Merging carbon sequestration, geothermal heating, and hydrogen production with orange and white hydrogen As a result of the deep carbon cycle, the equilibrium of atmospheric and subsurface CO2 results in 99.99% of all carbon on Earth being located underground where it does not contribute to global warming. Nonetheless, the 0.01% of Earth’s carbon located in […]
The hydrogen future Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe. When compared to fossil fuels as an energy source, hydrogen energy generation technologies are much safer for the environment as many only produce pure water as an emission. As a result of hydrogen’s potential to mitigate the effects of global warming as a […]
SO2 in wine Sulfites, sometimes called sulphates, are important naturally occurring compounds with applications as disinfectants, refrigerants, and lab solvents and reagents. Sulfur dioxide, or SO2, is a commonly used sulfite which is a colorless, pungent, toxic, corrosive gas at standard temperatures and pressures. It is primarily synthesized by volcanic activity, but also from burning […]
Environmental impact of lab-grown diamonds In addition to being faster and cheaper to manufacture, lab-grown diamonds are more environmentally and socially responsible than mined diamonds. The two most popular methods for growing diamonds are high-pressure, high-temperature (HPHT) and chemical vapor deposition (CVD). In particular, a subset of CVD, microwave plasma CVD (MPCVD) is growing in […]
Indoor hydroponic systems In recent years, agricultural practices have rapidly developed due to improvements in technology, leading to better disease resistance, greater nutrient density, and overall higher yields for various crops. One of the most important agricultural developments driving such increased productivity has been recent widespread popularization and commercialization of indoor hydroponic farming systems. The […]
Slot-die coating Slot-die coating is a reliable and versatile method of applying layers sized from 10 nm to 2 microns onto substrates, over 8x thinner than the diameter of a human hair. Relative to other techniques, slot-die coating offers greater consistency and precision at these tiny thicknesses and therefore is common to industries such as […]
Four methods to control pH in bioreactors Keeping pH at healthy biological levels is potentially the most powerful tool in upstream bioprocessing to increase product titers. Bioreactions are expensive and run on long timelines, making it critical to maximize each run. Mammalian cells are only viable in environments with pH between 7.1 and 7.4. But […]
Shakers, rockers, and stirred tank bioreactors – advantages of each We’ve previously written articles comparing single-use bioreactors to stainless steel or glass multi-use bioreactors. You can read about when to switch to single-use, the advantages of single-use in small-scale bioprocessing, and the environmental impacts of single- and multi-use bioreactors. In this article, we compare the […]
Automating the ancient art of glass blowing Many modern scientific instruments require glass bulb formation as a critical step during their manufacture. The craft of glass blowing dates back to the 1st Century BC, and it became widespread during the growth of the Roman Empire. This discovery enabled a revolution in glass production, shrinking production […]
PVD coatings: Thermal evaporation and sputtering deposition PVD coating techniques use physical processes to deposit thin films on surfaces. These films offer an extremely convenient way to obtain desirable surface characteristics without having to completely change the material of a product. The layers can be as thin as only thousandths of a nanometer and can […]