Chemists from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL; Switzerland; www.epfl.ch) have developed “sponges” designed to capture various target substances, such as gold, mercury and lead, dissolved in solution. Now, they have developed one for capturing toxic hexavalent chromium…
Because of its abundance, light weight and easy alloying, magnesium metal has great potential for components in the automotive, aerospace and military industries. However, the two existing magnesium production processes — the Pidgeon process from ore and electrolytic process from…
The presence of moisture — even in very small amounts — can be extremely detrimental the manufacture of many products, including semiconductors. Removal of moisture from a contaminated process is a labor-intensive process that requires large volumes of high-purity gases.…
Although Li-ion batteries are currently the dominant technology in the rechargeable-battery sector, sodium-ion (Na-ion) batteries possess many benefits in terms of sustainability, safety and costs, and are poised to greatly expand their commercial usage. Sodium-ion battery specialist Faradion Ltd. (Sheffield,…
Chemetry Corp. (Moss Landing, Calif.; www.chemetrycorp.com) is piloting a hybrid electrochemical-catalysis process for making propylene oxide (PO) that eliminates some of the major production hurdles associated with chlorohydrin-based PO production. “The traditional chlorohydrin process produces about 47 tons of wastewater…
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…