of exciton‐plasmon coupling systems, favoring the highly efficient manipulation of exciton polaritons and enabling specific applications driven by strong coupling.

Runtime performance of a GAMESS quantum chemistry application offloaded to GPUs

SummaryComputational chemistry is at the forefront of solving urgent societal problems, such as polymer upcycling and carbon capture. The complexity of modeling these processes at appropriate length and time scales is mainly manifested in the number and types of chemical species involved in the reactions and may require models of several thousand atoms and large basis sets to accurately capture the chemical complexity and heterogeneity in the physical and chemical processes. The quantum chemistry package General Atomic and Molecular Electronic Structure System (GAMESS) has a wide array of methods that can efficiently and accurately treat complex chemical systems. In this work, we have used the GAMESS Effective Fragment Molecule Orbital (EFMO) method for electronic structure calculation of a challenging mesoporous silica nanoparticle (MSN) model surrounded by about 4700 water molecules to investigate the strong scaling and GPU offloading on hybrid CPU‐GPU nodes. Experiments were performed on the Perlmutter platform at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center. Good strong scaling and load balancing have been observed on up to 88 hybrid nodes for different settings of the execution parameters for the calculation considered here. When GPUs are oversubscribed by offloading work from multiple CPU processes, using the NVIDIA multi‐process service (MPS) has consistently reduced time to solution and energy consumed. Additionally, for some configuration parameter settings, oversubscription with MPS improved performance by up to 5.8% over the case without oversubscription.

Standardization of Chemically Selective Atomic Force Microscopy for Metal Oxide Surfaces.

The structures of metal oxide surfaces and inherent defects are vital for a variety of applications in materials science and chemistry. While scanning probe microscopy can reveal atomic-scale details, elemental discrimination usually requires indirect assumptions and extensive theoretical modeling. Here, atomic force microscopy with O-terminated copper tips on a variety of sample systems demonstrates not only a clear and universal chemical contrast but also immediate access to the atomic configuration of defects. The chemically selective contrast is explained by purely electrostatic interactions between the negatively charged tip-apex and the strongly varying electrostatic potential of metal and oxygen sites. These results offer a standardized methodology for the direct characterization of even the most complex metal oxide surfaces, providing fundamental insight into atomic-scale processes in these material systems.

The impact of ammonium hydroxide flow rate on iron oxide nanoparticle hydrodynamic size and colloidal stability

Precise control over the synthesis of iron oxide nanoparticles is essential to achieving optimal particle characteristics such as size, hydrodynamic size, polydispersity index, and zeta potential, all of which significantly influence colloidal stability. The commonly used co-precipitation technique often leads to high polydispersity and variable particle sizes, resulting in poor colloidal stability. This study demonstrates that varying the ammonium hydroxide flow rate during co-precipitation significantly affects particle size, hydrodynamic size, aggregation, and colloidal stability. An optimal flow rate of 4.25 mmol/min produced smaller, more uniform, and colloidally stable nanoparticles. Nanoparticle tracking analysis showed that this flow rate resulted in the smallest and most consistent hydrodynamic size of 123.3 ± 0.7 nm, while both higher and lower flow rates yielded larger and more polydisperse particles, up to 155.8 ± 20 nm. Dynamic light scattering confirmed that the 4.25 mmol/min rate produced the lowest polydispersity index of 0.21 ± 0.04, indicating the highest uniformity. Additionally, UV-Vis measurements demonstrated that nanoparticles synthesized at this optimal flow rate exhibited minimal changes in absorbance over 24 h, indicating superior colloidal stability. This study highlights the importance of optimizing the flow rate during the co-precipitation synthesis of IONPs to control particle hydrodynamic size and polydispersity, which are crucial parameters for numerous biomedical, chemical, and environmental applications.

The Preparation of Thin Conductive Polyimide Foils for Nuclear Targets.

Thin and conductive plastic foils are of great interest to the target preparation and nuclear physics communities as a backing support for neutron-induced reaction measurements. This paper describes the preparation and characterization of thin, freestanding conductive polyimide films with an areal density suitable for target preparation in nuclear chemistry applications. The films were fabricated by blending a variety of graphene-based nanoparticles, a custom-made graphene suspension, and carbon nanotubes within a polymer matrix. The fabrication of freestanding polyimide films with an areal density of 30 μg/cm2 (∼210 nm) was both time-consuming and difficult. Here, a novel approach is described that employs a sacrificial layer and graphene material to make thin (pure and conductive) polyimide foils readily available within 24 h.

