Plant Watch Altana scales up production of UV-curing resins and 3D-printing materials April 14, 2025 — Altana AG (Wesel, Germany; www.altana.com) has scaled up the production of ultraviolet (UV) curing resins for industrial additive serial production. The company also started…
Glucose is a key pillar in producing bio-based alternatives to conventional chemicals, but finding industrially viable, non-food-competitive sources for glucose has proven challenging, due to the difficulty in obtaining glucose from hemicellulosic materials, such as woody biomass, in a cost…
Efficient and sustainable recycling of lithium-ion batteries is a crucial element in electrifying transportation. Black mass is a mixture of cathode and anode materials remaining after disassembly and shredding of end-of-life lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Many valuable materials, including lithium and…
A dual process strategy bridging fermentation and electrochemistry is enabling the production of mid-chain carboxylic acids (MCCAs) — important and valuable precursors to a number of products — using inexpensive organic waste streams from breweries, distilleries and dairies. Developed by…
The extraction of alumina from bauxite is significantly impacted by the silica content of the ore — specifically the presence of silica in kaolinite (Al2Si2O5(OH)4). This is because traditional bauxite-beneficiation methods, such as washing, flotation and particle-size separation, also typically…
Aggregate — solid materials like sand, gravel and crushed stone — is combined with cement to make concrete, the world’s most widely used human-made material. But sand is in short supply, so there is a need for alternate materials to…
A new facility in Texas to manufacture high-purity graphene powder from acetylene has been announced by HydroGraph Clean Power Inc. (Vancouver, B.C.; www.hydrograph.com). At capacity, the facility will generate thousands of metric tons per year of sp2-bonded powdered graphene with…
SUEZ (Paris, France) has commissioned China’s largest industrial membrane-based seawater desalination plant for Wanhua Chemical’s Penglai Industrial Park to support industrial needs while conserving scarce water resources A landmark seawater desalination plant, designed and built by SUEZ for Wanhua Chemical…
DuPont (Wilmington, Del.) announced Qnity Electronics, Inc. as the name of the planned independent Electronics public company that will be created through the intended spin-off of its Electronics business*. As a pure-play electronics materials company, Qnity will be one of…
Stepan Co. (Northbrook, Ill.) announced the start of production at a new alkoxylation facility in Pasadena, Texas, which began in early April. This milestone marks a significant achievement for the startup team, including Stepan employees and contractors, who have collectively…