Start-up Mechanolution wants to revolutionize the chemical industry

In an interview, the founding team reveals what makes their collaboration successful

01-Nov-2024 - At first glance, you might think that Desislava Dobreva and Sebastian Grothaus' start-up project is primarily characterized by differences. While Bulgarian-born scientist Desislava Dobreva has a passion for chemistry, her co-founder Sebastian Grothaus has been an entrepreneur for many years. They ...

Golden Ball Mills as Green Catalysts

A gold-coated grinding bowl proves to be a real marvel

18-Jun-2024 - Less waste, mild reaction conditions, and no harmful solvents – only a very thin layer of gold is necessary to sustainably convert alcohols into aldehydes through mechanochemistry. A gold-coated milling vessel for ball mills proved to be a real marvel in the research work by Inorganic Chemistry ...

Optical sensor enables 100 percent quality control of ultra-thin barrier layers

30-May-2024 - A new type of sensor makes it possible for the first time to test functional barrier layers on plastic products at production speed. The Film-Inspect testing system was developed by the Fraunhofer Institute for Physical Measurement Techniques IPM in cooperation with plasma system specialist ...

Combined microscopy technique catches light-driven polymers in the act

Researchers combine high-speed atomic force microscopy with a laser light source for real-time observation of azo-polymer films

13-Mar-2024 - Expanding our scientific understanding often comes down to getting as close a look as possible at what is happening. Now researchers from Japan have observed the nanoscale behavior of azo-polymer films while triggering them with laser light. In a study published last month in Nano Letters the ...

Breakthrough at the Fritz Haber Institute: First Operation of a Two-Color Mode in an Infrared Free-Electron Laser

New opportunities for experimental studies in diverse fields ranging from physical chemistry, materials science, catalysis research to biomolecular studies

23-Feb-2024 - A technological milestone has been achieved at the Fritz Haber Institute (FHI) of the Max Planck Society in Berlin. For the first time, an infrared Free-Electron Laser (FEL) has been operated in a two-color mode. This globally unique technology enables experiments with synchronized two-color ...

Chemists make breakthrough in solving long-standing puzzle in polymer science

This new approach allows a fundamental and technological question that has preoccupied polymer scientists for the past 50 years to be finally answered

03-Oct-2023 - New research by the University of Liverpool’s Chemistry Department represents an important breakthrough in the field of polymer science. In a paper published in the journal Nature Chemistry and featuring on the front cover, Liverpool researchers use mechanochemistry to characterise how a polymer ...

For shorter approval times: New process simulates decomposition of too long stored drugs in 15 minutes

New approach represents a paradigm shift in the application of mechanochemical processes in organic chemistry

31-May-2023 - Before their approval, pharmaceuticals not only have to be tested for their effectiveness and safety, but also for their stability, since they are usually stored in pharmacies and private households for years and are not allowed to change. To test their stability, a process is needed that ...

Chemical reactions completely without waste

Mechanically driven reactions run completely without solvents: this sustainable process is now to be ready for the market

09-May-2023 - If reactions for the chemical industry were to take place without solvents, an enormous amount of environmentally harmful or even toxic waste could be saved. Prof. Dr. Lars Borchardt has shown how this can be done: Together with his team, he realizes mechanically driven reactions in catalytically ...

Battery recycling: 70 percent of lithium recovered

Inexpensive and environmentally compatible mechanochemical recycling process developed

29-Mar-2023 - Recover up to 70 percent of lithium from battery waste without the need for corrosive chemicals, high temperatures, or prior sorting of materials: This is made possible by a recycling method developed at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) that combines mechanical processes and chemical ...

Light and milling balls for greener chemical processes

Reactions without solvents

16-Mar-2023 - A combination of photochemistry and mechanochemistry saves 98 per cent solvent and 80 per cent energy in a number of reactions. What’s more, the process takes less time than it does in solution. Light-driven chemical reactions so far were usually conducted with large amounts of solvents that are ...