Mass transfer and RTD studies in 3D printed serpentine and wavy serpentine millireactor

This study investigates the performance of serpentine and wavy serpentine millireactors. Millireactors, with their microscale features, offer advantages such as heightened surface-to-volume ratio, improved heat transfer coefficients, and reduced mass transfer pathways. The serpentine and wavy serpentine millireactors, characterized by their channel structures, demonstrate superior energy efficiency, reaction speed, and scalability compared to conventional reactors. The focus of this research is on understanding the mass transfer rates and residence time distribution (RTD) in these millireactors, crucial for optimizing their design and operation. The residence time distribution studies providing insights into the mixing characteristics and overall flow behavior. The (RTD) data was fitted to different models. Mass transfer studies examine the movement of acetic acid between aqueous and organic phases, with the volumetric mass transfer coefficient (KLa) as a key parameter. Results from the serpentine millireactor indicate a partially mixed flow behavior with a dispersion number of 0.611, while the wavy serpentine millireactor exhibits a dispersion number of 0.130, indicating improved mixing efficiency. The mass transfer studies yield KLa values in the range of 0.31–1.42 min−1 and 0.49–2.71 min−1 for serpentine and wavy serpentine millireactors, respectively. Efficiency assessments reveal 72.31% and 83.21% for serpentine and wavy serpentine millireactors, respectively. The study concludes that the use of serpentine and wavy serpentine millireactors represents an effective method for process intensification, offering valuable insights for chemical engineering and process optimization applications. The results contribute to advancing the millireactor technology and its potential in continuous flow chemical manufacturing.

Fundamental structural study of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) and boron nitride nanotube (BNNT) at low and high temperatures

The molecular structure stability at low and high temperature is important for an industrial application. The boron nitride-based materials, such as hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) and boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs), have been interested due to their high oxidation resistance and thermal stability. In this study, ex-situ and in-situ characterization techniques (e.g., Raman spectroscopy, X-ray Diffraction (XRD), and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR)) were applied to investigate the structural change of BNNT and h-BN at high (up to 800 °C) and low (down to -50 °C) temperatures. The Raman spectroscopy results showed that at high temperatures (800 °C), h-BN exhibited a significant red shift under both inert and oxidizing conditions, while BNNT showed no peak shift, indicating its more stable structural resistance compared to h-BN. Both h-BN and BNNT showed no peak shift after cooling to low temperatures (-50 °C). Stability of h-BN and BNNT up to a high temperature of 800 °C was revealed from the thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and FTIR spectroscopy results. The FTIR results also indicate that under oxidizing conditions, heating h-BN results in the formation of more hydroxyl groups compared to BNNT. The in-situ XRD results showed a greater magnitude of lower 2θ shift with increasing temperatures for h-BN compared to BNNT. Additionally, there was a more significant increase in FWHM values with respect to temperatures for h-BN than BNNT regardless of the sample under inert or oxidizing conditions. The characterization results from this study indicate that BN-based materials, especially BNNT, are suitable candidates for high temperature chemical reaction applications.

Variation of nitrate sources affected by precipitation with different intensities in groundwater in the piedmont plain area of alluvial-pluvial fan

A substantial reservoir of nitrogen (N) in soil poses a threat to the quality and safety of shallow groundwater, especially under extreme precipitation that hastens nitrogen leaching into groundwater. However, the specific impact of varying precipitation intensities on the concentration and sources of nitrate (NO3−) in groundwater across diverse hydrogeological zones and land uses remains unclear. This study aims to elucidate the fluctuations in NO3− concentration, sources, and controlling factors in shallow groundwater under different intensities of precipitation (extreme heavy precipitation and continuous heavy precipitation) in a typical alluvial-pluvial fan of the North China Plain by using stable isotopes (δ2H–H2O, δ18O–H2O, δ15N–NO3-, δ18O–NO3-), hydrochemical analyses and the SIAR model. Affected by extreme heavy precipitation the depleted isotopes of δ2H–H2O and δ18O–H2O in groundwater of the entire area suggested the rapid recharge of fast flow by precipitation. The enriched isotopes of δ2H–H2O and δ18O–H2O of north part in alluvial fan after continuous heavy precipitation showed the recharge of translatory flow of soil water. NO3−concentrations increased to 78.9 mg/L after extreme heavy precipitation and increased to 105.3 mg/L after continuous heavy precipitation when compared to those in normal year (56.8 mg/L) of north part of the alluvial fan. However, NO3− concentrations had slight variation after continuous heavy precipitation of south part of the fan due to the deep vadose zone. The contribution ratio of sources of NO3− in groundwater by using SIAR analysis revealed manure & sewage (MS) as the primary NO3− source (accounting for 59.7–78.1%) before extreme heavy precipitation, chemical fertilizer (CF) making a minor contribution (6.9–17.3%). Different precipitation events and land use types lead to changes in NO3− sources. Affected by extreme heavy precipitation, the contribution of MS decreased while CF increased, particularly in vegetables (26.2–28.1%) and farmland (29.2–34.7%). After continuous heavy precipitation, MS increased again, particularly in vegetables (50.0%) and farmlands (20.4–66.4%), with CF either increasing or remaining steady. This indicated that continuous heavy precipitation accelerated the leaching of nitrogen (organic manure application) stored in deep soil to groundwater and it has a larger influence on the increasing of NO3− concentrations of groundwater than extreme heavy precipitation which carried nitrogen (chemical fertilizer application) in shallow soil to groundwater by fast flow. These findings underscore the importance of considering soil chemical N stores and their implications for groundwater contamination mitigation under future extreme climate scenarios, particularly in agricultural management practices.

