polymerguru

In a major step towards making India a natural gas-based economy and making CNG as the eco-friendly option for long distance transport in the country, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Steel, unveiled India’s first long distance CNG bus. Fitted with composite CNG cylinders, it can travel around 1,000 kilometers on a single fill. The project has been executed by Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL) and has been achieved through pioneering design of Type IV Composite Cylinders in buses, replacing traditional very heavy Type-I Carbon Steel cylinders. According to Pradhan, these CNG buses are being run on a pilot test, but soon they will be scaled on commercial basis. “Delhi has witnessed revolution in shift towards cleaner, gas based fuels. Over 500 CNG stations are operating in Delhi NCR today and about 1.2 million piped natural gas connections have been provided. Long haul CNG buses originating from Delhi to other locations will further drive this shift ...

Covestro has announced that it is particularly focused on premium packaging materials for high value medical devices that meet increased requirements for mechanical protection, sterilization and dimensional stability. Breast implants are sensitive products that should arrive undamaged at the treating doctor or hospital after manufacture, sterilization and transport. Covestro's Makrofol® MA507 polycarbonate film is well suitable for their packaging because it is highly transparent and allows the physician to reliably visually inspect the implant before unpacking it. It also provides stable protection for the valuable medical device. The comparable product Makrofol® MA336 offers the same advantages, but also features a laminating film on it. Both films are characterized by high tear and impact resistance. They can be easily thermoformed and are fully compatible with the demanding autoclave sterilization process, where they need to withstand temperatures of up to 163 degrees...

SGL Carbon  and the Hyundai Motor Group have announced an agreement on an early extension to the existing supply agreement for fuel cell components. The long-term agreement provides now for a substantial ramp-up of current production and delivery volumes of gas diffusion layers for the NEXO fuel cell car to support Hyundai’s objectives in the area of fuel cell drives. The investment required to fulfill this contract will not increase the overall capital expenditure budget of SGL Carbon in the next two years, as the company has reprioritized its investment projects. Greenest Energy Technology “ The extension of the partnership with Hyundai is perfectly aligned to our strategic direction. Intelligent solutions in the area of sustainable energy are one of the key growth drivers for our company ,” explains Dr. Michael Majerus, Spokesman of the Board of Management of SGL Carbon. “ Whether used in a drive system in vehicles or as a stationary power supply, the fuel cell is one ...

A research team, jointly led by Professor Ji Wook Jang, Professor Yong Hwan Kim, and Professor Sang Hoon Joo in the School of Energy and Chemical Engineering at UNIST has unveiled a novel biomass conversion technology that can turn forestry biomass residues (i.e., sawdust from timber logging) into higher value fuels and chemicals.  Researchers Introduce Fusion Catalytic System In the study, the joint research team has introduced a fusion catalytic system that can selectively convert lignin, which forms the chief constituent of wood wastes, into higher value chemicals via solar energy. Lignin, after Cellulose, is the second most abundant renewable biopolymer found in nature and is usually discarded as waste in the pulp and paper industry in very large amounts. Unlike Cellulose, the structure of lignin is extremely complex and lacks steric regularity. Such traits make lignin hard to break down and even harder to convert into something valuable.  Biocatalysts, such as e...

A team of  Covestro   and RWTH Aachen has developed a new method for the use of carbon dioxide as a raw material, which ranks among the year’s best innovations in Germany. The new technologies make CO 2  usable in plastics production and thereby reduces fossil resources like petroleum. They made it to the final round of the renowned German President's Award for Innovation in Science and Technology, which was presented in Berlin by Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.  Using CO 2  for Resource Conservation and Circular Economy According to team spokesperson Gürtler, using CO 2  contributes to resource conservation by partially replacing the conventional raw material oil as the sole source of carbon. At the same time, it also makes it possible to produce more recyclable plastics whose components could be recycled more easily. In addition, the circular economy will benefit from the reuse of carbon dioxide.  “ We also see considerable potent...

