Phenolic compounds, such as chloro- and nitrophenols, are potentially hazardous when found in soils and the workplace. Normally, such compounds are detected with techniques such as mass spectrometry. There are several mechanisms for degrading and detoxifying contaminants: bacteria use specialized…
Sewage and wastewater often contain pollutants and environmental hormones (endocrine disruptors) that can have a negative effect on the environment and on human health. Catalysts currently used to destroy such pollutants involve high costs. And up to now, research has…
Natural wax coating Researchers from Aalto University (Finland; www.aalto.fi) have developed a new way of making garments water-resistant, without using toxic chemicals. The treatment is non-toxic, and does not impair breathability. The coating uses carnauba wax from Brazilian palm-tree leaves.…
Researchers at the City University of New York Energy Institute (ccny.cuny.edu) have developed a low-cost battery based on manganese dioxide and zinc that reaches voltages of greater than 2 V, a first-time achievement that could allow batteries with these low-cost…
On September 19, Focus-On (Dordrecht, the Netherlands; www.focus-on-process.com) — a new, 50:50 joint-venture (JV) of Samson AG (Frankfurt am Main; www.samson.de) and Krohne GmbH & Co. KG (Duisburg, both Germany; www.krohne.com) — introduced its new “intelligent process node,” a device…
Because of their large surface area per unit mass, nanoparticles of additives can have a big impact on the properties of plastics, such as changing the crystallization temperature, and improving heat transfer, electrical properties (conductivity) and mechanical properties, as well…
Linde Engineering (Pullach, Germany; www.linde-engineering.com) has developed a process to recover helium, hydrocarbons and purified carbon dioxide from natural gas, while conditioning the natural gas for pipeline transport by adjusting the water and heavy-hydrocarbon dew point and the CO2 concentration.…
A low-cost “green” technology for water desalination and zero liquid discharge of industrial wastewater that has been drawing increasing attention is solar steam generation using nanostructured photothermal materials. However, the crystallization of salts on the surface of photothermal materials during…
Carbyne transfer Marcos G. Suero and his research group at the Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia (ICIQ; Tarragona, Spain; www.iciq.es) have reported a new reaction that inserts a monovalent carbon unit between both sp2-hybridized carbons of alkenes. For the…
A process for in-situ oxidation of hydrocarbons in low-quality oilfields, and subsequent gas separation, offers a path to generating hydrogen for fuel and chemicals that avoids any greenhouse gas emissions. Known as Hygienic Earth Energy (HEE), the process has been…