21/06/2016

Hands up those of you who found chemistry the most exciting science lesson at High School. Bunson burners, loud bangs, colour changing and - of course - the smells! It’s so much fun when you’re thirteen. And yet, as we get older, chemistry becomes rather muted and challenging for most of us. On Science Café this week, Adam Walton visits Cardiff University’s School of Chemistry to meet a couple of scientists who are performing a bit of wizardry in the field. Prof Thomas Wirth last month received the prestigious Bader Award, from the Royal Society of Chemistry, for his pioneering work with iodine reagents. And Prof Graham Hutchings has been nominated a Regius Professor as part of Her Majesty the Queen's 90th Birthday honours. Prof Hutchings is head of the Cardiff Catlysis Institute, which works with tiny particles of gold. We learn how both scientists are helping to create greener, more environmentally friendly processes in medicine and industry.