chemeurope.com News

From 0 to 100 in 12 minutes: timetable for lithium-sulphur batteries

Fri, 11 Jul 2025 07:32:14 +0200

Pick up a coffee once and the car is fully charged - this is how many people imagine the mobility of the future. But today's batteries are still a long way off. Although modern lithium-ion batteries charge from 20 to 80 percent in around 20 to 30 minutes, a full charge takes considerably longer - an...

Bodo Möller Chemie consolidates market presence in Spain with Quitec takeover

Fri, 11 Jul 2025 07:32:06 +0200

On June 1, 2025, the Bodo Möller Chemie Group integrated the client base of Spanish specialty chemicals distributor Química Tecnológica Norte S.L. (Quitec) into its distribution network. Quitec is a long-standing distribution partner of Henkel’s in industrial surface treatment. With this acquisition...

Identifying chemicals of concern in plastics – and pathways towards safer polymers

Fri, 11 Jul 2025 07:32:04 +0200

To curb global plastic pollution and to make plastics safer and more sustainable, countries are currently negotiating a global treaty. A new study published in Nature provides a comprehensive and systematic overview of all chemicals that can be present in plastics, their properties, uses, and hazard...

Synthetic fuel from the offshore wind farm

Fri, 11 Jul 2025 07:32:00 +0200

Grid-independent, modular and seaworthy: the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and partners want to produce synthetic fuels from wind energy, seawater and ambient air on a floating platform in the H2Mareproject PtX-Wind. A corresponding modular system has been installed on a barge and is ready...

analytica USA: Expert knowledge for research and practice

Thu, 10 Jul 2025 12:54:58 +0200

From September 10 to 12, 2025, the first analytica USA, international trade fair for laboratory technology, analysis and biotechnology, will open its doors in Hall B of the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio. The exhibition space is almost fully booked months in advance. "The inter...

Progress towards potassium-ion batteries

Thu, 10 Jul 2025 07:32:04 +0200

Potassium-ion batteries could have a higher energy density than sodium-ion batteries. This is important for large-scale energy storage such as for renewable energy. In a review published in Science and Technology of Advanced Materials, researchers have surveyed the battery technologies that will be ...

Producing Desired Epoxides from Pollutants

Thu, 10 Jul 2025 07:32:02 +0200

New biocatalysts can produce useful epoxides from harmful styrene, and do this so selectively that only the desired compounds are formed and not their undesirable counterparts. This result was achieved by a group of doctoral students from the MiCon research training group (“Microbial Substrate Conve...

Dow will shut down three upstream European assets

Thu, 10 Jul 2025 07:32:00 +0200

Dowopens in a new tab announced that, as a follow-up to the European asset actions first announced in April 2025, its Board of Directors has approved the shutdown of three upstream assets in Europe, in addition to certain corporate and other assets across the Company's global asset footprint: Packa...

Stretchable Electronics: Conductive Polymer Optimized for Wearable Biosensors

Wed, 09 Jul 2025 02:00:00 +0200

When aiming for stretchable, health-monitoring, skin-like sensor sheets materials with demanding properties are required: They need to be flexible, biocompatible, and electrically conductive at the same time. A research team at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research is tackling this complex t...

Check the sustainability of chemicals easily onlin

Wed, 09 Jul 2025 02:00:00 +0200

Various substances are available for a wide range of chemical applications. These substances can have very different effects on humans and the environment. ChemSelect is a freely available web application developed by Ökopol and Oeko-Institut on behalf of the German Federal Environment Agency. It he...

New Dynamics Discovered in Heterogeneous Catalysis

Wed, 09 Jul 2025 02:00:00 +0200

Oxygen evolution is considered one of the most energy-intensive steps in water electrolysis and is therefore a key factor for more efficient green hydrogen production. Modelling of the reaction mechanisms has so far been based on the assumption that the elementary steps take place sequentially and n...

Selective and reversible adsorption of gases

Tue, 08 Jul 2025 07:32:08 +0200

Using an electrically switchable composite of carbon and silicon dioxide, a research team at TU Darmstadt has for the first time specifically removed gases such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen or argon from the gas phase - simply by applying an electrical voltage. The material stores the gases on its su...

How tire abrasion pollutes water and endangers animals

Tue, 08 Jul 2025 07:32:04 +0200

Tires abrade fine particles when driving. These contain a complex mixture of different compounds, including toxic substances: heavy metals such as cadmium and zinc and organic substances such as the ozone protection or antioxidant 6-PPD. If the tire wear particles end up in freshwater ecosystems, th...

