A newly developed process for manufacturing cyclohexasilane (CHS; Si6H12) offers a lower-cost and safer pathway to a material whose molecular architecture allows a wider range of material possibilities than alternative starting materials for several important silicon-based products. CHS can be…
Last month, the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO; Kawasaki, Japan; www.nedo.go.jp) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the National Innovation Agency (NIA; Bangkok, Thailand; www.nai.or.th) to work jointly on a project to demonstrate a manufacturing system…
Li-ion batteries Over the course of several battery charge/discharge cycles, microscopic fibers of lithium, called dendrites, sprout from the surface of the lithium electrode and spread across the electrolyte until they reach the other electrode. An electrical current passing through…
Scientists from the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (Seoul; www.kist.re.kr) and Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST; Ulsan, both Sout Korea; www.unist.ac.kr), led by UNIST’s professor Hyunhyub Ko, have developed smart adhesive pads — in the form…
Alcoa Inc. (Pittsburgh, Pa.; www.alcoa.com) has developed a hybrid technique, called Ampliforge (diagram), that combines additive manufacturing (3-D printing) and advanced forging techniques to improve the performance and reduce the cost of metal aerospace components. The company has produced prototype…
Researchers from Cornell University (Ithaca, N.Y.; www.cornell.edu) have developed an oxygen-assisted, Al/CO2 electrochemical cell that converts CO2 into a useful product while producing electricity. This represents a possible paradigm shift from most current carbon-capture models, says Lynden Archer, the James…
Modified yeast Researchers at the Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI; Emeryville, Calif.; www.jbei.org) have developed a genetically engineered strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae that is capable of utilizing both glucose (a six-carbon sugar), and xylose (a five-carbon sugar) when presented with plant…
The Dow Chemical Co. (Midland, Mich.; www.dow.com) recently announced that it has completed validation of a new plastic film technology that can be recycled in existing processes for flexible polyethylene (PE) packaging, but that also performs well as an oxygen…
Each year, a large amount of plastic waste is generated, with 60% of the total plastic content of municipal solid waste composed of high-, low- and linear-low density polyethylene (HDPE, LDPE and LLDPE) and polypropylene (PP). Existing methods for degrading…
An innovative H2S-scrubbing process employs iron particles to catalyze reactions that convert H2S to elemental sulfur. The new approach improves upon traditional H2S-scrubbing processes that constantly consume reagents (like NaOH and bleach) and generate sulfate-laden wastewater that must be treated.…