In a recent paper, published in Nature, the Flytzani-Stephanopoulos group from Tufts University (Medford, Mass.; www.tufts.edu) identified a new method for the direct conversion of methane into methanol or acetic acid under mild conditions using oxygen, carbon monoxide and a…
A new collaboration between PPG (Pittsburgh, Pa.; www.ppg.com), SiNode Systems (Chicago, Ill.; www.sinodesystems.com) and Raymor Industries (Boirsbriand, Que., Canada; www.raymor.com) aims to accelerate commercialization for battery anodes made of a silicon-graphene composite. “These materials can achieve significantly higher capacities than…
3-D Printing At the 3-D printing tradeshow Formnext in November, GE Additive (Paris, France; www.ge.com) unveiled a laser-powder additive manufacturing machine with a 1-m3 build envelope. The machine, said to be the world’s largest laser-powder system, will be used to…
A counter-rotating propeller technology that is being developed to harness the energy from tidal currents has been field tested off the coast of Nagasaki Bay, near Iwo Jima, Japan. The prototype, which is one seventh the size of a commercial…
A new type of steam-reforming system that produces — in a single step — purified, compressed hydrogen from methane has been developed by a team of scientists from CoorsTek Membrane Sciences AS (Oslo; www.coorstek.com), the University of Oslo (both Norway;…
A team from the National University of Singapore (www.nus.edu.sg) led by professor Boon Siang Yeo has developed a prototype device that uses artificial photosynthesis to produce ethylene using only sunlight, water and CO2, at room temperature and pressure. The team…
Perovskite solar cells have attracted much interest in the past few years as the next-generation solar cells capable of surpassing silicon cells’ efficiency. However, because the perovskite materials are easily decomposed in moist conditions, they must be properly encapsulated, which…
Scientists from ExxonMobil (Irving, Tex.; www.exxonmobil.com) and the Institute of Chemical Technology (ITQ; Valencia, Spain; http://itq.upv-csic.es) have discovered a new material that could significantly reduce the amount of energy and emissions associated with the production of ethylene. Depending on the…
Photocatalytic reduction of CO2 into a fuel is an attractive way to reduce CO2 emissions into the atmosphere, and there are many projects underway around the world to find ways of converting CO2 into chemicals, such as H2, CH4, ethanol,…
High-surface-area beads filled with microbes are being used to reduce biosolids in wastewater. In one case, Drylet LLC (San Francisco, Calif.; www.drylet.com) has developed engineered porous particles that provide large surface areas (the equivalent of 12 football fields of surface…