Spider silk protein generates significant development interest due to its unique combination of properties, including high toughness and strength, extensibility, biocompatibility, thermal stability and others. Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI; Troy, N.Y.; www.rpi.edu) have developed what is said to…
A wastewater treatment plant operated by Orange County (Calif.) Sanitation District is the site of the first installment, at a commercial facility, of a new supercritical water oxidation (SCWO) technology capable of producing clean water and minerals from waste slurries.…
Incorporating silicon into the anodes of electric vehicle (EV) batteries can result in lighter and longer-range batteries. However, this process requires large volumes of silane (SiH4) gas, the vast majority of which is currently produced in China. Now, a new…
The Emission Free Pulping program aims to significantly reduce biomass burning and increase the product yield of wood material used for pulping from approximately 50 to around 70%. The five-year, €15-million program is jointly led by VTT Technical Research Centre…
A first-of-its-kind plastics-recycling technology is being demonstrated in a new pilot plant in India. Novoloop (Menlo Park, Calif.; www.novoloop.com), in partnership with Aether Industries (Gujarat, India; www.aether.co.in), is developing an integrated pilot plant to scale up Novoloop’s Lifecycling technology, which…
A new electrocatalytic technology (diagram) is said to be the first to produce methanol from CO2 at ambient temperature and pressure in a commercially viable reactor design. Oxylus Energy (New Haven, Conn.; www.oxylusenergy.com) recently unveiled a 5-cm2 electrolysis cell to…
Click chemistry — the subject of the 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry — is a powerful and efficient method for rapidly connecting chemical fragments. One highly versatile type of click chemistry involves the so-called SuFEx [sulfur(VI) fluoride exchange] reaction, which…
Researchers at Asahi Kasei Corp. (Düsseldorf, Germany and Tokyo, Japan; www.asahi-kasei.com) are developing a membrane-based system that dehydrates organic solvents without heat or pressure. The system is targeting pharmaceutical-manufacturing applications, where organic solvents are commonly used in performing reactions, as…
ExxonMobil affiliate Esso Nederland B.V. (Rotterdam, the Netherlands; www.esso.nl) is planning to build a pilot plant at its Rotterdam manufacturing complex to generate performance and operability data for a modular carbon-capture and storage (CCS) technology based on carbonate fuel cells…
A new electrochemical technology for direct-air capture (DAC) of atmospheric CO2 can also produce freshwater from brackish water or brine waste from desalination or wastewater treatment facilities (diagram). The technology, developed by Capture6 (Berkeley, Calif.; www.capture6.org), splits the salt content…