Category Chemistry/Nanotechnology

This is the RMIT-developed proton battery connected to a voltmeter. The working prototype has an energy per unit mass already comparable with commercially-available lithium ion batteries. Credit: RMIT University

Working prototype could eventually replace lithum ion batteries. Researchers from RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia have demonstrated for the first time a working rechargeable “proton battery” that could re-wire how we power our homes, vehicles and devices. The rechargeable battery is environmentally friendly, and has the potential, with further development, to store more energy than currently-available lithium ion batteries.

Potential applications for the proton battery include household storage of electricity from solar photovoltaic panels, as done currently by the Tesla ‘P...

Electrical engineers at the University of Delaware developed their version of smart glass technology. It starts opaque but turns transparent when filled with index-matching fluid, as shown in the bottom portion of this pane. Credit: University of Delaware

Engineers develop eco-friendly panels that switch from transparent to opaque. New ‘smart glass’ technology could make curtains and blinds obsolete and provide an instant toggle between light and dark for windshields and roof panes. While this isn’t the first ‘smart glass’ ever developed, it is about one-tenth the price of other versions and more transparent in its transparent state and more reflective in its reflective state than competitors...

SEBACIC ACID

~ also known as decanedioic acid; 111-20-6; 1,8-Octanedicarboxylic acid; 1,10-Decanedioic acid. Sebacic acid is a saturated, straight-chain naturally occurring dicarboxylic acid with 10 carbon atoms and is a normal urinary acid. Sebacic Acid Market size was above USD 300 million in 2016 and consumption might surpass 100 kilo tons by 2024. 90% of world production occurs in China.

Chemical structure:  HOOC(CH₂)₈COOH or C₁₀H₁₈O₄ 

Properties: White flake or granular powder. Melting point 153°F. Slightly soluble in water and sublimes slowly at 750 mm Hg at melting point.

Production: Sebacic acid can be made from phenols and cresols, but castor oil oxidation is a greener process. Byproducts include glycerol, octanol and polymer residue. 

a) Castor oil is heated to about ...

ACETIC ACID

 

~ also known as Ethanoic acid; 64-19-7; Ethylic acid; Acetic acid, glacial; Methanecarboxylic acid etc. is the second simplest carboxylic acid (after methanoic acid) and is a weak monoprotic acid. Global demand for acetic acid is about 6.5 million metric tons per year (Mt/a), of which ~1.5 Mt/a is met by recycling; the rest made from methanol.

Chemical structure:  CH₃COOH (CH₃CO₂H, C₂H₄O₂). It has a methyl group attached to a carboxyl group.

Properties: hygroscopic, corrosive liquid with a vinegar-like odor. At physiological pHs, acetic acid is usually fully ionised to acetate.

Production: 

Acetic acid is produced industrially both synthetically and by bacterial fermentation

a) Methanol carbonylation (approximately 75% of acetic acid in the chemical industry): Metha...