Latest News: Technologies
Chementator: A less-expensive way to produce titanium
Titanium, the ninth most abundant metal in the world, has some desirable properties — the highest strength-to-weight ratio of any metal and high-temperature and corrosion resistance. However, its high production cost has so far restricted its use mainly to aerospace…
Chementator: Magnetic nanoparticles
Researchers at the U.S. Dept.of Energy’s Ames Laboratory (Iowa; edlinks.chemengonline.com/7374-538) have developed a new method for synthesizing various magnetic nanoparticles by mimicking bacteria that produce nano-scale magnetite (Fe3O4) naturally. Despite commercial applications ranging from localized drug delivery to magnetic inks…
Chementator: Making esters with microwaves
A simple, fast and clean process to make esters without a catalyst is being developed by Chemicrea Inc. (Tokyo; edlinks.chemengonline.com/7374-539) with the support of New Energy & Industrial Technology Development Organization (Kawasaki), and Gifu University (Gifu, all Japan). The process…
Chementator: Porous glass microspheres with promising potential
A method for manufacturing porous-wall, hollow-glass microspheres (PWHGMs) over an adjustable range of pore sizes promises to substitute the doped-ceramic packing material employed in various processes, by delivering improved kinetics and a denser, more uniform arrangement of active materials. The…
Chementator: A cost-effective deprotection catalyst
The use of palladium on carbon powder supports (Pd-CP) has traditionally been a commercially viable means of catalyzing deprotection reactions, despite also requiring substantive quantities of precious metal and limiting the selection of solvents due to low hydrogenation activity. However,…
Chementator: New enzymes
BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; edlinks.chemengonline.com/7374-542) has developed a new class of enzymes, called enoate reductases, which can be used for the asymmetric synthesis of chiral intermediates, such as esters and aldehydes. The modified biocatalysts, which the company has patented, are…
Chementator: Room temperature FET
Chemists at Stanford University (Calif.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/7374-543) have constructed a field-effect transistor (FET) with graphene that can operate at room temperature. Previous graphene FET demonstrations have been performed at liquid helium temperature (4K). The researchers were able to make 10-nm wide…
Chementator: Avalanche effect
Researchers at TU Delft (edlinks.chemengonline.com/7374-544) and the FOM Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter (Utrecht, both Netherlands) have demonstrated the so-called avalanch effect, where a single photon of light can release more than one electron within a semiconductor crystal. The…
Chementator: A ‘smart’ helmet
Industrial designer Tore Christian Bjørsvik at Sintef Health Research (Trondheim, Norway; edlinks.chemengonline.com/7374-545) has developed a safety helmet with a soft, flexible inner layer that instantly becomes a hard shock absorber if the helmet is subjected to impact. The helmet also…
Chementator: Catalyst loading
TubeMaster, Inc. (Louisville, Ky.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/7373-547) has filed U.S. and foreign patents for Dog-leg — claimed to be the world’s first articulating catalyst-loading device that permits loading of single and multi-layer catalyst to any height or outage, regardless of reactor vertical-head…