The heat is on for refrigerants
The ability to cool products and people is an overlooked foundation to modern civilisation. The transport and storage of heat-sensitive products such as food and drugs would not be possible without the use of refrigeration systems which use a chemical fluid. Air conditioning is also a critical part of modern life in many countries.
Business digest
The latest business digest for C&I Issue 12 2024 with all the latest mergers and acquisitions in the chemical industry.
Recycling rare earth metals from electronic waste
With China dominating the mining and refining of rare earth metals, other countries are increasingly looking to alternative sources such as electronic waste. Maria Burke reports
Greener PET from engineered bacteria
Bacteria have been engineered to make aromatic dicarboxylic acids, similar to those from petrochemicals, needed for high-performance polymers. One of the most common plastics is polyethylene terephthalate (PET), used in plastic bottles and fibres for polyester fabric. The monomers include terephthalic acid (benzene 1,4-dicarboxylic acid).
Applied chemistry
Read the latest applied chemistry highlights for December 2024 by Nigel P Freestone | University of Northampton, UK.
AstraZeneca's fast pandemic vaccine response
The world was caught totally unprepared for the Covid-19 pandemic in 2019-20, which spread rapidly around the globe. The pharma sector, however, responded rapidly to the challenge with AstraZeneca, among others, involved in the development and delivery of a vaccine in a very short time scale.
How AstraZeneca is building an innovation pipeline
To reach $80bn in total revenue by 2030 is a tall order. The plan is to do this through significant growth of AstraZeneca’s oncology, biopharmaceuticals and rare disease portfolio. And by launching 20 new medicines before the end of the decade, many of which it is hoped will have the potential to generate more than $5bn in peak year revenues. Already, six new drugs have been launched.
Using waste carpet to make concrete stronger
Waste carpet material and other textiles could be used to make stronger and more crack-resistant concrete, Australian researchers claim.
A new route to polystyrene waste recycling
A German team has reported a new route to recycling polystyrene waste. This plastic is widely used in packaging and construction, yet suffers a low recycling rate of 1% and represents around one-third of the content of landfills around the world.
Crispr repair hurdles
On the face of it, gene editing is the perfect tool for correcting small DNA mutations that cause serious genetic diseases.