Latest News: Technologies
Extremophilic microbes enable new methane pathways
Microbes inhabiting the extreme environments thousands of feet below the earth’s surface possess unique properties not encountered elsewhere. A research consortium of South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (SDSMT; Rapid City; www.sdsmt.edu), University of Oklahoma (Norman) and Montana State…
A new C2-based production route to MMA
Chemists and engineers from the Performance Materials Segment of Evonik Industries AG (Essen, Germany; www.evonik.com) have developed a new process for making methyl methacrylate (MMA). With a yield of over 90%, the so-called Leading in Methacrylates (LiMA) process can be…
Multilayer membrane for climate control
A triple-layer, porous membrane system developed at the Functional Materials Laboratory at Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich (www.fml.ethz.ch) can be fashioned into evaporative curtains to cool and humidify indoor spaces, potentially decreasing the energy demand for climate-control systems. Juxtaposing opposite forces…
‘Deep-learning-based’ AI quickly predicts furnace products
NTT Communications Corp. (NTT Com; www.ntt.com) and Mitsui Chemicals Inc. (both Tokyo, Japan; www.mitsuichem.com) have demonstrated the ability to predict, with a high precision, the concentration of gaseous products generated in a furnace. The predictions are produced in just 20…
New antimicrobial compounds offer disinfectant alternatives
A newly patented class of synthetic antimicrobial compounds is aimed at overcoming the limitations of existing industrial disinfectants, such as quaternary ammonium compounds and bleaches. “Bleaches are effective disinfectants on initial application, but they don’t work when they dry and…
‘Molecular pulleys’ make a better battery anode
Silicon anodes are an attractive alternative to graphite anodes currently in use in lithium-ion batteries, because they can deliver up to five times higher capacities. However, silicon anodes have a limited charge-discharge cycle number. Their volume expands during each cycle,…
These microbes make a meal of methane/hydrogen mixtures
Soil bacteria that oxidize methane (methanotrophs) are important in capturing methane before it enters the atmosphere. Now an international team has isolated and characterized methanotrophic bacteria — obtained from a New Zealand volcanic field — that can grow on CH4…
Getting more value from recycled polystyrene
Although polystyrene has been adopted into a large number of end products, it remains one of the least-recycled plastic waste streams — an estimated 95% of polystyrene materials are discarded after a single use. Employing a proprietary thermo-catalytic process, GreenMantra…
High-performance aluminum-cerium alloy
A newly developed aluminum-cerium alloy is exceptionally stable at high temperatures, and is highly corrosion-resistant, allowing its use in components for advanced engines and for other aerospace, automotive and power-generation applications. Co-developed by Eck Industries (Manitowoc, Wis.; www.eckindustries.com) and Oak…
Liquid metal membranes improve on Pd membranes for separating hydrogen
A liquid metal membrane with liquid gallium (Ga) sandwiched between two porous silicon carbide supports offers a pathway to improve the currently available membranes of solid palladium (Pd) metal for separating hydrogen after the steam reforming of methane. Pd metal…