Chementator
Silicate-rock-based material can replace flyash in cement, lowering costs and CO2
Flyash, a waste byproduct from coal burning, has been used effectively as a supplementary cementitious material (SCM) in Portland cement to displace a portion of the cement and lower the CO2 emissions associated with cement making. But because coal burning…
A new electrolyte supercharges sodium-ion batteries
Sodium-ion batteries have many advantages over lithium-ion batteries due to sodium’s abundance and low cost. However, there are several performance challenges to overcome with sodium-ion batteries because there is typically a tradeoff between energy density and lifecycle. Now, a research…
A step closer to transition-metal catalysis with aluminum
Chemists from the Institute of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry at the University of Freiburg (Germany; uni-freiburg.de) have synthesized a cationic, low-valence aluminum complex salt. “So far, there has been only one example of a cationic, low-valent aluminum compound, but it…
This particle sensor exploits quantum effects for real-time process optimization
Last month at Achema 2022 (August 22–26; Frankfurt am Main, Germany), Q.ANT GmbH (Stuttgart, Germany; www.qant.de) introduced what is said to be the world’s first industrial-grade quantum sensor (photo) for particle analysis. By the use of super-fast software, electronics and…
Hybrid membrane separates CO2 with both high permeability and selectivity
Conventional gas-separation membranes normally exhibit a trade-off between selectivity and permeability — a practical limitation referred to as the Robeson upper bound. As a result, membranes designed to selectively remove relatively low concentrations of carbon dioxide from natural gas or…
Biodegradable corn-based adhesive is non-toxic, with tunable properties
A new class of adhesives being developed by the startup gluECO Adhesives LLC (Ashburnham, Mass.; www.glueco-adhesives.com) is based on corn proteins and has a host of environmentally friendly properties, such as biodegradability and the ability to be easily removed in…
Chementator Briefs
Biomethane Last month, NextChem, a subsidiary of Maire Tecnimont S.p.A. (Rome, Italy; www.mairetecnimont.com) was awarded a contract by ENGIE subsidiary Storengy (Bois-Colombes Cedex, France; www.storengy.com) to perform an advanced basic-engineering study for a plant that will produce second-generation biomethane from…
A more-sensitive way to differentiate chiral compounds
Circular dichroism (CD) is the established method for distinguishing between enantiomers — the optical isomers of molecules that are mirror images of each other. In this approach, circularly polarized light is passed through the sample and is absorbed differently by…
Commercial debut for sand-based thermal-energy storage
Last month, operation began at Polar Night Energy Oy’s (Tampere, Finland; www.polarnightenergy.com) first commercial sand-based thermal-energy storage system. The thermal storage system, which is located at the Vatajankoski power plant, is now producing low-emission district heating to the city of…
Upcycling of waste ABS into 3D-printable material with enhanced properties
In an advancement toward circularity for commodity plastics, researchers at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL; Oak Ridge, Tenn.; www.ornl.gov) have developed a method for upcycling the commodity thermoplastic acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) into an ABS-vitrimer material that can be…