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Miscellaneous Graphics

The Chemistry of Petrol & The Tetraethyl Lead Story

Tomorrow (18th May) marks the date of birth of Thomas Midgley, who made significant contributions to something many of us make use of on a regular basis: petrol. Midgley was the research assistant to Charles Kettering, and the duo were responsible for the addition of the compound tetraethyl lead to petrol, an innovation that would […]

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Atmospheric Chemistry

The Chemistry of Vehicle Emissions Reduction & The Volkswagen Scandal

Volkswagen have been in the news for all the wrong reasons over the past week. The company admitted to installing a ‘defeat device’ in millions of cars which made it appear in emissions tests that they emitted far lower levels of particular pollutants than they actually did in normal road conditions. Plenty of articles have […]

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Aroma Chemistry

The Chemicals Behind the ‘New Car Smell’

This graphic comes off the back of a number of requests for it to be added to the ‘Aroma Chemistry’ series. The characteristic ‘new car smell’, as with the majority of entries in this series, can’t be pinned down to just one compound – rather, it’s a complex mixture of chemicals that, combined, give the recognisable […]