http://www.che.com Chemical Engineering en-us 2013 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:45:01 EDT Seiko PMC Corp. (Tokyo; www.seikopmc.co.jp) has installed a pilot plant for the production of cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) at its Ryugasaki Factory, and will begin shipping samples next spring with the aim of commercial activities in 2015. In... http://www.che.com/chementator/new_materials/10554.html Sat, 1 Jun 2013 0:00:00 EDT Nippon Paper Industries Co. (Nippon Paper; Tokyo; www.nipponpapergroup.com) is constructing a verification plant for the production of cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) at the Chemical Div. of its Iwakuni... http://www.che.com/chementator/new_materials/10561.html Sat, 1 Jun 2013 0:00:00 EDT Oji Holdings Corp. (OJI; www.ojiholdings.co.jp) and Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. (MCC; both Tokyo, Japan; www.m-kagaku.co.jp) have developed a continuous process for producing transparent sheets made from ultra-thin, wood-based cellulose nanofibers (CNF). Both OJI’s papermaking technology and MCC’s... http://www.che.com/chementator/new_materials/10567.html Sat, 1 Jun 2013 0:00:00 EDT Although several antimicrobial hydrogels have been developed in recent years, they all have one or more drawbacks, such as possible toxicity, insufficient stability and biodegradability, and high costs. These and other drawbacks have been overcome with a synthetic hydrogel being developed by researchers from... http://www.che.com/chementator/new_materials/10450.html Wed, 1 May 2013 0:00:00 EDT A process developed by researchers at the University of Texas at Arlington (www.uta.edu) uses copper-based semiconductor nanoscale-rod arrays and solar radiation to carry out a photoelectroreduction of carbon dioxide to methanol. The process offers a pathway to utilize the greenhouse gas CO2 as a feedstock... http://www.che.com/chementator/new_materials/10364.html Mon, 1 Apr 2013 0:00:00 EDT Detection of extremely small quantities of dangerous or hazardous substances is important in many areas, including national security, safety of public utilities and radiation prevention. Several analytical methods have been developed using structural, functional and electronic properties of nanomaterials. In... http://www.che.com/chementator/new_materials/10369.html Mon, 1 Apr 2013 0:00:00 EDT A new and inexpensive way to produce TiFe — an alloy with potential as a material for reversibly storing hydrogen — has been developed by the research groups of professors Zenji Horita and Etsuo Akiba at Kyushu University (Fukuoka, Japan; www.kyushu-u.ac.jp). The TiFe is made by a technique known... http://www.che.com/chementator/new_materials/10371.html Mon, 1 Apr 2013 0:00:00 EDT An Australian team has developed a structure made of a metal organic framework (MOF) that captures and then releases CO2 using natural sunlight. The team includes researchers from: CSIRO Division of Materials Science and Engineering, (Clayton South, Victoria; www.csiro.au) the Dept. of Chemical Engineering... http://www.che.com/chementator/new_materials/10376.html Mon, 1 Apr 2013 0:00:00 EDT A new plant for manufacturing sodium silicide (Na4Si4;diagram), a non-flammable, air-stable powder that reacts with water to generate pure hydrogen, is under development near Niagara Falls, N.Y. by SiGNa Chemistry Inc. (New York; signachem.com). Scheduled for startup in the third quarter of 2013, the... http://www.che.com/chementator/new_materials/10378.html Mon, 1 Apr 2013 0:00:00 EDT Microwave irradiation of graphite has been shown to produce graphene oxide with 90% yield by the research group of professor Yuta Nishina, Research Core for... http://www.che.com/chementator/new_materials/10242.html Fri, 1 Mar 2013 0:00:00 EST