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Seawater-derived solids can serve as carbon-negative components of concrete

Aggregate — solid materials like sand, gravel and crushed stone — is combined with cement to make concrete, the world’s most widely used human-made material. But sand is in short supply, so there is a need for alternate materials to…

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New production facility for high-purity graphene announced in Texas

A new facility in Texas to manufacture high-purity graphene powder from acetylene has been announced by HydroGraph Clean Power Inc. (Vancouver, B.C.; www.hydrograph.com). At capacity, the facility will generate thousands of metric tons per year of sp2-bonded powdered graphene with…

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Pilot planned for electrochemical extraction of REEs and other critical metals

Construction is planned for a pilot plant that will demonstrate a modular electrochemical technology for extracting rare-earth elements (REEs) and nickel from industrial wastes, such as coal ash. The startup Blueshift (Boston, Mass.; www.buildblueshift.com) recently announced venture capital funds that…

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SAFs from multiple feedstocks at lower cost

A pilot project completed at the end of last year demonstrated the ability of a technology to convert a range of feedstocks into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at lower cost than current ethanol-to-jet (ETJ) processes. Universal Fuel Technologies (UniFuel; Los…

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Enzyme engineering breaks out of the cell

A new approach to enzyme engineering has overcome many of the operating challenges associated with large-scale bio-based manufacturing processes by designing enzymes that can thrive outside living cells, eliminating complexity and improving reaction yields. eXoZymes’ (Monrovia, Calif.; www.exozymes.com) cell-free enzyme…

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Nanofibers dramatically increase catalytic activity for ultra-low-iridium electrolysis

Decreasing the dependence on expensive platinum-group metals like iridium is vital for the expansion of “green” hydrogen production via proton-exchange membrane (PEM) water electrolysis. Efforts to develop lower-iridium catalytic components for electrolysis have typically focused on mixing iridium into a…

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Substituting cobalt in high-strength alloys

A team of scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL; Richland, Wash.; www.pnnl.gov) recently unveiled a modified version of the “superalloy” Inconel 617, in which cobalt — a component of the alloy that is also a critical material with significant…

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Nanofiltration approach recovers aluminum from process waste

The industrial production of aluminum involves electrolysis of alumina (Al2O3) in molten cryolite, a mineral used as a solvent for the aluminum oxide raw material. Over time, the cryolite accumulates impurities, such as sodium, lithium and potassium ions, which degrade…

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The industry’s most comprehensive biodegradability assessments — even for large polymers

For product developers, understanding a substance’s biodegradability is essential in many applications to ensure compliance with toxicity and environmental regulations. Aropha, Inc. (Cleveland, Ohio; www.aropha.com) has developed a platform for biodegradability testing that reaches far beyond the typical breadth of…

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Upcycling of difficult plastics with metathesis

Polybutadiene (PB) and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) are widely used polymers in a number of products (including vehicle tires, kitchen appliances, computer hardware, toys and others), but are not generally recycled. Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL; Oak Ridge,…