Nanotube interactions with silk fibroins - key to flexible, degradable electronics

02-Nov-2018

The silk fibers produced by Bombyx mori, the domestic silkworm, has been prized for millennia as a strong yet lightweight and luxurious material. Although synthetic polymers like nylon and polyester are less costly, they do not compare to silk's natural qualities and mechanical properties. And ...

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29-Oct-2018

A cutting-edge material, inspired by nature, that can regulate its own temperature and could equally be used to treat burns and help space capsules withstand atmospheric forces is under development at the University of Nottingham. "A major challenge in material science is to work out how to ...

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29-Oct-2018

KOLON BASF innoPOM Inc., the 50:50 joint venture between KOLON PLASTICS and BASF established in 2016, started operations at its new polyoxymethylene (POM) production plant in Gimcheon, Korea. The new production with a capacity of 70,000 metric tons per year, combined with KOLON PLASTICS’ existing ...

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25-Oct-2018

Scientists at ASU are celebrating their recent success on the path to understanding what makes the fiber that spiders spin - weight for weight - at least five times as strong as steel. One of the fundamental mysteries of spider silk which has limited scientists' ability to produce artificial ...

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Self-assembling silicone-based polymers

24-Oct-2018

Scientists at Tokyo Institute of Technology, RIKEN and Tohoku University have developed a silicone polymer chain that can self-assemble into a 3D periodic structure. They achieved this by using their recently reported self-assembling triptycene molecules to modify the ends of the polymer ...

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Production capacities for bioplastics expected to grow

22-Oct-2018

To reduce reliance on petroleum-based plastics, thyssenkrupp has developed a manufacturing process for the bioplastic polylactide (PLA). The world’s first commercial plant based on the patented PLAneo® technology recently started production in Changchun, China. It is operated by the Jilin COFCO ...

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19-Oct-2018

Researchers from Graduate School of Bio-Applications and Systems Engineering at Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology (TUAT) have sped up the movement of electrons in organic semiconductor films by two to three orders of magnitude. The speedier electronics could lead to improved solar ...

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BASF offered commitments to meet concerns of the EU Commission

17-Oct-2018

In September 2017, BASF and Solvay agreed that BASF would acquire Solvay’s polyamide business subject to approval of the relevant merger control authorities. The approval process of the EU Commission is ongoing. To meet the concerns of the EU Commission, BASF has offered to refrain from acquiring ...

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11-Oct-2018

Recipes for three-dimensional (3D) printing, or additive manufacturing, of parts have required as much guesswork as science. Until now. Resins and other materials that react under light to form polymers, or long chains of molecules, are attractive for 3D printing of parts ranging from ...

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Access to research on structure-property relationships, 3D printing and additive manufacturing

01-Oct-2018

LANXESS’ Urethane Systems business unit (URE) decided to prolong and extend its collaboration with the Center for UMass/Industry Research on Polymers (CUMIRP) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA. From October 2018 onwards URE will additionally participate in Research Cluster M on ...

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