In The News
Novel cathode material for lithium-ion batteries
Initial validation testing has been completed on a novel cathode material that could lower the manufacturing costs and lengthen the lifetimes of lithium-ion batteries. The new cathode material represents a departure from the traditional Li-ion intercalation chemistry used in current…
Graphene-based membranes
Graphene has received much attention as material for membranes due to its high surface area, high mechanical strength and chemical stability. Graphene-based membranes are also expected to exhibit much greater permeability than the current state-of-the-art membranes. However, it has been…
Making more carbon fibers for less
An efficient, energy-saving process for making carbon fibers (diagram) is being developed by a collaboration team of the University of Tokyo, the Institute of Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Toray Industries, Inc., Teijin Ltd., Toho Tenax Co. and Mitsubishi Rayon…
Extracting platinum metals
The traditional method for recovering platinum-group metals (Pt, Pa, Ir, Os, Rh, Ru and Au) is not economically viable in the case of low-grade deposits, but researchers from the Western Australian School of Mines, Curtin University (Perth; www.curtin.edu.au) and the…
Chementator Briefs
Bio-Hydrogen Scientists at Indiana University (IU; Bloomington, Ind.; www.iu.edu) have created a highly efficient biomaterial that catalyzes the formation of hydrogen from water. The biomaterial could be used to produce H2 or generate power from H2 in a fuel cell.…
These CeO2 nano-rods store a lot of O2 at low temperatures
Automobile catalytic converters contain cerium-based co-catalysts to enhance the overall effectiveness of the converter by absorbing and releasing oxygen to convert CO into CO2. Existing emission control systems typically use CeO2-based materials, such as solid solutions of ceria and zirconia,…
Dow announces startup of PDH unit; and more business news for the CPI
Plant Watch ICA Fluor to build $1-billion petroleum-refining facility in Mexico January 11, 2016 — ICA Fluor, Fluor Corp.’s (Irving, Tex.; www.fluor.com) joint venture (JV) with Empresas ICA, S.A.B. de C.V. (www.ica.com.mx/ir), was authorized by Pemex to proceed with the…
Coral enhances the removal of mercury from wastewater
A convenient route for the fabrication of a bio-mimetic, coral-like nanoporous γ-Al2O3 with a higher capacity to adsorb Hg(II) in aqueous solution than those of commercial Al2O3, has been reported by a research group from Anhui Jianzhu University (Hefei City,…
Alkylate process featuring a solid-acid catalyst can use multiple feedstocks
A recently announced process based on a novel solid-acid catalyst is effective at producing high-quality alkylate from a variety of feedstocks, including methanol. Technology developer Exelus Inc. (Fairfield, N.J.; www.exelusinc.com) says its technology converts methanol and mixed-butanes to high-octane alkylate.…
Removing harmful metals from wastewater with crab shells
Copper and cadmium exist naturally in the environment, but human activity can increase their concentrations to a point where they become a health hazard. Conventional wastewater treatment to remove those metals includes chemical precipitation, coagulation, flocculation, ion exchange, membrane filtration,…