Plastic that grows on trees, part two
Some researchers hope to turn plants into a renewable, nonpolluting replacement for crude oil. To achieve this, scientists have to learn how to convert plant biomass into a building block for plastics...
View ArticleTruth Is Stranger Than Science: Discovering true properties of metal oxides
(PhysOrg.com) -- To successfully compete in a global marketplace, manufacturers continually search for better materials: faster drying and less hazardous paint, longer-lasting sunscreen, and faster...
View ArticleHarnessing nanopatterns: Tiny textures can produce big differences
(PhysOrg.com) -- Research at MIT has uncovered new information about how nanoscale patterns on the surface of a material can produce significant changes in the way it interacts with liquids. The...
View ArticleCatalytic Catamarans: Common industrial catalyst sports rafts made of platinum
Catalysts convert useless or unwanted chemicals into useful or more desirable ones. Research in this week's Science reveals new, important details about a common catalyst: how rafts of chemically...
View ArticleTracking down pathogenic yeasts
If the human immunological system is weakened, yeast fungi that are normally harmless can be transformed into a lethal danger. This is why researchers at Fraunhofer are using next-generation sequencing...
View ArticleFuel from market waste
Mushy tomatoes, brown bananas and overripe cherries -- to date, waste from wholesale markets has ended up on the compost heap at best. In future it will be put to better use: Researchers have developed...
View ArticleTriple play for liquid probing: Technical advance allows researchers to watch...
(Phys.org) -- An ingenious technique, developed by scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, enables real-time examination of molecular-scale interactions on liquid surfaces. This novel...
View ArticleUsing wastewater as fertilizer
Sewage sludge, wastewater and liquid manure are valuable sources of fertilizer for food production. Fraunhofer researchers have now developed a chemical-free, eco-friendly process that enables the...
View ArticleLubricants from vegetable oil
Epoxides are highly reactive organic compounds comprised of a triple ring with two carbon atoms and one oxygen atom. Among other things, the chemicals industry uses them for the production of...
View ArticleMulti-talented enzyme—produced on large-scale
Papayas are delicious and healthy – and they contain papain, an enzyme that is isolated from the fruit and used in countless industries. They are used for brewing beer, the handling of meat products,...
View ArticleNylons made from shrimps
Scientists are investigating how shell waste from crustaceans could be turned into polymer precursors as a substitute to petroleum-derived solutions.
View ArticleScience devises ways to recycle crustacean shells
It was only a matter of time before scientists found a way to recycle the 750 000 tonnes of crustacean shells which are disposed of in the EU every year.
View ArticlePurifying dairy wastewater while producing electricity
In an EU-funded project the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB in Stuttgart is developing, together with industrial and scientific partners, a modular system to...
View ArticleResearchers advance the art of drug testing
On a rectangular chip slightly smaller than a person's finger, two scientists and an engineer are writing what they hope will be the blueprint for the future of drug testing.
View ArticleImproved computer simulations enable better calculation of interfacial tension
Computer simulations play an increasingly important role in the description and development of new materials. Yet, despite major advances in computer technology, the simulations in statistical physics...
View ArticleTeam reveals molecular structure of water at gold electrodes
When a solid material is immersed in a liquid, the liquid immediately next to its surface differs from that of the bulk liquid at the molecular level. This interfacial layer is critical to our...
View ArticleResearcher investigates capsule elasticity
Carnegie Mellon University's Mechanical Engineering and Chemical Engineering Professor Shelley Anna recently received a National Science Foundation grant for a project which will explore ways to...
View ArticleAt attention, molecules! Chemists report molecules in ionic liquids arrange...
When you touch your phone's screen, you might not realize that you've set off a molecular chain reaction.
View ArticleOlive oil waste used to produce molecules with myriad uses in chemical and...
A team of researchers from the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Granada has successfully used various olive industry waste products to produce surface active agents. More...
View ArticleNew waterproofing and antifouling materials developed
'Green' project led by Swansea scientists could replace more expensive and hazardous materials used for waterproofing and antifouling/fogging.
View ArticleResolving tension on the surface of polymer mixes
Better than playing with Legos, throwing polymer chains of different lengths into a mix can yield surprising results. In a new study published in EPJ E, physicists focus on how a mixture of chemically...
View ArticleA simple technique using common materials could lead to significantly cheaper...
In the search for alternatives to silicon-based solar cells, A*STAR researchers are investigating a new material that is cheaper and easier to make, and could lead to better performing solar cells.
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