29-Jul-2021

WACKER has presented an in-house German-Chinese team with the 2021 Alexander Wacker Innovation Award for developing and launching a novel process for producing vinyl acetate-ethylene (VAE) polymer dispersions. The team – consisting of Henry Chen, Zhong Chen, Dr. Bernhard Eckl, Wilhelm Kaiser, ...

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Eco-friendly way to reduce litter?

07-Jul-2021

Plastic is notoriously hard to break down, but researchers in Austria have found that bacteria from a cow's rumen - one of the four compartments of its stomach - can digest certain types of the ubiquitous material, representing a sustainable way to reduce plastic litter. The scientists suspected ...

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Curious Interlocked Molecules Show Dual Response

30-Jun-2021

Scientists at Tokyo Institute of Technology design polymers infused with a stress-sensitive molecular unit that respond to external forces by switching on their fluorescence. The researchers demonstrate the fluorescence to be dependent on the magnitude of force and show that it is possible to ...

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New 2D-materials tailored by self organization and photopolymerisation

11-Jun-2021

An international research team led by members from the Technical University of Munich, the Deutsches Museum, the Linköping University has developed a method to manufacture two-dimensional polymers with the thickness of a single molecule. The polymers are formed on a surface by the action of ...

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Platinum-free biocatalyst for fuel cells and water electrolysis

14-May-2021

An enzyme could make a dream come true for the energy industry: It can efficiently produce hydrogen using electricity and can also generate electricity from hydrogen. The enzyme is protected by embedding it in a polymer. An international research team with significant participation of scientists ...

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Green alternatives to fossil raw materials: Bio-based materials are expected to reduce pollution and drive the shift to a more sustainable economy

12-May-2021

As a renewable resource, wood offers great potential in the fight against the climate crisis. First, it sequesters large amounts of carbon (1 ton per cubic meter!). Moreover, it is an environmentally friendly alternative to fossil based resources, which cause the majority of greenhouse gas ...

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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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Study shows how to make stable and large aerogels that remove heavy metals, organic solvents, organic dyes

16-Apr-2021

Graphene excels at removing contaminants from water, but it's not yet a commercially viable use of the wonder material. That could be changing. In a recent study, University at Buffalo engineers report a new process of 3D printing graphene aerogels that they say overcomes two key hurdles -- ...

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What makes them different is that they can be easily recycled

14-Apr-2021

Researchers at the Laboratory of Cluster Catalysis at St Petersburg University have synthesised polymers from biomass. What makes them different is that they can be easily recycled. Today, our life is simply unthinkable without polymers. Plastics, fibres, films, paint and lacquer coating - they ...

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Chemical adjustments within the molecules themselves can generate a broad palette of colours

09-Apr-2021

Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed fluorescent polymers whose colour can be easily tuned. Depending on their length, the polymers emit a different colour. Potential applications include biomedicine, security printing and solar energy. Around the world, a huge amount of research and ...

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