International

Volvo begins preparing C30 electric–gasoline-powered fuel cell combo

By / November 5, 2010

At the Paris Motor Show last month, Volvo announced that their C30 electric model was ready for delivery. But, the company is already adding a major new feature – a…

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Lux: Existing nanotech could slash energy use by 12% in U.S., Germany and Japan

By / November 2, 2010

R50 vacuum insulation panel, 30x48x1 inch. Credit: ThermalVisions. Nano R&D is opening up new energy-conservation vistas, but a new report from Lux Research claims that the adoption of existing nano-enabled…

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Saint-Gobain to open new PV facility in Korea

By / October 11, 2010

Hyundai Heavy Industries Chairman Min Keh-sik, left, sits with Compagnie de Saint-Gobain SA Chairman Pierre-Andre de Chalendar, center, after HHI and Saint-Gobain agreed to build a new CIGS solar module…

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Materials stories that also may be of interest

By / October 8, 2010

At the end of each week, I end up with a list of a bunch of stories I started to write about, or started to investigate or didn’t even get…

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Paper-grown ZnO nanorods, nanoneedles

By / October 6, 2010

a) FESEM image of aligned ZnO nanorods. b) TEM image of a single nanorod. c) HRTEM image takenfrom the edge of the ZnO nanorod. Inset: Corresponding SAED pattern.(Credit: Nanowerk.com. Reprinted…

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Inexpensive radial ZnO nanowire brushes ‘scrub’ toxic compounds from water

By / September 30, 2010

Low-magnification SEM image of the hierarchical nanostructure consisting of radially aligned ZnO nanowires grown on electrospun poly-l-lactide nanofibers. Inset: schematic representation of the hierarchical nanostructure. Credit: JACerS. In a story…

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Dutch report advances with low-cost, low-temp Pd-film-on-ceramic hydrogen production membrane

By / September 28, 2010

The nonprofit Energy Research Center of the Netherlands reports that it is making significant advances with hydrogen separation membrane technology at an experimental plant in Italy. An ECN 0.4m2 Hysep…

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Ceramic tile production falls for first time in sector’s history

By / September 28, 2010

According to a press release from Tile Edizioni, 2009 marked the first year in the tile production sector’s history that production fell. Although Asia’s share of the production and consumption…

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Video of the Week: Ceramic Industries CEO Nick Booth on the business of ceramics

By / September 23, 2010

Ceramic sanitary ware and tile manufacturer Ceramic Industries CEO Nick Booth expects to see an uptick in the residential construction market by the middle of next year, which would bode…

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New Chinese ceramics industry report predicts 20% demand increase

By / September 21, 2010

The China Research & Intelligence Agency has released a new report predicting a 20% demand increase in the Chinese ceramics market over 2009. Released earlier this month, the report, titled,…

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