A novel carbon-capture project at Michigan Technical University (MTU; Houghton, Mich.; www.mtu.edu) couples the collection of carbon dioxide from power-plant fluegas with a system to use the captured CO2 as a raw material to make oxalic acid, which can be…
Many desalination technologies have been developed, but they usually require a large amount of energy. Forward osmosis (FO) has the potential to become an excellent alternative desalination technology due to its lower energy consumption. Nano structured materials have also attracted…
The novel performance characteristics and tunability of quantum dots make them a promising nanomaterial in numerous emerging applications Quantum dots (QDs) represent a broad group of semiconducting nanoparticles that feature a unique combination of optical and electronic properties. For example,…
Reducing carbon dioxide to useful fuel molecules is a highly desired objective, but is difficult because the required reactions are energetically unfavorable, and a cost-effective and robust catalyst for the reduction has been elusive. Now researchers at Oak Ridge National…
New column internals boost efficiency and improve reliability of distillation towers In the chemical process industries (CPI), the majority of separations are done via distillation columns. And, when the rest of the process relies upon those columns, inefficiencies, bottlenecks and…
The compound 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) is an attractive raw material that can be used to create polyethylene furanoate, which is a bio-polyester with many applications. One way of making FDCA is through the oxidation of 5-hydroxymethyl furfural (HMF), a compound…
Membranes in large-scale water-treatment processes are often fouled by accumulation of bacteria or their biofilms. Now, a team of researchers from Washington University St. Louis (WUSTL; St. Louis, Mo.; www.wustl.edu) have combined graphene oxide and bacterial nanocellulose to design a…
The electronegativity of atoms is one of the most well-known parameters for explaining why chemical reactions occur. Now, Martin Rahm, assistant professor of physical chemistry at Chalmers University of Technology (Gothenburg, Sweden; www.chalmers.se), has redefined the concept with a new,…
ANG fueling station Ingevity (North Charleston, S.C.; www.ingevity.com) has completed construction of a fueling station for low-pressure adsorbed natural gas (ANG) at its headquarters in North Charleston, S.C. The fueling station will supply natural gas to ANG bi-fuel vehicles outfitted…
Two major concerns in hydraulic fracturing operations are finding efficient ways to handle the massive amount of produced wastewater, and dealing with offgases from the well. A new technology developed by Ship & Shore Environmental Inc. (Signal Hill, Calif.; www.shipandshore.com),…