Water scarcity is one of the most serious global challenges of our time. Desalination and water reuse are effective and reliable means to provide new water resources. Among the many methods available to treat water, reverse osmosis (RO) has widely…
The potential usefulness of 1,1-di-substituted alkenes for making performance polymers has been recognized for some time, but commercialization has been elusive because of the reactive nature of the monomers. Startup company Sirrus Inc. (Loveland, Ohio; www.sirruschemistry.com) has developed technology to…
A less expensive process for producing biodegradeable polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) plastics from renewable feedstocks is being scaled up by a factor of six, resulting in a 30,000–60,000-lb/mo pilot facility. The improved PHA process — developed by Meredian Inc. (Bainbridge, Ga.; www.meredianpha.com)…
New bio-based polyimides (PIs) that withstand temperatures up to 390°C — the highest ever reported for a bioplastic — have been developed by Tatsuo Kaneko at the Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST, Nomi City; www.jaist.ac.jp), in collaboration…
A new thermoset polymer has been discovered by researchers at IBM Research Almaden (San Jose, Calif.; www.research.ibm.com). The new material, polyhexahydrotriazine (PHT), has a very high Young’s Modulus (up to 14 GPa, compared with a Young’s Modulus of 4 GPa…
NEC Corp. (Tokyo, Japan; www.nec.com) has developed a two-stage, heterogeneous synthesis for making a high-functionality bioplastic (70 wt.% plant content) from non-edible plant cellulose. The new bioplastic is said to have excellent thermo-plasticity (275 MFR), heat resistance (140°C glass transition…
While super glassy polymers are initially very porous and ultra-permeable — a property that makes them suitable as gas-separation membranes — they quickly pack into a denser phase becoming less porous and permeable. Now, new materials that prevent such aging…
New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO; Kawasaki, Japan; www.nedo.go.jp) and Global Water Recycling and Reuse Solution Technology Research Assn. (GWSTA) have developed a new water-treatment system that integrates seawater desalination with recycle water from a sewage treatment plant.…
An inexpensive and scalable composite catalyst that is said to outperform platinum for oxygen reduction in metal-air batteries and fuel cells has been developed by a research team led by professor Jaephil Cho from Ulsan National Institute for Science and…
Electrochem Technologies & Materials Inc. (Montreal, Canada; www.electrochem-technologies.com) has recently patented a process for recovering rare-earth elements (REEs) from mercury phosphor powders — a byproduct from recyclers of fluorescent lamps and light bulbs. This technology offers a sound and profitable…