A direct copolymerization of carbon dioxide and diols has been achieved by Keiichi Tomishige and Masazumi Tamura at Tohoku University (Sendai; www.che.tohoku.ac.jp) and Hiroshi Sugimoto at Tokyo University of Science (both Japan; www.sut.ac.jp). The synthesis takes place with a metal-oxide…
A new smartphone-operated portable chemical analyzer provides a platform for chemical leak detection and other industrial applications, according to developer MyDx Inc. (San Diego, Calif.; www.cdxlife.com). The company designed the handheld analyzer for consumers, but the technology platform has origins…
The manufacture of pharmaceuticals and many fine chemicals requires costly, toxic catalysts with metal atoms bonded to complex organic ligands that catalyze the creation of chiral centers. Current processes often use homogeneous (dissolved) chiral catalysts and batch processing, an approach…
Conversion of carbon dioxide into useful carbon sources, such as carbon monoxide, formic acid and formaldehyde, is attracting considerable interest as a way to recycle and utilize CO2. A step in this direction is the direct photocatalytic reduction of CO2…
At the Hannover trade fair (April 24–29; Hannover, Germany), ABB (Zurich, Switzerland; www.abb.com) introduced a new sensing solution for monitoring low-voltage motors. Smart sensors attached directly to the motor supply information regarding operating and condition parameters via wireless transmission. The…
A scaled-up version of an electrochemical cell with boron-doped diamond electrodes has been introduced, and the system treats wastewaters containing difficult-to-oxidize dissolved pollutants. Known as Diamox, the electrochemical oxidation cell was developed by Element Six (www.e6.com), a designer and manufacturer…
An all-weather solar cell that generates electricity by both sunlight and rain has been developed by researchers led by professor Qunwei Tang from the Institute of Material Science and Engineering at Ocean University of China (Qingdao; http://eweb.ouc.edu.cn) and professor Peizhi…
Biomass to sugar Plans are underway to build a commercial-scale sugar-production facility that uses a novel process for converting corn stover into high-purity glucose. The 95%-pure glucose syrup produced there will be used as a raw material in the production…
The Clark-Reliance Corp. (Strongsville, Ohio; www.clark-reliance.com) has been awarded a U.S. Patent for its Eye-Hye SmartLevel system for remote indication of water level for industrial boilers. The patent recognizes the uniqueness of the system’s self-diagnostic technology, which intelligently monitors the…
A novel food-packaging material that is free from chemical additives and that can slow down fungal growth — doubling the shelf-life of perishable foods — has been developed by researchers from the National University of Singapore (www.nus.edu.sg). The researchers used…