Latest News: Technologies
Multi-state switchable stationary phase for chiral separation
High-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) using a chiral stationary phase (CSP) is the most effective method for separating enantiomers of chiral molecules. However, the limited number of CSPs available puts a constraint on applying this technology universally. Now, researchers from the…
Ionic liquids enable lower-cost desalination with forward osmosis
Membrane-based forward osmosis (FO) desalination could be a lower-cost alternative to conventional reverse osmosis (RO) technology, which can desalinate ocean water effectively, but requires electricity to drive the separation, and so remains expensive. Scientists from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBL;…
New research solves debate over water-gas shift reaction mechanism
The water-gas shift reaction (WGS; in which water vapor is reacted with carbon monoxide over a copper-chromium-iron-oxide catalyst to yield hydrogen and CO2) is of paramount importance to the chemical industry, as it is a primary route to producing H2…
New oxocatalyst demonstrated for vinyl chloride monomer production
Recently, Tosoh Corp. (Tokyo, Japan; www.tosoh.com) has applied a new, proprietary oxocatalyst in the oxychlorination process for making ethylene dichloride (EDC) from ethylene, HCl, and O2 in its vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) manufacturing process. The performance boost anticipated from simulation…
Commercial debut for an upgrading process
After four years of project development and execution, the new PolyFuel unit at Petrobrazi petroleum refinery in Romania has been started-up and is fully functional since April 2019. Based on the PolyFuel technology licensed by Axens (Rueil-Malmaison, France; www.axens.net), the…
A less expensive way to make graphene
A team from RMIT University (Melbourne, Australia; www.rmit.edu.au) and the National Institute of Technology, Warangal (Warangal, India; www.nitw.ac.in) has developed a cost-effective and eco-friendly way of producing graphene using a eucalyptus polyphenol solution extracted from eucalyptus bark. RMIT’s professor Suresh…
Chementator Briefs
Nanofiltration Toray Industries, Inc. (Tokyo, Japan; www.toray.com) has created what is claimed to be the world’s highest-level nanofiltration membrane. The new membrane triples the permeation performance of conventional models while enhancing ion and organic-compound separation from aqueous solutions. In developing…
Stabilized, purified silk protein serves as green chemistry platform
Scientists have long sought ways to take advantage of the high strength of natural silk protein in new materials, but its incorporation has been hindered by the inability to stabilize the protein in water. Now, a company known as Evolved…
Integrated e-waste processing facility nears completion
Although it contains many valuable metals, electronic waste (e-waste) is an exceedingly difficult material stream to process, and the vast majority of e-waste is not recycled. EnviroLeach Technologies Inc. (Vancouver, B.C.; www.enviroleach.com) is currently preparing to start up a first-of-its-kind…
This multifunctional photocatalyst splits water with visible light
Oxysulfide semiconductors have narrow bandgaps — a property that makes them suitable photocatalysts for water splitting under irradiation with visible light (640 nm wavelength). That’s because the electronegative sulfide ions negatively shift the valence band edges of the corresponding oxides.…