{"id":30560,"date":"2015-11-30T07:01:20","date_gmt":"2015-11-30T06:01:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rss.nova-institut.net\/public.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biofuelsdigest.com%2Fbdigest%2F2015%2F11%2F23%2Ftaiwanese-researchers-use-nanoparticles-to-produce-algae-biodiesel%2F"},"modified":"2015-11-26T11:38:11","modified_gmt":"2015-11-26T10:38:11","slug":"new-enzymes-for-production-of-aldehydes-enzymatic-alkene-cleavage-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/new-enzymes-for-production-of-aldehydes-enzymatic-alkene-cleavage-2\/","title":{"rendered":"New Enzymes for production of aldehydes \u2013 Enzymatic alkene cleavage"},"content":{"rendered":"
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National Taiwan University (NTU) research teams yesterday announced the development of electrochromic smart glass that turns from transparent to black when a small current of electricity is applied, and the formulation of a synthetic nanoparticle that is able to extract oil from algae and turn it into biodiesel.<\/p>\n

The team, led by NTU chemistry professor Ho Kuo-chuan (\u4f55\u570b\u5ddd), developed an electrochromic glass the color and opacity of which alternates when an electric current is applied, changing the oxidation of the material\u2019s atoms.<\/p>\n

The invention can be used to reduce a window\u2019s absorption of sunlight, with buildings covered by the glass expected to absorb 25 percent less sunlight, which translates into a 20 percent reduction in air conditioner use, Ho said.<\/p>\n

Smart glass is used in the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, in antiglare rear-view mirrors for cars and in low-energy-consumption displays, Ho said.<\/p>\n

The glass is the world\u2019s first electrochromic composite material made with metal macromolecules which are capable of changing color within two seconds, with the glass able to achieve a 52.7 percent difference in opacity, he said.<\/p>\n

The team can make flexible glass with different colors using metal ions, which can be coated onto smart glass using an ordinary inkjet printer, he said.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, an NTU research team led by NTU chemistry professor Wu Chia-wen (\u5433\u5609\u6587) synthesized a magnetic nanoparticle for harvesting microalgae, extracting algae oil and converting the oil\u2019s fatty acids into a methyl ester, which is used in biodiesel.<\/p>\n

The team used iron oxide and silicon dioxide to form nanoparticles, which, when applied to algae solution, magnetically attract algae and convert their fat into biodiesel with an alkaline-based catalyst, Wu said.<\/p>\n

Traditional algae-harvesting methods require large amounts of energy to break down cell walls, but the team\u2019s nanoparticles effectively convert algae oil to biodiesel with a maximum yield of 97.1 percent of the oil\u2019s fatty acid methyl esters, compared with existing methods, which yield less than 60 percent, Wu said.<\/p>\n

Microalgae contain the highest fat content among biomaterials commonly used to produce biofuel, so microalgae has replaced corn and barley as a favored source for the industry.<\/p>\n

Referring to the past few years\u2019 food safety and tainted oil scandals, NTU president Yang Pan-chyr (\u694a\u6cee\u6c60) said that nanoparticles can also turn waste cooking oil into biodiesel.<\/p>\n

The two innovations were the results of the NTU\u2019s cooperation with Japan\u2019s National Institute for Materials Science, a long-term project in the fields of energy, biomedicine, photonics and nanotechnology, Yang said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

National Taiwan University (NTU) research teams yesterday announced the development of electrochromic smart glass that turns from transparent to black when a small current of electricity is applied, and the formulation of a synthetic nanoparticle that is able to extract oil from algae and turn it into biodiesel. The team, led by NTU chemistry professor […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","nova_meta_subtitle":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5572],"tags":[7190,5817],"supplier":[11362],"class_list":["post-30560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bio-based","tag-algae","tag-research","supplier-national-taiwan-university"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30560"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30560\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30560"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=30560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}