Chemical engineers from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL; www.epfl.ch), in collaboration with scientists from Toyota Motor Europe (Zaventem, Belgium; www.toyota-europe.com), have invented a photoelectrochemical (PEC) “artificial leaf” that splits water vapor into H2. The technology features a…
For the first time, a quantum-computing-inspired tool has been used for catalyst discovery — specifically for the investigation of a new catalyst for the production of hydrogen via electrolysis. Created jointly by scientists from Fujitsu Ltd. (Tokyo; www.fujitsu.com) and the…
Blue Planet Systems (Los Gatos, Calif.; www.blueplanetsystems.com) and Sulzer Chemtech Ltd. (Winterthur, Switzerland; www.sulzer.com) have announced a partnership to accelerate development of Blue Planet’s process for mineralizing carbon dioxide gas into construction aggregate for concrete. By sequestering CO2 into the…
Japan’s National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS; Ibaraki, Japan; www.nims.go.jp), along with Harvard University (Cambridge, Mass.; www.harvard.edu) and the University of Connecticut (Storrs, Conn.; www.uconn.edu), have designed a new imaging device that uses structural colors — visible colors that change…
Stainless steels are common materials for process equipment and components in the chemical process industries in large part because of their corrosion resistance. This one-page reference reviews the properties of stainless steels with regard to corrosion resistance. Passive layer Stainless…
Magnet Metals Bilfinger SE (Mannheim, Germany; www.bilfinger.com) is supporting REEtec AS (Oslo, Norway; www.reetec.no) with engineering, procurement, construction and management (EPCM) services for a new processing plant for neodymium and praseodymium — two rare earth elements (REE) used in the…
Last May, Axens (Rueil-Malmaison, France; www.axens.net) started up the first ethanol-to-ethylene pilot plant based on Axen’s Atol technology with Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan; www.sumitomo-chem.co.jp). The pilot plant, located at Sumitomo Chemical’s Chiba Works, will produce ethylene from ethanol.…
Isosorbide is a glucose-derived, rigid, secondary diol monomer that can impart favorable mechanical, barrier and thermal properties to condensation polymers, such as polyesters. However, for the past two decades, it has not been possible to synthesize fully bio-based poly (isosorbide…
Developed by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT; Cambridge, Mass.; www.mit.edu), these durable, flexible solar cells are glued to a strong, lightweight fabric, making them easy to install on a fixed surface. They are one-hundredth the weight of…
BTX extraction A newly launched series of blended solvents for the extraction of benzene, toluene and xylenes (BTX) from a variety of feeds shows improved performance over single solvents, while avoiding environmentally problematic solvent components. The series, known as BTX…