RPM appoints new president for industrial segment

RPM International Inc (RPM) said that David Reif, III, formerly group president of the RPM performance coatings group, has been appointed president – RPM industrial segment.

In this role, Reif will provide strategic direction to RPM’s industrial segment businesses. He will report to RPM’s president and chief operating officer (CEO) Ronald Rice.

Reif began his career at KPMG Peat Marwick in 1975 and joined Stonhard Inc in 1986 as executive VP and chief financial officer (CFO) and a minority owner. RPM acquired Stonhard in 1993. Since that time, Reif has served as CFO of RPM, president of its StonCor Group of operating companies, and in June of 2000 was appointed president and CEO of the RPM performance coatings group.

Additionally, RPM also announced the promotion of David Dennsteadt (currently VP) to group president of the RPM performance coatings group, a collection of companies that are global leaders in industrial high-performance coatings and waterproofing products including Carboline, Stonhard, USL and Fibergrate.

Greaves will report to Reif in his capacity as president - RPM industrial segment.

RPM appoints new president for industrial segment

In search of new materials with exceptional properties

In an interview, Srinivasa Raghavan, Professor and Patrick & Marguerite Sung Chair, Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, University of Maryland (College Park) with Chemical Today Magazine discusses about his passion for inventing materials that can adapt to the environment and transform into something much better - to have a positive impact on the society.

The aim of our team is to invent new materials with exceptional properties. Our focus is primarily on “soft” matter and “complex” fluids ie, those with a jelly-like or gooey or slimy consistency. These are very important materials because we are all examples of soft matter ie, we are made up of cells that have a gel-like interior. Also, we are surrounded by soft matters everywhere, including the foods we eat (jelly, ketchup) and the consumer products we use (toothpaste, shampoo) etc.

One particular direction of our research is the creation of responsive or “smart” systems. That is, we invent materials that adapt to their environment, such as changing from one shape to another in response to the external temperature. We invent materials that can change its viscosity. We have made a fluid that is 1000 times as viscous as honey, but when we shine ultraviolet light on it, the fluid’s viscosity drops one million times and approaches that of water. When we then shine visible light, the fluid viscosity can be returned to its original value. Another example is a container or capsule that can hold drugs. This can travel through our blood, but the moment it reaches a particular destination (eg, a cancer tumour), it will open up and release its contents.

Read more.In search of new materials with exceptional properties

New triple-layered catalyst to split water into hydrogen, oxygen

Splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen to produce clean energy can be simplified with a single catalyst developed by scientists at Rice University and the University of Houston.

The electrolytic film produced at Rice and tested at Houston is a three-layer structure of nickel, graphene and a compound of iron, manganese and phosphorus. The foamy nickel gives the film a large surface, the conductive graphene protects the nickel from degrading and the metal phosphide carries out the reaction.

The research is published in the journal Nano Energy.

Rice chemist Kenton Whitmire and Houston electrical and computer engineer Jiming Bao and their labs developed the film to overcome barriers that usually make a catalyst good for producing either oxygen or hydrogen, but not both simultaneously.

“Regular metals sometimes oxidize during catalysis,” Whitmire said. “Normally, a hydrogen evolution reaction is done in acid and an oxygen evolution reaction is done in base. We have one material that is stable whether it’s in an acidic or basic solution.”

The discovery builds upon the researchers’ creation of a simple oxygen-evolution catalyst revealed earlier this year. In that work, the team grew a catalyst directly on a semiconducting nanorod array that turned sunlight into energy for solar water splitting.

Electrocatalysis requires two catalysts, a cathode and an anode. When placed in water and charged, hydrogen will form at one electrode and oxygen at the other, and these gases are captured. But the process generally requires costly metals to operate as efficiently as the Rice team’s catalyst.

The new catalyst also requires less energy, Whitmire said. “If you want to make hydrogen and oxygen, you have to put in energy, and the more you put in, the less commercially viable it is,” he said. “You want to do it at the minimum amount of energy possible. That’s a benefit of our material: The overpotential (the amount of energy required to trigger electrocatalysis) is small and quite competitive with other materials. The lower you can get it, the closer you come to making it as efficient as possible for water splitting.”

Read more. New triple-layered catalyst to split water into hydrogen, oxygen

Scientists design new cathode for sodium-based batteries

Scientists at the Institute of Chemistry (IOC) of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have designed a new type of cathode that could make the mass production of sodium batteries more feasible.

Batteries based on plentiful and low-cost sodium are of great interest to both scientists and industry as they could facilitate a more cost-efficient production process for grid-scale energy storage systems, consumer electronics and electric vehicles.

Lithium batteries are commonly found in consumer electronics such as smartphones and laptop computers, but in recent years, the electric vehicle industry also began using lithium batteries, significantly increasing the demand on existing lithium resources.

“Just last year, the price of lithium carbonate tripled, because the Chinese electric vehicle market started booming,” said Xiao-Qing Yang, a physicist at the chemistry division of Brookhaven Lab and the lead Brookhaven researcher on this study.

