Alcoa Inc. (Pittsburgh, Pa.; www.alcoa.com) has developed a hybrid technique, called Ampliforge (diagram), that combines additive manufacturing (3-D printing) and advanced forging techniques to improve the performance and reduce the cost of metal aerospace components. The company has produced prototype…
Researchers from Cornell University (Ithaca, N.Y.; www.cornell.edu) have developed an oxygen-assisted, Al/CO2 electrochemical cell that converts CO2 into a useful product while producing electricity. This represents a possible paradigm shift from most current carbon-capture models, says Lynden Archer, the James…
Modified yeast Researchers at the Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI; Emeryville, Calif.; www.jbei.org) have developed a genetically engineered strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae that is capable of utilizing both glucose (a six-carbon sugar), and xylose (a five-carbon sugar) when presented with plant…
The research group of professor Shiro Saka at the Dept. of Socio-Environmental Energy Science, Graduate School of Energy Science, Kyoto University (Kyoto, Japan; www.ecs.energy.kyoto-u.ac.jp) has developed a new process that efficiently produces bioethanol from non-edible lignocellulose resources, without generating carbon…
Mixtures of rare-earth metals (REMs) are notoriously difficult to separate, but a team of researchers from Harvard University (Cambridge, Ma.; www.seas.harvard.edu) has developed a method for efficiently extracting REMs with a high level of selectivity. By taking advantage of the…
The main mineral component of our bones and teeth — hydroxyapatite [HAP; Ca10(OH)2(PO4)6] — has been used by a Chinese team to develop a highly flexible paper with high antibacterial activity. The paper, made from silver nanoparticle-decorated ultra-long HAP nanowires…
Last month, Clariant AG (Muttenz, Switzerland; www.clariant.com) said that the pilot plant of a new process for making substitute natural gas (SNG) has been successfully tested, signifying that the technology is ready for commercial application. The process, called Vesta Once-through…
The Dow Chemical Co. (Midland, Mich.; www.dow.com) recently announced that it has completed validation of a new plastic film technology that can be recycled in existing processes for flexible polyethylene (PE) packaging, but that also performs well as an oxygen…
Each year, a large amount of plastic waste is generated, with 60% of the total plastic content of municipal solid waste composed of high-, low- and linear-low density polyethylene (HDPE, LDPE and LLDPE) and polypropylene (PP). Existing methods for degrading…
An innovative H2S-scrubbing process employs iron particles to catalyze reactions that convert H2S to elemental sulfur. The new approach improves upon traditional H2S-scrubbing processes that constantly consume reagents (like NaOH and bleach) and generate sulfate-laden wastewater that must be treated.…