Looking ahead to a new year also provides an excellent canvas to reflect upon the past year. We’ve published our 2026 CPI Business Outlook, but we also want to look back at the topics and features that resonated most with our audience in 2025. Below you will find the Top 5 most-read Feature articles, plus our most popular online-only Features of the year. To keep up with trends in research, development and commercialization, please look through our Top 10 Chementator articles list.
TOP FEATURE ARTICLES 2025
1. Use of AI in Chemical Manufacturing
by Jonathan Alexander, Albemarle Corp. (first published June 1, 2025)
Artificial intelligence (AI) seems to be everywhere in industry, but the nuances of its application are not generally understood completely. Presented here are descriptions of the different subtypes of AI and their main applications currently in chemical processing
2. Graphene: Breakthrough Industrial Applications
by Mamoun Taher, Graphmatech (first published May 1, 2025)
As research continues, commercial applications expand and manufacturing scales up, graphene is not only set to invigorate existing industries, but also to lay the groundwork for entirely new ones
3. Scaling Industrial Decarbonization with Advanced Membranes
y Christine Parrish, Ardent Process Technologies (first published February 1, 2025)
The potential of membrane technology to unlock hybrid and scalable carbon capture, combined with results from early field trials, suggest that advanced membranes will play a crucial role in enabling more widespread adoption of decarbonization strategies
4. Agitator Impeller Hydraulic Force in Mixing Vessels
by Gregory T. Benz, Benz Technology International (first published November 1, 2025)
Understanding the forces acting on agitator impeller blades during turbulent flow in a mixing vessel is essential for successful and efficient operation. Presented here is information on the hydraulic force, its source, and how to calculate it
5. Gas-Flow Calculations for Sonic Choking: Revisited
By Trey Walters, Applied Flow Technology (first published February 1, 2025)
Gas compressibility can lead to choked flow in piping systems. Presented here is an overview of choked-flow geometries in pipes, and examples of how choked flow arises in different pipe layouts
TOP ONLINE-ONLY FEATURE ARTICLES 2025
- Nylon Recycling: Stretching Toward Circularity (first published March 5, 2025)
- Electrochemistry as a driver of decarbonization in the chemicals sector (first published February 19, 2025)
- Industry’s first integrated water-treatment system tailored for green hydrogen (first published January 10, 2025)
- Engineering Resilient Battery Materials: Chemistry and Interface Innovations Are Shaping Next-Gen Grid Storage (First published July 11, 2025)
- How AI Is Redefining the Role of the Computational Chemist (first published August 19, 2025)