Caltech scientists have developed a new kind of polymer that can carry a chemical payload as part of its molecular structure and release it in response to mechanical stress. The chemical system they have developed could one day be used to create medical implants that can release drugs into the body when triggered by something like ultrasound waves, they say. Set of Polymer Chains Bonded to the Payload System The new material consists of a set of polymer chains bonded to the payload system, creating a mechanically sensitive unit called a mechanophore. A so-called cascade reaction ejects the payload from the polymer. In simple terms, force applied to the polymer causes weak bonds in the mechanophore to rupture, spitting out an unstable intermediate molecule that promptly breaks down to release the attached payload. Release of Coumarin Dye In their paper, the authors demonstrate the release of a coumarin dye, an organic molecule with useful properties, but they say the polymer ...

Using this fiber as a support layer could lighten advanced membranes used in greenhouse gas separation and hydrogen production and make them more compact, thereby enhancing performance. The company will keep pushing ahead with R&D for this new material to foster carbon recycling, collaborating with other entities in developing applications to sustainably tap hydrogen energy and shrink environmental footprints. Absorption- and adsorption-based facilities conventionally separate carbon dioxide, biogas, hydrogen, and other gases. The issue with such setups, however, is that they are large and consume a lot of energy, resulting in heavy carbon dioxide emissions. Gas separation methods employing membranes have thus attracted considerable attention. But despite ongoing research, no membranes have yet combined satisfactory gas separation performance and durability. Toray’s new material is chemically stable because it comprises carbon, and offers outstanding gas permea...

The 5th Annual IEEE WIE Forum USA East Event will be held on November 21-23,2019 at the Ritz-Carlton Pentagon City in Arlington, VA , which will focus on developing and improving leadership skills and driving innovation for individuals at all stages of their careers. Attendees will have the opportunity to be educated, inspired, and empowered by presentations given by successful leaders, attend workshops, network with peers, learn ways to kickstart programs which excite and inspire the women engineers of the future. Registration Fee: 390 USD REGISTER @ https://lnkd.in/fHyCZri PATRONS SPONSORSHIP: An innovative selection of sponsorship packages have been put together for our 2019 program,ranging from Diamond $10K- Silver$1.5K level. CAREER FAIR (Nov 22) It is open to all technical career fields including (but not limited to) Aerospace Engg,Computer Engg ,Computer Science, Cyber Security, Data Scientists, Electrical Engg, Engg Management, Info Tech, Mechanical Engg,Manufacturing, and ...

MIT chemists have devised a way to synthesize polymers that can break down more readily in the body and in the environment. Ring-opening Metathesis Polymerization A chemical reaction called ring-opening metathesis polymerization, or ROMP, is handy for building novel polymers for various uses such as nanofabrication, high-performance resins, and delivering drugs or imaging agents. However, one downside to this synthesis method is that the resulting polymers do not naturally break down in natural environments, such as inside the body. Making Polymers More Degradable The MIT research team has come up with a way to make those polymers more degradable by adding a novel type of building block to the backbone of the polymer. This new building block, or monomer, forms chemical bonds that can be broken down by weak acids, bases, and ions such as fluoride. “ We believe that this is the first general way to produce ROMP polymers with facile degradability under biologically relevant...

The Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB is using a new, recently patented process to develop new polyamides from the terpene 3-carene, a residual material from the cellulose industry. The biobased polyamides Caramid-R® and Caramid-S® produced using this process represent a new class of polyamides with outstanding thermal properties. The production of the monomer for Caramid-S® was already successfully piloted in a 100-liter scale. The Fraunhofer researchers are presenting the new polyamides at the K trade fair (Hall 7.0, Stand SC01). From Wood Waste to High-performance Polymers The Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB has developed a sustainable alternative to petrochemically produced plastics using terpenes found in resin-rich wood. The natural substances are available from conifers such as pine, larch or spruce. In the production of pulp, in which wood is broken down to separate the cellulose fibers, the terp...