polymerguru

 Aquafil and Genomatica have announced a multiyear agreement to create sustainable caprolactam, a key ingredient to producing 100 percent sustainable nylon. The collaboration aims to develop a commercially-advantageous bioprocess (Genomatica’s GENO CPL™ process) to make caprolactam using plant-based renewable ingredients, rather than the crude oil-derived materials traditionally used by the nylon industry.       Enabling More Sustainable Nylon Products Used in a variety of nylon-based products including carpets and apparel, caprolactam has a worldwide market of over five million tons per year.  Genomatica’s GENO CPL™ process aims to provide an environmentally-friendly way to make caprolactam with better economics, including for smaller-scale plants.  It will enable licensees and their customers to differentiate themselves by offering a more sustainable bio-based product whose performance will be fully comparable with nylon ma...

Versarien, the British advanced materials engineering group, has announced that it has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) to establish a graphene manufacturing centre in China. The non-binding LOI has been entered into by Versarien together with the Shandong Institute of Industrial Technology Fund, Jinan Qing Na Material Technology Co Ltd and Jinan Innovation Zone Administrative Committee with the view to establishing the "China-UK Jinan Graphene Industrial Park" in the Jinan Innovation Zone, Shandong Province, China. The Jinan Innovation Zone, established as a national hi-tech zone in 1991, currently has ten industrial parks with businesses including software, intelligent manufacturing and life sciences. The LOI envisages as a first stage the establishment of a 100,000 square foot manufacturing facility to produce and sell Versarien's proprietary Nanene few layer graphene nano-platelets. Versarien will provide its intellectual property (IP) on a lice...

Scientists report that avocado seed husks yielded benzyl butyl phthalate, a plasticizer used to promote flexibility in numerous synthetic products. Trash-to-Treasure Transformation The least appreciated part of an avocado could soon undergo a trash-to-treasure transformation. In a first-of-its-kind study, scientists report that avocado seed husks, which are usually discarded along with the seed, are hidden gold mines packed with a previously unrecognized plethora of chemical compounds. They say these compounds could eventually be used to treat a host of debilitating diseases, as well as to enhance the allure of cosmetics, perfumes and other consumer goods. Seed Husks - Potential Source of Chemicals “ It could very well be that avocado seed husks, which most people consider as the waste of wastes, are actually the gem of gems because the medicinal compounds within them could eventually be used to treat cancer, heart disease and other conditions ,” says Debasis...

Beaulieu Yarns introduces EqoBalance ® , the first biomass-balance polyamide yarns for carpets. The EqoBalance ® family of “ biomass-balance ” yarns was launched at Domotex 2018, held on January 12-15 in Hannover, Germany. Beaulieu Yarns is on Stand B56 in Hall 11.  Renewably-sourced Polymer for Yarns A first for the carpet industry, new EqoBalance PA6 yarns follow the biomass balance approach, which ensures that at the very start of the supply chain, natural renewable raw materials can partially or even completely replace fossil resources in the production of polymers processed into yarns. By choosing these yarns, carpet tufters can contribute to a sustainable future through less use of fossil resources and reduced greenhouse gas emissions.  Sustainable Yarns The sustainable yarns from Beaulieu Yarns are conform the TÜV SÜD certification standard CMS 71 "Certification of the use of renewable resources", which confirms the saving in fossil resour...

'Paired with carbon capture technology, this could lead to an incredibly green production mechanism for everyday plastics, meanwhile sequestering harmful greenhouse gases' Researchers have developed a method for efficiently converting carbon dioxide into plastic. They say their findings could help divert carbon dioxide – a major contributor to climate change – from entering the atmosphere. They could also help to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. A team of scientists from University of Toronto, University of California, Berkeley and the Canadian Light Source (CLS) successfully managed to work out the ideal conditions for converting carbon dioxide to ethylene. Ethylene is used to make polyethylene, the most commonly used plastic in the world. At the heart of the experiment was the carbon dioxide reduction reaction, which can be used to convert the gas into a variety of different substances. Different metals can be used as a catalyst in this ty...

CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles, a subsidiary of State-owned trainmaker CRRC, announced that it has developed subway train made of carbon fiber. The company said the new subway car is 35 % lighter than traditional metal ones, which can effectively improve its carrying capacity, save energy and operational cost, and reduce the wear and tear on the subway line. As carbon fiber can better resist fatigue, corrosion, and UV radiation, subway cars made of such material are expected to have an operational life of at least 30 years, said experts with CRRC Changchun. In addition, the thermal and sound insulation performance of carbon fiber is also better than traditional metal, which makes the new car more energy-saving and less noisy during operation. CRRC Changchun has more than 18,000 employees and annually manufactures more than 8,000 trains. Its products have been exported to more than 20 countries and regions, including the United States, Australia and Brazil. Th...

In the presence of visiting French President Emmanuel Macron and Chinese President Xi Jinping, Airbus has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the National Development and Reform Commission of China (NDRC) on the further development of industrial cooperation in Tianjin. The agreement was signed by He Lifeng, Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) of China and Fabrice Brégier, Airbus COO and President Commercial Aircraft in Beijing today. Both sides agree to further enhance their industrial partnership in Tianjin and strengthen the cooperation with regards to technical innovation, engineering capabilities and supply chain expansion. On the same day, Airbus and its Chinese partners have also signed a framework agreement on ramping-up its A320 production rate at its final assembly line in Tianjin to six aircraft per month.  This industrial ramp-up targets five aircraft by early 2019 and six per month by early 2020. Since its inau...