From petroleum to wood

Cost-efficient and more sustainable

17-Feb-2020 - An interdisciplinary team of bio-engineers and economists from KU Leuven has mapped out how wood could replace petroleum in the chemical industry. They not only looked at the technological requirements, but also whether that scenario would be financially viable. A shift from petroleum to wood ...

Clusters of gold atoms form peculiar pyramidal shape

07-Jan-2020 - Clusters composed of a few atoms tend to be spherical. They are usually organized in shells of atoms around a central atom. This is the case for many elements, but not for gold! Experiments and advanced computations have shown that freestanding clusters of twenty gold atoms take on a pyramidal ...

Ready-to-use recipe for turning plant waste into gasoline

26-Sep-2018 - Bioscience engineers at KU Leuven, Belgium, already knew how to make gasoline in the laboratory from plant waste such as sawdust. Now the researchers have developed a roadmap, as it were, for industrial cellulose gasoline. In 2014, at KU Leuven's Centre for Surface Chemistry and Catalysis, ...

Separating methane and CO2 will become more efficient

19-Oct-2017 - To make natural gas and biogas suitable for use, the methane has to be separated from the CO2 . This involves the use of membranes: filters that stop the methane and let theCO2 pass through. Researchers at KU Leuven (University of Leuven), Belgium, have developed a new membrane that makes the ...

New technology generates power from polluted air

09-May-2017 - Researchers from the University of Antwerp and KU Leuven (University of Leuven), Belgium, have succeeded in developing a process that purifies air and, at the same time, generates power. The device must only be exposed to light in order to function. "We use a small device with two rooms separated ...

Scientists unravel how natural gas is converted into methanol at room temperature

16-Sep-2016 - Twenty years after the technique was developed, scientists at KU Leuven and Stanford University have unravelled the mechanism behind the direct conversion process of natural gas into methanol at room temperature. This discovery will have major consequences for the future use of methanol in ...

Electronic nose smells pesticides and nerve gas

Detecting pesticides and nerve gas in very low concentrations made possible

05-Jul-2016 - Detecting pesticides and nerve gas in very low concentrations. An international team of researchers led by Ivo Stassen and Rob Ameloot from KU Leuven, Belgium, have made it possible. The best-known electronic nose is the breathalyser. As drivers breathe into the device, a chemical sensor measures ...

Designer crystals for next-gen electronics

16-Dec-2015 - Liquid is often seen as the kryptonite of electronics, known for damaging and corroding components. That's why a new process that uses vapour- rather than liquid - to grow designer crystals could lead to a new breed of faster, more powerful electronic devices. The method, invented by an ...

Scientists develop diesel that emits far less CO2

14-Dec-2015 - Researchers from KU Leuven and Utrecht University have discovered a new approach to the production of fuels. Their new method can be used to produce much cleaner diesel. It can quickly be scaled up for industrial use. In 5 to 10 years, we may see the first cars driven by this new clean ...

Recycling of rare-earth elements from fluorescent and energy saving lamps

12-Mar-2015 - KU Leuven Chemists have developed a process, based on ionic liquid technology, for the recycling of the metals europium and yttrium from collected fluorescent and energy saving lamps. The metals are directly reusable in new lamps. Compared to traditional solvents, the ionic liquid has a multitude ...