Marine microorganisms found to feast on new polyurethane materials used in a startup's sustainable shoes

26-Sep-2022

Plastics, now ubiquitous in the modern world, have become a rising threat to human and environmental health. Around the planet, evidence of plastic pollution stretches from grocery bags in the deep sea to microplastics in our food supplies and even in our blood. Seeking solutions to counteract ...

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First trials on chemical recycling of mattresses successful

17-Feb-2022

BASF and foam specialist NEVEON are working together to further develop the recycling of mattresses. The aim is to establish a closed product loop for mattresses. Currently, discarded mattresses are mainly thermally recycled or disposed of in landfills. BASF and NEVEON want to change this and ...

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How water-repellent coatings can reduce foaming in industrial processes

21-Jan-2022

While foam is certainly desirable in the bathtub or on beer, preventing foam - for example in industrial processes - is a much-discussed topic. Often, oils or particles are added to liquids to prevent foaming. If these are harmful to health or the environment, they must be removed again using ...

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Christoph Gürtler and Walter Leitner named European Inventor Award 2021 finalists

07-May-2021

The European Patent Office (EPO) announces that German chemists Christoph Gürtler and Walter Leitner have been nominated as finalists in the "Industry" category of the European Inventor Award 2021 for their roles in developing a new technique to utilise waste carbon dioxide (CO2) as raw material ...

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21-Jan-2021

Every year around 734 million tons of wheat straw are produced worldwide, a large amount of waste, which is cheap and has had no well-defined use until now. Recently, the RNM-271 Chemical Engineering and FQM-383 NANOVAL Organic Chemistry research groups at the University of Córdoba have been able ...

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Innovative bio-​propellant from gas and water

29-Oct-2020

Biodegradable plastics are very much on trend. But there are still very few sustainable alternatives for products containing foamed plastic. ETH Pioneer Fellow Zuzana Sediva is developing a process that could one day be used to make shoe soles and yoga mats from organic waste. Zuzana Sediva loves ...

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19-Oct-2020

Innovative insulating materials made of shape memory polymers are developed and tested by the Fraunhofer Institutes for Applied Polymer Research IAP, for Chemical Technology ICT and for Building Physics IBP within the Fraunhofer Cluster of Excellence Programmable Materials CPM. The high-tech ...

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16-Dec-2019

In a joint research study from Sweden, scientists from Chalmers University of Technology and Stockholm University have developed a new material for capturing carbon dioxide. The new material offers many benefits - it is sustainable, has a high capture rate, and has low operating costs. Carbon ...

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25-Nov-2019

Due to increasing demand for lightweight construction materials for specialty applications, Evonik is expanding its production of ROHACELL® high-performance rigid, closed-cell foams at its Mobile, Alabama site in the United States. The production expansion is scheduled to be completed by the ...

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15-Oct-2019

ETH spinoff FenX transforms industrial waste into a porous foam suitable for building insulation. Unlike other sustainable materials used for the purpose, this type of insulation is non-flammable and inexpensive to produce. No sooner does one of the four young men come up with the idea than they ...

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