An international team of scientists, led by senior researcher Anna Rising and professor Jan Johansson at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and the Karolinska Institute (both Stockholm, Sweden; www.slu.se and www.ki.se), has developed a process that makes it possible…
A new solution-based method for introducing doping into organic semiconductor films could simplify the manufacture of efficient single-layer photovoltaic cells and move them closer to a commercial reality. Beyond solar cells, the doping technique could be more broadly used in…
So far, there is no high-level evaluation that gives a simple guideline on the benefits and feasibility of converting a batch to a continuous process. Now a group from the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR; Singapore; www.ices.a-star.edu.sg) has…
Researchers from Nanjing University (Nanjing, China; www.nju.edu.cn) have reported a solar desalination device that is claimed to be much more efficient than existing devices. While typical solar-powered desalinators are not very efficient — only about 30 to 45% of the…
Anellotech Inc.’s (Pearl River, N.Y.; www.anellotech.com) biomass-to-aromatics (Bio-TCat) process pyrolyzes woody biomass and converts the pyrolysis gases to aromatic hydrocarbons using zeolite catalysts in one reactor (see Chem. Eng., March 2016, p. 7; www.chemengonline.com/anellotech-receives-investment-for-bio-based-btx-development-plant). Pyrolysis is the rapid decomposition of…
A newly launched pharmaceutical excipient (inactive ingredient providing a vehicle for delivery of oral dosage) enhances the solubility of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) that have poor bioavailability. Tradenamed Parteck MXP, the excipient is a polyvinyl alcohol-based material developed by MilliporeSigma…
To reduce dependency on petroleum-based plastics, thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions AG (Essen, Germany; www.thyssenkrupp-industrial-solutions.com) has developed a new manufacturing process for producing the biopolymer polylactide (PLA). The company is now building the first commercial plant based on its patented PLA neo…
New process technology from Chemetry (Moss Landing, Calif.; www.chemetrycorp.com) aims to revitalize the chlor-alkali product chain by manufacturing ethylene dichloride (EDC) and caustic using much less power than conventional processes. Through an exclusive licensing and engineering agreement, Technip (Paris, France;…
Phenpropanone monomers can be produced from lignin via an enzymatic process developed by Yukari Ohta and coworkers at the R&D Center for Marine Biosciences, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (Yokosuka City; www.jamstec.go.jp), in collaboration with National Defense Academy,…
A patented, inline absorption system has been developed and field-tested by ExxonMobil (Houston; www.exxonmobil.com), and has just been licensed to Sulzer Chemtech (Winterthur, Switzerland; www.sulzer.com). Because the tradenamed cMIST technology operates inside pipes, it replaces the need for conventional methods…