News from Notch Consulting, Inc.

March 4, 2009

Huber On Schedule for REACH Registration for Silica

Filed under: Silica — Notch @ 12:46 am

Huber Engineered Materials issued a press release today reporting that, as a member of the Silica and Silicates Consortia, it has successfully registered synthetic amorphous silica with the European Chemicals Agency in Helsinki, Finland for the EU’s REACH chemical registration program.

According to the REACH chemicals regulation, which came into force in June 2007, existing substances –- substances already listed in the inventory under the old chemicals legislation –- had to be preregistered by Dec. 1, 2008, as a first step (as to achieve “phase-in” status). This was accomplished on schedule for all products of Huber’s silica business unit. The registration phase for substances handled in quantities of more than 1,000 metric tons per year ends in November 2010.

Here is the press release.

New Hollow Carbon Particle a Potential Replacement for Carbon Black

Filed under: Carbon Black, General — Notch @ 12:12 am

From Nanowerk News comes word of a new hollow carbon particle produced from biomass, which could potentially become a replacement for carbon black (and presumably silica as well).

Katsumi Kamegawa, the Biomass Refining Technology Team, the Biomass Technology Research Center of the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), has developed a new method for producing ultra-lightweight hollow carbon fine particles (diameters ranging from several nanometers to several tens of micrometers) from lignin, which is a byproduct obtained in large quantities during the manufacture of paper or bio-ethanol, and inorganic salts.

Rubber or plastics can be reinforced by these particles, instead of carbon black, and would be lightweight materials with improved properties.

The lightweight hollow carbon fine particles developed in this study have sizes in the range of a few nanometers to several micrometers. Since these hollow carbon particles have large surface areas and the fabrication conditions can be controlled to obtain carbon particles with good elasticity, we will conduct researches in applications to rubber reinforcing materials, lightweight filler, flexibility-imparting materials, heat insulators, electrical conductors, anti-static materials, adsorbents, and controlled-release materials.

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