This special edition, produced in collaboration with the consortium ARC CBBC, explores the concept of the “Refinery of the Future”, a crucial yet challenging vision. Would it be possible to build a fully fossil-free refinery that could meet post-2050 demands by employing new feedstocks, new energy sources and new processes? You’ll find answers to this question and much more in this special.
Researchers from Utrecht, Eindhoven and Delft are teaming up with several industrial partners in a five-year multilateral ARC CBBC project to carry out optimisation at both atomic and reactor scale of methane pyrolysis.
Lees artikelDefining the future of the chemical industry is a good start, but realizing these visions will prove challenging. We asked Bas de Bruin, Guido Mul and Atsushi Urakawa, all of them PIs within ARC CBBC, to share their ideas on how we can turn that envisioned future into reality.
If you ask ARC CBBC researchers, future coatings will be able to adapt to light, temperature or chemicals and even be self-healing.
Electrosynthesis is gaining traction as an interesting method to enable sustainable production processes. For example, by creating relevant chemical building blocks from carbohydrates.
Colour is an intriguing phenomenon, as it is truly in the eye of the beholder. To create that sensation of colour, nanometer-scale particles need to be structured in just the right way.
Lees artikelTo keep pace with a rapidly changing world, the chemical industry will have to reinvent itself, says Bert Weckhuysen, scientific director of the ARC CBBC consortium.
Lees artikelWhen you’re driven by something bigger than yourself, it’s hard to put your work down, says Thomas Freese (32).
With the end of her PhD track in sight, Sofie Ferwerda explains how she navigates the worlds of academia and industry in her research, which includes a collaboration with BASF.
Combining transdisciplinary challenge-based education with design thinking creates a unique environment for students to learn skills that will help them navigate sustainability transitions.
You won’t see editor-in-chief Esther Thole charging down a black slope. But when it comes to mindblowing science, she can stomach steep descents and sharp curves.
Lees artikelMarie Brands just went for it. Driven by her passion for sustainability, she founded Elexel, an independent electrolyzer testing and scale-up service company. Though it is still in its early stages, she dreams big.
Lees artikelThe dietary choice of giant pandas is a mystery to scientists because of their carnivorous gastrointestinal tract. The presence of bamboo microRNAs in the blood of pandas sheds new light on the exchange of microRNAs between plants and animals.
BioBTX has developed technology to sustainably manufacture high-performance materials by converting waste into chemical building blocks.
Researchers from Twente and Utrecht have made strips of germanium atoms that are one atom thick and a few nanometres wide. The two-dimensional nanoribbons have properties that could be useful in future quantum computers.
Some cultures serve a cup of tea with every meal. Recently, researchers at Northwestern University discovered that tea can filter out some of the heavy metals. As well as being tasty, a cup of tea now seems to have another small health benefit.
Using photoaffinity probes based on a motif found in kinase-targeting anticancer drugs, researchers from KU Leuven have shown that their off-targets are not only found in the kinase families, but also in other proteins. They have published their findings in Communications Chemistry.
Fatty tissue is an important energy reserve. But it also acts as a super-strength protective ‘bubble wrap’ for fragile parts of the skeleton.
Writing is an essential skill in academia, yet many early-career researchers find it challenging. In this column, Isabelle Kohler shares her personal relationship with writing and offers practical advice to help researchers transform writing from a daunting task into a rewarding practice.