Dell says that roughly 120,000 t per year of pyrolysis and other chemical recycling capacity is currently onstream in the US. This represents a minuscule fraction of the overall plastics production of about 56 million t in North America in 2021, according to the American Chemistry Council. Just one new polyethylene plant has about 500,000 t of annual capacity.
by Alexander H. Tullo | October 10, 2022
Our new vision is “making chemistry accessible to all,” and our mission is “accessibility, inclusion, and respect for persons with disabilities in the chemistry enterprise.” CWD also streamlined its goals, last updated in 2019, to make them more concise and action-oriented. We now have three: to promote and facilitate awareness, inclusion, and respect for persons with disabilities in the chemistry enterprise; to support internal and external alliances to increase visibility and impact; and to develop, advocate for, and communicate the most effective accessibility resources for persons with disabilities in the chemistry enterprise.
by Michelle Cummings, chair, ACS Committee on Chemists with Disabilities | October 08, 2022
—Celebrating the art of chemistry in the International Year of Glass “” Grateful for glass The United Nations declared that 2022 is the International Year of Glass, and Newscripts would like to take this opportunity to celebrate the crucial contributions of scientific glassware to chemistry. With items as varied as Pyrex flasks and cell phone screens, glass gear has long been a mainstay for researchers around the globe.
by Ariana Remmel | October 08, 2022
But the professor teaching her organic chemistry lab noted her knack for bench work and suggested she get involved in research. Her first research experience, at the University of Kansas in the summer of 2007, was remarkably smooth: in 10 weeks, she collected enough data to earn her the second author spot on a paper.
by Brianna Barbu | October 01, 2022
A run of recent purchase orders for electrolyzers, the equipment used to carry out that chemistry, suggests that companies are getting serious about securing their hydrogen supply en route to industrial decarbonization. The chemical engineering firm Topsoe will supply 500 MW of its solid oxide electrolyzer units to the start-up First Ammonia, which plans to use the hydrogen to make green ammonia.
by Craig Bettenhausen | September 22, 2022
Twenty-two years later, I now have the pleasure of helping ACS engage with its global community of members through the Committee on International Activities (IAC) and the 26 ACS International Chemical Science Chapters (ICSCs). I believe that outreach efforts to our global membership and international events organized by ACS are essential to inspire, engage, and develop leaders for ACS and the chemistry community worldwide. The IAC and ICSCs have intensified their presence in events around the world this year. In May, the ACS Qatar Chapter organized and hosted the inaugural ACS Research Conference: Chemistry and Chemical Engineering for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) in Doha. It was attended by more than 400 participants from over a dozen countries.
by Sergio Nanita, chair, ACS Committee on International Activities | September 17, 2022
The Ig Nobel Committee did not award a Chemistry Prize this year, but the Medicine Prize went to a chemotherapy-related discovery. A team at the Medical University of Warsaw discovered that people taking the cancer drug melphalan reported that a common side effect of the treatment—irritation in the mouth known as oral mucositis—could be prevented if the patients slowly ate ice cream or popsicles during their melphalan infusions (Sci.
by Bethany Halford | September 16, 2022
—Community colleges provide a crucial bridge to chemical and biotech industries “Community college programs point students toward rewarding careers in chemistry” Tracy Ludwick Naputi was a soon-to-be-divorced mother of five managing a McDonald’s restaurant when she realized something had to change.
by Alla Katsnelson, special to C&EN | September 12, 2022