In addition, the development of new electrical grids that incorporate renewable energy sources like wind and solar is also driving the need for new battery chemistries. Because these energy sources are not always available, grid-scale energy storage systems are needed to store the excess energy produced when the sun is shining and the wind is blowing.

Scientists have been searching for new battery chemistries using materials that are more readily available than lithium. Sodium is one of the most desirable options for researchers because it exists nearly everywhere and is far less toxic to humans than lithium.

Read more. Scientists design new cathode for sodium-based batteries

Researchers uncover a hidden calcium–cholesterol connection

EDMONTON, ALBERTA: Scientists at the University of Alberta and McGill University have discovered a direct link between calcium and cholesterol, a discovery that could pave the way for new ways of treating high blood cholesterol. High blood cholesterol is a known risk factor for developing heart disease.

The researchers began the work after having their curiosity piqued while studying the role of a calcium-binding protein. They noticed an extreme rise of blood cholesterol concentration in mice when the protein was not present.

The research paper is published in the journal Scientific Reports.

UAlberta researcher Marek Michalak and graduate student Wen-An Wang, along with McGill researcher Luis Agellon, teamed up with geneticist Joohong Ahnn from Hanyang University in Korea to discover that this physiological link between calcium and cholesterol is also preserved in worms.

"(This link) wasn't a trivial observation of a tissue cultured in a dish, but something that actually happens in animals. There is a mechanism inside the cell that senses when there is not enough cholesterol present and turns on the machinery to make more,” said Michalak, a distinguished university professor in the department of biochemistry.

Read more. Researchers uncover a hidden calcium–cholesterol connection

7 few quick facts about Argon Gas

Argon is the 3rd noble gas, in period 8(p-block) of Periodic table, it makes up about 1 per cent of the Earth's atmosphere.
The solubility of Argon is approximately the same solubility as oxygen has. It is 2.5 times as soluble as nitrogen in water. The name "argon" is derived from the Greek word ?ργ?ν, meaning "lazy" or "inactive".

History of argon gas

In 1785, Argon was suspected to be the component of air by Henry Cavendish.

But in 1894, Argon was first isolated from air at London University College, by William Ramsay and Rayleigh by detaching carbon dioxide, oxygen water and nitrogen from a sample of air.

Properties of argon gas

• Argon is an element with symbol Ar and with atomic number as 18.
• Argon is colourless, odourless, non-flammable and non-toxic in both gaseous and liquid form.
• Argon is inert under majority of conditions and at room temperature it forms no stable compounds.
• It has an atomic mass of 39.948 g/mol and its density is 1.78.10-3 g/cm3 at 0 degree Celsius.
• It has melting point of -189 degree Celsius and boiling point as -185.7 degree Celsius.
• It has 6 isotopes and its vanderwaals radius is 0.192 nm.
• The Thermal Conductivity of Argon is low.

Applications of Argon gas:

• Scientific Research: Argon in its liquid form is used as target for neutrino experiments and for direct searching of dark matters. It is used to produce scintillation light.
• Industrial Processes: Argon is used to asphyxiate birds in poultry industry. It is used as inert gas in metal industry for welding and cutting.
• Preservative: It is used as a propellant and to displace oxygen and moisture in air in packaging material so as to extend the shelf life.
• Wine Making: It is used in winemaking to be a barrier against oxygen.
• Laboratory equipment: Used as an inert gas, it is also used as carrier gas. It is also preferred for sputter coating and sputter deposition.
• Medical use: Liquid Argon is used to damage tissues such as cancer cells. It is also used in a procedure called "argon-enhanced coagulation".
• Lighting: It is used in lighting, as it doesn’t react with light bulb filament. In blue and green argon-ion lasers also Argon is used.

Read more. 7 few quick facts about Argon Gas

All That You Need To Know About Carbon Element

Carbon is the 15th most plentiful element on the Earth's crustand is abundant in the Sun, stars, comets, and in  atmospheres of most of the planets. It is a soft element and dull grey or black in color.

Its name is derived from a Latin word "carbo" which means "charcoal".

Carbon is a chemical element with atomic symbol C and atomic number 6.The atoms of carbon, bonds together in different ways which is termed as allotropes of carbon. The best known allotropes are graphite and diamond.

The most common oxidation state in inorganic compounds of carbon is +4, whereas in carbon monoxide +2 is found.Carbon is known to form almost ten million different compounds.

2. How is the composition of Carbon in the environment?

Carbon and its components are extensively distributed in nature.

Pure crystalline carbon is present in the form of diamond and graphite. Free carbon is present in big reservoirs in form of hard coal.The Earth's atmosphere contains continuous increasing concentration of carbon dioxide and monoxide.

All plants and living animals are formed by organic compounds where carbon is combined with hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen and other various elements. The natural gas deposits contains compounds formed by carbon and hydrogen.

Read more. All That You Need To Know About Carbon Element