Latest News: Technologies
New technique simplifies doping for organic semiconductors
A new solution-based method for introducing doping into organic semiconductor films could simplify the manufacture of efficient single-layer photovoltaic cells and move them closer to a commercial reality. Beyond solar cells, the doping technique could be more broadly used in…
Batch or continuous? This methodology can help making the decision
So far, there is no high-level evaluation that gives a simple guideline on the benefits and feasibility of converting a batch to a continuous process. Now a group from the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR; Singapore; www.ices.a-star.edu.sg) has…
A new adsorbent for wastewater treatment
A team at the Graduate School of Energy, Environment, Water and Sustainability (EEWS) of Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST, Daejeon; www.kaist.ac.kr), led by professor Cafer T. Yavuz has developed a water-treatment adsorbent that can selectively remove water-soluble…
Making bio-ethanol from cassava pulp
Sapporo Holdings Ltd. (SHL; Tokyo, Japan; www.sapporoholdings.jp) and Innotech Green Energy Company Ltd. (IGE) in Thailand are collaborating on a project to achieve the world’s first practical fermentation process to make ethanol from cassava pulp. The two companies have completed…
Chementator Briefs
Denox catalysts Last month, Haldor Topsøe A/S (Lyngby, Denmark; www.topsoe.com) announced its participation in ProNOx, a new four-year, $4-million research program to improve selective catalytic reduction (SCR) catalysts. Together with two research teams from the Dept. of Chemistry and the Interdisciplinary…
A new low-energy electrolytic path to ethylene dichloride
New process technology from Chemetry (Moss Landing, Calif.; www.chemetrycorp.com) aims to revitalize the chlor-alkali product chain by manufacturing ethylene dichloride (EDC) and caustic using much less power than conventional processes. Through an exclusive licensing and engineering agreement, Technip (Paris, France;…
An enzymatic route to lignin-based functional chemicals
Phenpropanone monomers can be produced from lignin via an enzymatic process developed by Yukari Ohta and coworkers at the R&D Center for Marine Biosciences, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (Yokosuka City; www.jamstec.go.jp), in collaboration with National Defense Academy,…
A more efficient way to dehydrate natural gas — inline
A patented, inline absorption system has been developed and field-tested by ExxonMobil (Houston; www.exxonmobil.com), and has just been licensed to Sulzer Chemtech (Winterthur, Switzerland; www.sulzer.com). Because the tradenamed cMIST technology operates inside pipes, it replaces the need for conventional methods…
Chementator briefs
Cyclohexasilane 3DIcon Corp. (Tulsa, Okla.; www.3dicon.net) has signed a supply agreement with Gelest Inc. (Morrisville, Pa.; www.gelest.com) to produce cyclohexasilane (CHS) at pilot scale using 3DIcon’s newly developed CHS process. 3DIcon’s process (see CE, Sept. 2016, p. 9; www.chemengonline.com/new-process-cyclohexasilane-offers-lower-cost-improved-safety) offers a…
This surface technology allows viscous fluids to slide easily
A coating technology that creates a permanently slippery surface that allows even sticky, viscous fluids to flow easily without leaving residue has been newly applied industrially. Developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT; Cambridge, Mass.; www.mit.edu) and licensed to…