a chemical story of impurities
impurity is by no means the most pleasant word one can find in a dictionary. as a discipline that relies on pure specimens to establish fundamental principles, mechanisms, and standards, chemistry does not particularly welcome impurities either. after all, chemistry develops over time as various purification techniques evolve. however, impurities have been playing an important role, occasionally indispensable, in advancing chemistry, technology, and even everyone’s everyday life. this presentation details selected intertwining stories between impurities and ever-curious human beings, including the multi-faced role of impurities in several historical moments of chemical discovery and the potential pitfalls they can bring.
xin su, senior associate editor, angewandte chemie, batteries & supercaps
xin su received his b.sc. in chemistry from nankai university, china, in 2009. he then moved to the usa and conducted graduate research on hydrazone-based molecular switches and functional materials at dartmouth college, hanover, nh, usa, where he received his ph.d. in organic chemistry in 2013. following postdoctoral training at the national energy technology laboratory (netl), pittsburgh, pa, usa, he worked as an associate editor for wiley's materials science journals including advanced materials in hoboken, nj, usa, from 2015 to 2017. after spending a year at springernature as a senior editor of nature chemistry, xin joined the editorial team of angewandte chemie in 2018.