news, journals and articles from all over the world.
The Blavatnik Family Foundation and the New York Academy of Sciences have recognized chemical engineer Juan Jimenez as a Finalist in the 2024 Blavatnik Regional Awards for Young Scientists. Jimenez’s catalysis science research at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory opens doors for turning climate change-driving gases into industrially useful materials.
In the wake of the $51 million funding announcement from the Economic Development Administration, momentum is tangible for the Illinois Fermentation and Agriculture Biomanufacturing (iFAB) Tech Hub. Today marks the beginning of a new collaboration to replace fossil fuel-derived petrochemicals with zero-emission alternatives produced through precision fermentation.
Polystyrene, the main material in plastic tableware and insulating materials, is a widely used polymer but is currently difficult to recycle. Reporting in the journal Angewandte Chemie, a team of US researchers have now developed a thermochemical approach, making it possible to recover valuable chemicals from polystyrene waste in a simple two-step process.
Poly-3-hydroxybutyrate—a biodegradable plastic—is a strong water-resistant polyester often used in packaging materials, made from 3-hydroxybutyrate as a precursor.
Birmingham scientists have revealed a new method to increase efficiency in biocatalysis, in a paper published today in Materials Horizons.
Adding water to the catalytic reaction that converts methane into useful methanol makes the process more effective, but it creates challenges for industry due to steam from the water. Now scientists have identified a common industrial catalyst, copper-zinc oxide, that completes the conversion along different pathways depending on whether water is present or not. This could potentially keep methane, a potent greenhouse gas, out of Earth’s atmosphere and instead turn it into useful products.
Scientists studying the biochemistry of plant cell walls have identified an enzyme that could turn woody poplar trees into a source for producing a major industrial chemical. The research, just published in Nature Plants, could lead to a new sustainable pathway for making “p-hydroxybenzoic acid,” a chemical building block currently derived from fossil fuels, in plant biomass.
Using quantum chemical calculations, scientists create a new single atom catalyst that converts propane to propylene with 100% efficiency, with little deactivation by coking. If adopted by industry, the catalyst could save billions of dollars and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by millions of tons.
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