Initial validation testing has been completed on a novel cathode material that could lower the manufacturing costs and lengthen the lifetimes of lithium-ion batteries. The new cathode material represents a departure from the traditional Li-ion intercalation chemistry used in current…
An efficient, energy-saving process for making carbon fibers (diagram) is being developed by a collaboration team of the University of Tokyo, the Institute of Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Toray Industries, Inc., Teijin Ltd., Toho Tenax Co. and Mitsubishi Rayon…
The traditional method for recovering platinum-group metals (Pt, Pa, Ir, Os, Rh, Ru and Au) is not economically viable in the case of low-grade deposits, but researchers from the Western Australian School of Mines, Curtin University (Perth; www.curtin.edu.au) and the…
A team from the National University of Singapore (www.nus.edu.sg), led by assistant professor Duong Hai Minh from the Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, has succeeded in converting paper waste into cellulose aerogels that are nontoxic, ultralight, flexible, extremely strong, and water…
PET recycling Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) can be quickly depolymerized into virgin monomers using a patented process that was developed, and is being scaled up by Ioniqa Technologies BV (Eindhoven, the Netherlands; www.ioniqa.com). The company recently finalized a multi-million-euro funding round…
Modular construction provides many benefits, but the decision to go modular should be thoroughly investigated Modular construction, which includes projects from small- and large-scale process systems to pilot plants to entire modular facilities, is a growing trend in the chemical…
A dry adhesive technology inspired by the microscopic hairs on gecko’s feet is said to be the first of its kind to be commercialized. Known as Setex, the technology was developed by nanoGriptech Inc. (Pittsburgh, Pa.; www.nanogriptech.com), a company spun…
A process that converts methane into hydrogen and carbon black has been developed by researchers at the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS; Potsdam; www.iass-potsdam.de) and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT; Karlsruhe, both Germany; www.kit.edu). In a joint project…
To ensure you get the most out of your heat transfer fluids throughout their lifetime, it is recommended to sample, test and analyze your fluids once a year. Be sure to look for a heat transfer fluid supplier that provides…
Adding flare-gas recovery units at strategic locations of an olefin plant can not only reduce emissions, but will save money as well Although gas flaring is necessary at some chemical process industries (CPI) plants or facilities, more and more efforts…