
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 artikelIn a paper published in Angewandte Chemie, a British-Dutch research team revealed a method of upcycling PET waste into a pharmaceutical precursor using an suboptimal catalyst. They also gained insights into the catalytic mechanism.
Fermentation has a positive ecological footprint. Dutch start-up The Protein Brewery uses this process to ‘brew’ a fungus that is a highly nutritious, complete source of protein. ‘We are becoming more aware that animal proteins alone are insufficient.’
After completing two bachelor’s degrees in Spain, Cristina Izquierdo Lozano bypassed the master’s degree-route and started her PhD research at Eindhoven University of Technology. Her pursuit of new acquaintances led her to take up aerial silks.
Multidisciplinary research is one those buzzwords that pop up everywhere. But creating an environment where scientists are eager to share their expertise requires more than mere lip service, says ICMS scientific director Jan van Hest. ‘Multidisciplinarity is not just a box to be ticked, but it is an absolute prerequisite ...
Studying nanostructures at near-atomic resolution is the bread and butter of the ICMS Center for Multiscale Electron Microscopy. Here, Heiner Friedrich and his team are continuously improving these already advanced techniques to provide an even more accurate view with minimal noise and high throughput.
Creating a stimulating, mutually beneficial interaction between science and industry is the priority of the ICMS Industrial Consortium. ‘We try to meet the needs of all participants: ICMS, university faculty, industry and start-ups.’
While pondering the wonders of the material world, Editor-in-chief Esther Thole is immediately thrown back to an 80s classic featuring a superstar in a pink gown.