HORIBA opens new Analytical Solution Plaza to support UK science and research

Tue, 08 Jul 2025 02:00:00 +0200

HORIBA has expanded its worldwide network of Analytical Solution Plazas with the opening in the UK of its latest advanced technology centre. Sited in the centre of the country on MIRA Tech Park, the HORIBA Group’s new customer and scientific collaboration site was opened by HORIBA Group CEO, Mr. Ats...

CustomCells secures its future with new investors

Mon, 07 Jul 2025 07:32:16 +0200

The investor process for the insolvent CustomCells Group has been completed. As announced by the insolvency administrator Dr. Malte Köster (law firm WILLMERKÖSTER), an agreement to acquire the specialist for battery cell technology has been concluded with a consortium of industry-related family offi...

Finalists Announced for the ISC3 Innovation Challenge 2025 on “Sustainable Chemistry & Climate Change”

Mon, 07 Jul 2025 07:32:05 +0200

The finalists of the €25,000 6th ISC3 Innovation Challenge – dedicated to innovations in Sustainable Chemistry and Climate Change – have been selected! After a rigorous evaluation process, an internationaljury of 36 experts from diverse and relevant fields identified the ten most promising start-ups...

Cellulose instead of Crude Oil: Sustainable Foams Developed

Mon, 07 Jul 2025 02:00:00 +0200

Foams have numerous possible potential applications, for example ranging from the automotive, household and mechanical engineering sectors to leisure and sports applications. Until now, it has been common practice to produce these materials from crude oil, which negatively impacts their ecological f...

From reactor design to the printed schnitzel

Fri, 04 Jul 2025 07:32:14 +0200

Completes months of work in under an hour: ReacTUNE, new software from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), automatically calculates the optimum geometry for chemical reactors and generates directly usable files for their production using the 3D metal printing process. At this year's NEULAND...

Heaviest tin isotopes provide insights into element synthesis

Fri, 04 Jul 2025 07:32:07 +0200

An international team of researchers, led by scientists of GSI/FAIR in Darmstadt, Germany, has studied r-process nucleosynthesis in measurements conducted at the Canadian research center TRIUMF in Vancouver. At the center of this work are the first mass measurements of three extremely neutron-rich t...

From fertilizer to energy source of the future

Fri, 04 Jul 2025 07:32:05 +0200

Ammonia has been traditionally known for fertilizer production. In the future, it could also play a key role in the Energy Transition as an efficient source of hydrogen and a climate-friendly substitute for fossil fuels since it can be produced from nitrogen and hydrogen with zero carbon emissions. ...

Largest carbon removal investment round globally year to date

Thu, 03 Jul 2025 07:32:07 +0200

Climeworks, the global pioneer in Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology and leading provider of holistic carbon removal portfolios, has achieved a significant milestone by securing USD 162 million in additional equity funding — marking the largest carbon removal investment of 2025 to date globally. Th...

A map for single-atom catalysts

Thu, 03 Jul 2025 07:32:04 +0200

Using nuclear magnetic resonance, researchers at ETH Zurich have studied the atomic environments of single platinum atoms in solid supports as well as their spatial orientation. In the future, this method can be used to optimize the production of single-atom catalysts. Catalysis – the acceleration o...

WITec Paper Award 2025 winners announced

Thu, 03 Jul 2025 02:00:00 +0200

Oxford Instruments celebrates the WITec Paper Award 2025, recognising the exceptional scientific contributions from scientists in Germany and Poland. Their innovative work advances research in materials, batteries and medical sciences, using WITec Raman technology. We congratulate the winners on the...

High-throughput screening, synthesis and characterization of active materials for flow batteries

Wed, 02 Jul 2025 10:16:09 +0200

Energy storage is essential to the energy transition, to balance variable power generation from renewable sources. The most promising technologies involve electrochemical storage, including redox-flow batteries (RFBs). Some electrochemical systems, e.g. vanadium RFBs, have proved a successful market...

Magnetic cooling – using a frustrated desert mineral

Wed, 02 Jul 2025 07:32:15 +0200

Natural crystals fascinate with their vibrant colors, their nearly flawless appearance and their manifold symmetrical forms. But researchers are interested in them for quite different reasons: among the countless minerals already known, they always discover some materials with unusual magnetic prope...

