polymerguru

A network of porous carbon tubes that is three-dimensionally interwoven at nano and micro level — this is the lightest material in the world. It weighs only 0.2 milligrams per cubic centimeter, and is therefore 75 times lighter than Styrofoam, but it is very strong nevertheless. Scientists of Kiel University (KU) and Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH) have named their joint creation "Aerographite". The scientific results were published as the title story in the scientific journal "Advanced Materials". The properties It is jet-black, remains stable, is electrically conductive, ductile and non-transparent. With these unique properties and it's very low density the carbon-made material "Aerographite" clearly outperforms all similar materials. "Our work is causing great discussions in the scientific community. Aerographite weights four times less than world-record-holder up to now", says Matthias Mecklenburg, co-author and Ph.D. stud...

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced in the Federal Register that it has revised the regulation of bisphenol-A (BPA) in baby bottles and sippy cups, bringing certainty to the marketplace that BPA is no longer in these products. The request to revise the rule was made by the American Chemistry Council (ACC) in October of 2011, in an effort to clarify for consumers that BPA is no longer used to manufacture these products and will not be used in these products in the future. "Although governments around the world continue to support the safety of BPA in food contact materials, confusion about whether BPA is used in baby bottles and sippy cups had become an unnecessary distraction to consumers, legislators and state regulators," said Steven G. Hentges, Ph.D., of the  Polycarbonate /BPA Global Group of ACC. "FDA action on this request now provides certainty that BPA is not used to make the baby bottles and sippy cups on store shelves, either today...

Scientists are reporting new evidence that a white rot fungus shows promise in the search for a way to use waste corn stalks, cobs and leaves — rather than corn itself — to produce ethanol to extend supplies of gasoline. Their study on using the fungus to break down the tough cellulose and related material in this so-called "corn stover" to free up sugars for ethanol fermentation appears in the ACS' journal Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research. Yebo Li and colleagues explain that corn ethanol supplies are facing a crunch because corn is critical for animal feed and food. They note that the need for new sources of ethanol has shifted attention to using stover, which is the most abundant agricultural residue in the U.S., estimated at 170-256 million tons per year. The challenge is to find a way to break down tough cellulose material in cobs, stalks and leaves — so that sugars inside can be fermented to ethanol. Previous studies indicated that the microbe C...

The world's largest conference on "CO 2  as Feedstock for Chemistry and Polymers" (Haus der Technik Essen, 10-11 October 2012) covers an incredibly wide range of uses for CO 2 , developing a vision for a sustainable carbon dioxide economy. Carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions, the end product of burning fossil fuels or biomass, are largely responsible for the greenhouse effect and thus for climate change. A reduction in CO 2  emissions are therefore at the very top of the international political agenda. Trials are running in parallel to explore underground sequestration of CO 2  from power stations, thereby removing it from the atmosphere. It would at first sight seem paradoxical to wish to use energy-poor, inert CO 2  molecules. Considerable research and development efforts in recent years have led to new and innovative CO 2 -recycling technologies and a vision of a CO 2  economy. CO 2  recycling has quickly become a hot topic for the future for every l...