AbraLlama: Predicting Abraham Model Solute Descriptors and Modified Solvent Parameters Using Llama

This study explores the application of fine-tuned large language models for predicting physicochemical properties, specifically focusing on Abraham model solute descriptors (E, S, A, B, V) and modified solvent parameters (e0, s0, a0, b0, v0). By leveraging ChemLLaMA, a specialized version of the LLaMA model for cheminformatics tasks, we developed the AbraLlama-Solvent and AbraLlama-Solute models using curated datasets of experimentally derived solute descriptors and solvent parameters. Our findings demonstrate that AbraLlama-Solvent and AbraLlama-Solute predict modified solvent parameters and solute descriptors with high accuracy, comparable to existing methods. The AbraLlama-Solvent model shows varying prediction accuracy across different solvents, influenced by their position within the chemical space, while the AbraLlama-Solute model consistently predicts solute descriptors with high accuracy. Both models are available as applications on Hugging Face, facilitating easy predictions from SMILES strings. This research highlights the potential of LLMs in chemistry applications, offering practical tools for solvent comparison and expanding the applicability of Abraham solvation equations to a broader range of organic solvents.

Fluorohalomethylsulfonium Salts as a Fluorohalocarbene Source.

Synthesis of fluoroorganic compounds is of great importance due to their extensive application in medicinal chemistry, agrochemicals, and materials. Herein, we report efficient synthesis of novel diaryl fluorohalomethyl sulfonium salts. The application showcased proficient reagents for Freon-free fluorochloro-, fluorobromo-, and fluoroiodocarbene transfer to alkenes. The developed mild, room temperature conditions for the cyclopropanation do not require any metal catalysts and allow synthetic access to diverse cyclopropanes.

Rational synthesis of highly efficient dual–Z–scheme InVO4/FeVO4/Ex–CQDs–g–C3N4 heterojunction for photo(electro)chemical water splitting and pollutant removal applications

BackgroundThe ever–growing concern for environmental pollution and the need for clean energy sources have driven research toward sustainable technologies. Semiconductor photocatalysis has emerged as a promising approach for both environmental remediation and clean energy generation due to its efficiency and environment–friendly nature. This work focuses on developing a novel photocatalyst capable of addressing two crucial environmental challenges: Cr(VI) removal and water splitting for clean hydrogen production. MethodsThis study presents the development of a dual–Z–scheme heterojunction photo(electro)catalyst based on a combination of metal vanadates (FeVO4 and InVO4) and ultrasound–exfoliated carbon–rich graphitic carbon nitride (Ex–C–g–CN), denoted as IVO/FVO/Ex–C–g–CN. The synthesized nanocomposite was thoroughly characterized using various spectroscopic and microscopic techniques (such as XRD, XPS, UV–DRS, FESEM, EDX, and PL) to understand its material properties and structure. These techniques are crucial for elucidating the relationship between the composition of the material and its photocatalytic performance. Significant findingsThe key innovation of this work lies in the design of the dual–Z–scheme heterojunction within the IVO/FVO/Ex–C–g–CN photo(electro)catalyst. This design fosters efficient separation of photogenerated charges, a critical factor for enhancing photocatalytic activity. The effectiveness of this approach is evident in the achieved removal efficiency of 97.17 % for 100 ppm Cr(VI) within just 60 min of visible light irradiation. This demonstrates the superior ability of the developed photocatalyst to address chromium contamination. Furthermore, the photocatalyst exhibits a remarkable photocurrent of 3.16 mA and a low onset potential of 112 mV for the photoelectrochemical oxygen evolution (OER) reaction. These findings highlight the potential of this material for solar–driven water splitting, a clean and sustainable method for hydrogen production. Additionally, the IVO/FVO/Ex–C–g–CN composite demonstrates excellent recyclability, maintaining high Cr(VI) removal efficiency over multiple cycles, indicating its reusability and cost-effectiveness. Overall, the exceptional photo(electro)catalytic performance of the IVO/FVO/Ex–C–g–CN dual–Z–scheme heterojunction positions it as a promising candidate for tackling environmental pollution and generating clean energy.