How urea forms spontaneously

Wed, 02 Jul 2025 07:32:13 +0200

Urea is considered a possible key molecule in the origin of life. ETH researchers have discovered a previously unknown way in which this building block can form spontaneously on aqueous surfaces without the need for any additional energy. Urea is one of the most important industrial chemicals produc...

Merck Honors Alán Aspuru-Guzik with the Heinrich Emanuel Merck Award for Computational Sciences

Tue, 01 Jul 2025 07:32:10 +0200

Merck announced that the Heinrich Emanuel Merck Award has been bestowed upon Alán Aspuru-Guzik (48), professor of chemistry and computer science at the University of Toronto, Canada, in recognition of his groundbreaking innovations in computational sciences. The award ceremony, held at the Stadtthea...

Edible algae-based cups, designed to reduce plastic waste at sporting events

Tue, 01 Jul 2025 07:32:07 +0200

More energy for athletes, less plastic waste in the environment – that is the goal of Maximilian Schmidt and Nico Wittmann, students at the Freie Josef-Schwarz-Schule in Heilbronn. With their business idea “AlgaSprint,” the two young innovators participated in the nationwide student competition JUGE...

Multi-million investment to drive the de-fossilization of the chemical industry

Tue, 01 Jul 2025 07:32:04 +0200

XiMo, a wholly owned subsidiary of Verbio SE, held a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the start of construction of the new production facility for the large-scale industrial production of metathesis catalysts in Gödöllő, Hungary. Starting in summer 2026, innovative metathesis catalysts will be produc...

Pushing the resolution limits of scattering near-field optical microscopy

Tue, 01 Jul 2025 02:00:00 +0200

Researchers have developed a new microscope that can visualize the optical response of surfaces at an unprecedented spatial resolution of one nanometer. This paves the way for optical microscopy of atomic-scale structures, such as single molecules and atomic defects. Such capability is important for...

Unmasking hazardous compounds in cosmetics, skincare products and perfumes

Mon, 30 Jun 2025 07:32:08 +0200

Lifestyle products contain hazardous compounds that have not been detected by previous tests and are not currently regulated. This was demonstrated by scientists from Justus Liebig University Giessen (JLU) using a new analytical methodology, with which they investigated 140 skincare products and cos...

Computational trick enables better understanding of exotic state of matter

Mon, 30 Jun 2025 07:32:06 +0200

It can be found inside gas giants such as Jupiter and is briefly created during meteorite impacts or in laser fusion experiments: warm dense matter. This exotic state of matter combines features of solid, liquid and gaseous phases. Until now, simulating warm dense matter accurately has been consider...

Versatile new polymer material

Mon, 30 Jun 2025 07:32:03 +0200

Researchers at Ulm University have developed an organic material with extraordinary properties: The novel polymer is extremely effective at recovering valuable precious metals such as gold or palladium from solutions, separating toxic semimetals and also making batteries more environmentally friendl...

ETH spin-offs sweep the board at Venture Awards

Mon, 30 Jun 2025 02:00:00 +0200

Six spin-offs of ETH Zurich were among the 18 finalists in this year’s Venture Awards. Three of them won in their respective categories, and three came in second. The Grand Prize went to spin-off MyNerva. The MedTech company MyNerva clinched the Grand Prize worth CHF 150,000 at the Venture Awards on...

Nanoburgers with promising flaws

Fri, 27 Jun 2025 07:32:11 +0200

Catalysts are indispensable in many industries: they speed up chemical reactions, making them economically viable. They often consist of tiny particles, just a few nanometres across, to which molecules attach themselves, making it easier for them to form a bond with another reagent. The catalysts th...

When Electrons "Jump" into Water: The Secret Behind High Electrode Capacities

Fri, 27 Jun 2025 07:32:06 +0200

In order to develop improved electrolysers for regenerative hydrogen production, the processes on the surfaces of the metal electrodes used must be precisely understood. Researchers from the Theory Department at the Fritz Haber Institute have now been able to show that even the smallest spillover of...

Sustainable synthesis of biomolecules and pharmaceuticals

Fri, 27 Jun 2025 07:32:02 +0200

In future, it may be possible to produce bioactive molecules and pharmaceuticals without reverting to using enzymes or metals as external catalysts. Chemists at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) have developed a procedure during which an in situ-formed organoautocatalyst allows...

