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Self-healing, recyclable solid electrolytes for Li-ion batteries

Energy-storage researchers have been in search of safer electrolytes for lithium-ion batteries, because of persistent concerns over possible overheating and fires resulting from dendrite formation in the anode. Solid polymer electrolytes have been explored to address these issues, but achieving…

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Commercializing vacuum-microwave drying for pharmaceuticals

Vacuum-microwave drying for pharmaceuticals is much faster than other techniques, such as freeze drying or air drying, but the difficulty in achieving homogenous microwave-energy distribution under vacuum conditions has made it difficult to scale up for commercial manufacturing. “What tends…

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Metabolic engineering allows robust, standardized fermentation that is predictive at scale

Production of bio-based chemicals has important environmental, cost and functional benefits, but historical approaches have lacked robustness to the commercial process environment and have proven costly to develop. A platform technology developed by DMC Biotechnologies (Boulder, Colo.; www.dmcbio.com) was designed…

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Chementator Briefs

Caprolactam Genomatica (San Diego, Calif.; www.genomatica.com) recently announced the production of the world’s first renewably sourced ton of caprolactam, the key ingredient for nylon-6. The company made the caprolactam by fermenting plant sugars with engineered microbes, departing from the conventional…

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Bio-inspired textiles recover oil from water

A technology that removes oil from the surface of water without pumps or chemicals has been developed by German researchers at the Universities of Bonn (www.uni-bonn.de) and Aachen (www.uni-aachen.de) and textile-manufacturer Heimbach GmbH (Düren, Germany; www.heimbach.com). Textiles with special surface…

New project aims to scale up rapid carbon-capture process

A new project is exploring a unique large-scale carbon-capture facility in the U.S. Technology developer Svante, Inc. (Burnaby, B.C., Canada; www svanteinc.com), is working with LafargeHolcim, Oxy Low Carbon Ventures, LLC and Total S.A., to evaluate the construction of a…

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Reduce the humidity and make some electricity on the side

Researchers at the Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, National University of Singapore (www.nus.edu.sg), led by professor Swee Ching Tan, have combined a moisture-absorbent gel with light-active materials to develop a humidity “digester” that dries ambient air while generating energy.…

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Japanese ‘clean coal’ demonstration project takes a step further

Construction has begun on the third step of a project to demonstrate the world’s first integrated coal-gasification fuel-cell (IGFC) combined cycle power plant with CO2 capture. The five-year, $73.3-million project is a collaboration of the New Energy and Industrial Technology…

Making renewable hydrogen for export

A large renewable hydrogen production facility, called the Murchison House Station, near the coastal town of Kalbarri, has been unveiled for Western Australia, with plans for up to 5 GW of a combined solar and wind project. The project has…

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Findings suggest new design principle for water-splitting catalysts

Hydrogen derived from water and renewable electricity, rather than from natural gas, could offer abundant energy without carbon dioxide emissions if water-splitting processes could be scaled up effectively. But the best catalyst for the reaction — platinum — is scarce…