Latest News: Technologies
A comprehensive zeolite database
A team led by Rice University (Houston; www.rice.edu) researcher Michael Deem has assembled a database of 2.6 million possible unique zeolites — porous silicate minerals often used as catalysts or molecular sieves. The database of potential structures could inform efforts…
May Chementator Briefs
Wastewater reuse Aqua-Chem Inc. (Knoxville, Tenn.; www.aqua-chem.com) has developed a filtration-based process for purifying wastewater from large-scale carpet manufacturing. The process effectively removes dyes and other additives from wastewater to reduce concentrations from around 800 ppm to less than…
Freeze-drying based on fine-spray produces uniform microspheres
A freeze-drying system recently commercialized by ULVAC, Inc. (Chigasaki, Japan; www.ulvac.co.jp) produces spherical particles by spraying a solution into a vacuum chamber. The approach has numerous advantages over conventional freeze-drying, and can be used for generating dry powders in the…
CNT-enhanced membranes show promise for desalination method
By immobilizing carbon nanotubes (CNTs) within polymer membrane pores, scientists at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT; Newark, N.J.; www.njit.edu) were able to significantly improve the efficiency of desalination via a membrane distillation process. Somenath Mitra and colleagues at…
A step closer to commercial production of spider silk
Spider silk has many unique properties that make it suitable for applications such as coatings and medical products. As a protein, the silk is remarkably stable and is only destroyed physically or digested and recycled by the spider. However, an…
‘One-pot’ ammonia-borane recharging could boost fuel-cell vehicles
Ammonia borane’s (AB) capacity to contain and easily release large amounts of hydrogen has made it an attractive candidate to store the gas for onboard fuel-cell powered vehicles. A major technological hurdle that remains is how to reintroduce hydrogen to…
A new high-temperature alloy
Last month, Carpenter Technology Corp. (Wyomissing, Pa.; www.cartech.com) licensed an alumina-forming austenitic stainless-steel alloy developed at the U.S. Dept. of Energys Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL; Tenn.; www.ornl.gov). The new alloy is said to be unique in that the composition…
Coal slurry as a substitute for diesel fuel
An Australian team including CSIRO (Melbourne; www.csiro.au) and the Uni- versity of Newcastle (www.newcastle.edu.au) has developed an alternative pathway for producing ultra-low-ash coal that, the team believes, can be used to fuel diesel engines, thus providing the opportunity for diesel…
A renewable, green oxidation catalyst
Scientists from the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST; Tsukuba, Japan; www.aist.go.jp), in collaboration with Tokyo University of Science and Panchakot Mahavidyalaya University, have demonstrated that a nickel-complex-type organic nanotube (Ni-ONT), developed by AIST, can catalyze oxidation…
Commercial production for a self-cleaning coating
Last month, PJI Contract Pte Ltd. (Singapore; www.pjicon.com.sg) opened a production facility for the manufacture of titanium dioxide solution — a self-cleaning, nanocoating material developed at Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech; www.simtech.a-star.edu.sg), a research institute of the Agency for…