Electroactive polymers for heating and cooling

Fri, 27 Jun 2025 02:00:00 +0200

Electroactive polymers react to forces, deformations, and temperature changes with electrical signals. They can also deform or change their temperature under electrical voltage. Targeted temperature changes are particularly interesting for heating and cooling systems. Electrocaloric polymers are the...

Evidence of Long-Sought “Quantum Spin Liquid” Discovered

Thu, 26 Jun 2025 07:32:07 +0200

Since the 1970s, scientists have speculated whether materials could exist that exhibit a very particular form of magnetic disorder—so-called quantum spin liquids (QSLs). Such materials are of great interest for several reasons. They could hold the key to developing new types of superconductors, and ...

New method to study catalysts could lead to better batteries

Thu, 26 Jun 2025 07:32:04 +0200

Scientists and engineers study the atomic interactions that happen on the surface of materials to develop more energy efficient batteries, capacitors, and other devices. But accurately simulating these fundamental interactions requires immense computing power to fully capture the geometrical and che...

More effective production of “green” hydrogen with new combined material

Thu, 26 Jun 2025 07:32:02 +0200

The chemical reaction to produce hydrogen from water is several times more effective when using a combination of new materials in three layers, according to researchers at Linköping University in Sweden. Hydrogen produced from water is a promising renewable energy source – especially if the hydrogen...

Brenntag Essentials acquires Gefahrstoffzentrum (GSZ) Kaiserslautern

Thu, 26 Jun 2025 02:00:00 +0200

Brenntag announced the acquisition of Gefahrstoffzentrum (GSZ) Kaiserslautern GmbH, a toll manufacturing service provider for mixing and blending, filling, storage and logistics of chemical products in South-West Germany. The facility in Kaiserslautern, founded in 2008, will increase Brenntag’s loca...

Microbes transform plastic waste into paracetamol

Wed, 25 Jun 2025 11:14:27 +0200

Paracetamol production could be revolutionised by the discovery that a common bacterium can turn everyday plastic waste into the painkiller, a study reveals. The new method leaves virtually no carbon emissions and is more sustainable than the current production of the medicine, researchers say. Par...

Saint-Gobain acquires Maturix

Wed, 25 Jun 2025 07:32:08 +0200

Saint-Gobain announces the next step in the expansion of its digital construction chemicals platform with the acquisition of Maturix, based in Denmark, a leading provider of real-time monitoring solutions for the concrete industry. Maturix offers cutting-edge wireless sensor technology which allows ...

Renewable energy stored in a large-scale battery is introduced into the power grid on demand

Wed, 25 Jun 2025 07:31:59 +0200

Europe's largest vanadium redox flow battery – located at the Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology - has achieved an important research milestone: In a controlled test, it was possible to successfully demonstrate for the first time how renewable energies such as wind and solar power can be f...

Innovative process opens up new perspectives for thin-film technology applications

Tue, 24 Jun 2025 07:32:07 +0200

For the past five years, researchers at Leipzig University have been working on fundamentally new methods for selectively assembling gaseous, charged molecular fragments into new, complex molecules. The synthesised substances are deposited onto surfaces. This innovative process opens up new perspect...

2,890 kilometers on just one liter?

Tue, 24 Jun 2025 07:32:05 +0200

The winners of this year's Shell Eco-marathon energy efficiency competition were announced on June 15, 2025. In the Prototype Hydrogen category, the Thaiger-Racing team won just ahead of the student BTU team Lausitz Dynamics. The latter took 2nd place with a proud performance of 964.3 km/m³. This me...

Electricity from heat through “traffic jam of electrons”

Tue, 24 Jun 2025 07:32:03 +0200

Electricity can be easily converted into heat – every electric cooker does it. But is the opposite also possible? Can heat be converted into electricity – directly, without a steam turbine or similar detours? Physicist Thomas Seebeck answered this question with a clear ‘yes’ over 200 years ago. He w...

New Microscopy tool for energy research

Mon, 23 Jun 2025 09:20:07 +0200

Researchers at Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon, the Helmut Schmidt University, the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, and the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin have developed a promising approach for detecting voltage changes on the surface of photoelectrodes utilizing a newly developed automated data analysis method....

No data, no risk?

Mon, 23 Jun 2025 07:32:05 +0200

Several hundred thousand chemicals are considered as potentially environmentally relevant. Scientists from the RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau in Germany show that monitoring data for surface waters are only available for a very small fraction of these chemicals. In their article, published in the latest...