The deadline for all chemical manufacturers, importers, and distributors to be in compliance with the new guidelines for Safety Data Sheets (SDSs) has passed. Beginning December 1st a new requirement for chemical labeling will also go into effect. OSHA first announced the changes in 2012 when they revised the Hazard Communication Standard (HCS, HazCom) to... Read more »
Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were first discovered in the early 1990s. They are 100 times stronger than steel and one-sixth the weight, have several times the electrical and thermal conductivity of copper and lack most of the environmental or physical degradation issues related to most metals. The drawback is that CNTs have a tendency to aggregate... Read more »
Polyurethane, as many of you might already know, is extremely tough and corrosion-and-wear-resistant, which makes it a popular choice for a wide variety of applications. The only real downside is that the petroleum-based product isn’t as environmentally friendly as one would hope. But a new development from Washington State University is sure to change that.... Read more »
An explosion and major fire erupted in China’s Fujian province Monday night, sending six people to the hospital, officials reported. State news agency Xinhua said 177 fire engines and more than 800 firefighters were sent to the scene. The plant, in the city of Zhangzhou, produces the chemical paraxylene (PX), which is the basic raw... Read more »
Superhydrophobic surfaces are found on duck feathers and lotus leaves that repels water. A Chinese group, led by Junqi Sun, from Jilin University has achieved the same superhydrophobicity. The surface heals itself. If the surface gets nicked, it allows water from the air to cause the molecules to fill back in and bring back the... Read more »
It’s called Continuous Liquid Interface Production (CLIP), and it could revolutionize 3D printing. Carbon3D, a privately-held Redwood City, California based company has created a process which can print three-dimensional objects as one piece instead of the layer by layer approach used now. Carbon3D uses photosensitive monomers which will polymerize when exposed to UV light, and... Read more »
Full implementation of the GHS (Globally Harmonized System) regulations are set to be in place by mid-2015, and the European Union’s REACh registration requirements are to be completely updated by June of 2018. These new regulations are expected to affect the metalworking lubricants industry especially hard. The cost to MWF additive manufacturers to participate in... Read more »
Last week, the National Association of Chemical Distributors (NACD) senior leadership traveled to Washington, DC to meet with Members of Congress and their staff. One of the key discussions centered on the recently introduced Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (S.697). This legislation would reform the very outdated Toxic Substances Control... Read more »
The last decade of the 20th century saw a healthy rise of synthetic base stock in lubricants and greases. One industry expert had growth of API Group IV base stock, PAOs, at 5.5% a year growth from 1994-2000. But in 1997 Castrol reformulated one of their synthetic blends with Group III base oil and kept... Read more »
“It’s not so much that we’re interested in processing the eggs; that’s just demonstrating how powerful this process is,” says Gregory Weiss, UC-Irvine professor of chemistry and molecular biology & biochemistry. In conjunction with Australian chemists, UCI chemists have developed a method to unfold proteins which have been “misfolded” while being processed. The methods in... Read more »
