A new electrochemical process could make triphenylphosphine (TPP) — an important reagent in many organic transformations — more practical for industrial use. Synthesizing TPP results in large volumes of waste in the form of triphenylphosphine oxide (TPPO), which is very…
As new types of water contaminants continue to emerge, such as retinoids and endocrine-disrupting chemicals, wastewater-treatment techniques are evolving to economically handle them. One new process that has shown promise against both conventional and emerging water pollutants integrates two technologies…
By replacing part of cement clinker with calcined (thermally activated) clay, CO2 emissions in cement production are lowered by up to 40%, according to thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions AG (Essen, Germany; www.thyssenkrupp-industrial-solutions.com), which developed the technology known as “polysius activated clay.”…
With lithium demand higher than ever, processors are increasingly turning toward emerging technologies and new resources for lithium extraction. A new California-based project launched by Controlled Thermal Resources (CTR; Imperial, Calif.; www.cthermal.com) and Lilac Solutions (Oakland, Calif.; www.lilacsolutions.com) aims to…
Artificial photosynthesis systems seek to harvest sunlight and carbon dioxide to make fuels. Among the many challenges for making solar fuels has been achieving a fast flow of protons from where they are generated to where they combine with CO2…
Scientists at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL; Upton, N.Y.; www.bnl.gov) and the University of Delaware (Newark; www.udel.edu) have designed a catalyst capable of selectively removing oxygen atoms from the side chain of an aromatic compound without affecting the ring. The team…
Lithium is a key raw material for batteries that power electric vehicles, portable electronics and more, but traditional methods for obtaining it are plagued by poor lithium recovery (a large portion of Li is lost in the recovery process), slow…
Li2CO3 from brine Purities of greater than 99.9% for battery-quality lithium carbonate have been achieved using a proprietary artificial-intelligence-powered crystallization technology developed by Standard Lithium Ltd. (Vancouver, B.C.; www.standardlithium.com). The total cation contaminant levels were reduced from nearly 2,500 parts…
Anellotech (Pearl River, N.Y.; www.anellotech.com) recently announced a successful laboratory demonstration of a process to convert mixed plastic waste into a host of useful starting materials for new plastics. The process (diagram), known as Plas-T-Cat, would take place in a…
An international team, led by Mahdokht Shaibani from Monash University (Melbourne, Australia; www.monash.edu), has developed an ultra-high capacity lithium-sulfur battery with better performance and lower environmental impact than current Li-ion batteries. The team includes people from Monash University, University of…