Investigation of Huisgen's Noble metal catalyst click reaction mechanism for the synthesis of 1,4-disubstituted 1,2,3-triazoles

The current study delves into the mechanistic intricacies of azide-alkyne cycloaddition reactions (MAAC) catalyzed by transition metals (M = Cu, Ag, and Au) bound to N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligands, utilizing Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations at the MN12-L/Def2-SVP level of theory, with Def2-TZVP for metal atoms, to shed light on the 1,4-regioisomer formation. A detailed comparison between mono- and bi-nuclear catalytic pathways for these metal complexes is presented. Our findings underscore the nuanced role of the metal identity in dictating the reaction's course, with a notable preference for a stepwise mechanism across the board, except in the mononuclear pathway of Au and Ag, which follows a concerted mechanism. The activation energies, analyzed in toluene solvent, underscore the efficiency of the binuclear pathway for all metals, showcasing significantly lower activation barriers (18.76 kcal/mol for Au and Ag, and 8.47 kcal/mol for Cu) compared to the mononuclear route. This distinction highlights the potential for optimizing catalytic performance through careful selection of metal-NHC combinations, providing valuable insights for the design of efficient catalysts in click chemistry applications. The study not only reaffirms the superior efficacy of the binuclear pathway but also enriches our understanding of metal-catalyzed MAAC reactions, contributing to the advancement of catalysis science and offering avenues for the development of novel synthetic strategies in organic chemistry.

Enhancing mixing efficiency of a circular electroosmotic micromixer with cross-reciprocal electrodes

Enhancing mixing efficiency in microscale processes for sensitive biomedical, pharmaceutical, and chemical applications is crucial, particularly when operating under low-velocity constraints. This study presents a comprehensive investigation into the impact of various factors on microfluidic mixing within a circular mixing chamber micromixer, utilizing electroosmotic principles. The governing equations are solved numerically using the finite element technique-based solver. This research examines the effects of microchamber diameter (D), inlet velocity (uo), alternating current (AC) voltage amplitude (ϕo), and AC frequency (f) on fluid mixing dynamics. Several key findings are noted from this study. The reduction of the circular microchamber diameter decreases the linear distance between cross-reciprocally placed microelectrodes, resulting in increased electroosmosis force and mixing efficiency. The voltage amplitude within the specified range shows increased mixing efficiency when fluid species are combined at appropriate velocity and AC frequency. The highest mixing efficiency of 98.84% is achieved with the following parameters: flow velocity (uo) of 150 μm/s, AC frequency of 4 Hz, voltage amplitude of 500 mV, and microchamber diameter of 20 μm. At a frequency of 12 Hz and voltage amplitude of 500 mV, the mixing efficiency exceeds 94.66% across a wide range of input velocities (100–200 μm/s), enabling versatile control in microfluidic devices. The nonlinear interaction between electroosmotic flow and microchamber geometry significantly contributes to this enhanced mixing efficiency. These results demonstrate the potential for optimizing microfluidic mixing processes through careful parameter tuning, particularly in applications requiring high efficiency at low flow rates. Thus, this study provides valuable insights for designing more effective microfluidic systems in various scientific and industrial fields.

Realization of a chip-based hybrid trapping setup for 87Rb atoms and Yb+ ion crystals.

Hybrid quantum systems integrate laser-cooled trapped ions and ultracold quantum gases within a single experimental configuration, offering vast potential for applications in quantum chemistry, polaron physics, quantum information processing, and quantum simulations. In this study, we introduce the development and experimental validation of an ion trap chip that incorporates a flat atomic chip trap directly beneath it. This innovative design addresses specific challenges associated with hybrid atom-ion traps by providing precisely aligned and stable components, facilitating independent adjustments of the depth of the atomic trapping potential, and positioning trapped ions. Our findings include the simultaneous loading of the ion trap with linear Yb+ ion crystals and the loading of neutral 87Rb atoms into a mirror magneto-optical trap.