Platinum today: News/Industrial and Medical

New palladium membrane-based research approved

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Four new projects which will aim to use pgms to enhance hydrogen fuel production have been given the green light by the US department of energy (DOE).

The projects will involve testing membrane technology to separate hydrogen and CO2 from coal or coal/biomass-derived synthesis gas, Fossil Energy Techline reports.

If successful, the research could lead to lower greenhouse gas emissions, while also improving efficiencies and cutting consumer electricity costs from advanced coal gasification power systems.

The first project is Praxair, which will link up with the Colorado School of Mines at T3 Scientific to demonstrate palladium and palladium alloy membranes on ceramic supports for hydrogen separation from coal-derived syngas.

United Technologies Research Center is set to partner with Power+Energy to deliver similar tests, using the dense metal, surface-modified dense metal and nano-composite metal forms of the membranes.

Western Research Institute will team up with Chart Energy and Chemicals and Synkera Technologies to develop and test planar palladium-based ceramic-anodic aluminium oxide membranes for hydrogen separation from coal-derived syngas streams.

Finally, Worcester Polytechnic Institute will demonstrate hydrogen separation from coal-derived syngas using palladium and palladium alloy membranes on porous metal supports.

The body will join forces with Membrane Technology and Research, Siemens Energy America and T3 Scientific to deliver the studies.

A combined value of $7.6 million over 15 months has been placed on the projects, with the DOE supplying $5.9 million and non-federal cost sharing totalling $1.7 million.

Source:

New Projects Set to Target Efficiency, Environmental Gains at Advanced Coal Gasification Facilities (27/07/10)

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'Super-sizing' improves platinum-based chemotherapy drug

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The side effects of a prominent platinum-based chemotherapy drug could be greatly reduced through a process of 'super-sizing', new research has suggested.

Cisplatin is well known for its ability to ruin the DNA of tumour cells in lung, ovarian or breast cancer patients, but it can also cause serious damage to the kidneys, which receive plenty of the compound already through filtering blood.

However, a team of researchers from the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology believe they have found a solution to the problem.

Lead scientist Shiladitya Sengupta revealed that cisplatin can be packaged into nanoparticles which are too big to enter the kidneys, thus blocking the side effects and paving the way for higher doses of the drug.

"We could give so much more cisplatin than is now possible. You could wipe out the tumour by carpet-bombing it," he said.

Tumours in mice were tested with the new cisplatin nanoparticle and the team found that they shrank to half the size of those treated with the compound in the traditional manner.

The findings of the research appear in the June edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Cisplatin was the first member of a class of anti-cancer drugs which now also includes carboplatin and oxaliplatin.

Source:

Super-sizing a cancer drug minimizes side effects (28/07/10)

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Johnson Matthey reinforces recovery technology with Reaxa purchase

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Johnson Matthey has beefed up its pgm purifying and recovery technology with a new acquisition, it has been confirmed.

The leading platinum refiner has snapped up Reaxa Ltd's Metal Scavenging Business, which includes its QuadraPure and QuadraSil product ranges.

As a result of the transaction, the company will offer the products - which are particularly useful in the pharmaceutical and electronics industries - alongside its existing Smopex Metal Scavenging range.

Jamie Conway-Baker, Business Manager of the newly-formed Johnson Matthey Scavenging Technologies Business, expressed his satisfaction at the news.

"This bolt-on acquisition reinforces our commitment to metal recovery and product purification," he said.

"Depending on our customers varied requirements we can now provide a complete solution, across a range of industries."

Johnson Matthey, which was founded in 1817, currently trade on the London Stock Exchange and is a member of the FTSE 100 Index.

Source:

Scavenging for Success (23/07/10)

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Platinum wire mesh helps to 'cure' young epileptic

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

An eight-year-old girl has become the first patient to undergo a type of epilepsy surgery involving platinum wire mesh, it has been confirmed.

For the past five years, Breanna Hopps has suffered between 40 and 60 seizures per day, which has severely restricted her ability to learn basic skills, the Orlando Sentinel reports.

However, this has now been reduced to between four and six after doctors at the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children in Florida gave her a brain procedure, known as electrocorticography.

The surgery involves opening the skull and placing a platinum wire mesh with small squares on the brain, before sending the patient electric shocks to monitor seizure activity.

As a result of the process, which can last for up to two days, a hotspot seizure map is compiled, and this allowed neurosurgeons to remove brain tissue from seven hotspots in Breanna's brain.

She was allowed home four days after the surgery and has since started to watch television and read books as her personality continues to change in a positive way.

Her mother, Lori Hopps, told the news provider: "She used to come up to people and claw them. Now, she comes up and hugs you.

"It's amazing. The doctor said he would fix her. I think he finally did it."

Platinum has a number of uses in medical applications, such as in the treatment of various types of cancer.

Source:

Brain operation quiets the storm of seizures for epileptics: Platinum wire mesh (24/07/10)

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Corning announces $800m LCD glass expansion in China

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Corning Incorporated will invest $800 million to build a new LCD glass substrate facility in China, it was confirmed yesterday (21st July).

The company has received government backing to construct the plant in the Beijing Digital TV Industry Park, with first production expected in the first half of 2012.

In addition, an expansion project has been pencilled in for its Taichung site in the country, with idled capacity also being ramped up at its facility in Shizuoka, Japan.

Corning agreed the capital expenditure plan in order to make the most of strong demand for its two flagship products, EAGLE XG LCD substrates and Gorilla glass.

"These investments will position Corning to capture significant new sales opportunities from rapidly increasing demand for our Gorilla glass, while continuing to meet the demand for our EAGLE XG products," said Chairman and Chief Executive Wendell Weeks.

"Gorilla glass has already been embraced by information technology and handheld device makers, and the addition of the TV cover glass application creates a tremendous opportunity for further growth."

The company believes sales of Gorilla glass could exceed $200 million this year in its specialty materials segment, before reaching about $1 billion per year by 2011.

James Clappin, President of Corning Display Technologies, expressed his excitement at the expansion plans for China, which he described as an "emerging market" for LCD glass.

"China is not only one of the world's leading consumers of LCD televisions; it is also poised to become a major producer of LCD panels for TV applications within the next several years," he said.

Corning also suggested that annual LCD glass demand could reach the higher end of its forecasted range of 2.9 billion sq ft to 3.1 billion sq ft this year.

Source:

Corning Announces New Capacity Investments (21/07/10)

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New inhibitor protein 'sensitises cancer cells to platinum compounds'

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

A new small molecule compound can sensitise tumour cancer cells to platinum compounds, according to a new study.

YM155 was found to limit the expression of survivin, which is a member of the inhibitor of the apoptosis protein family, at both the mRNA and protein levels.

The researchers noted that it exhibited anti-cancer activity in pre-clinical models, while also being able to sensitise non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells to radiation in vitro and in vivo.

In their paper, which was published recently in the British Journal of Cancer, the authors claimed that the success can be attributed to the inhibition of DNA repair and its knock-on effect of improving apoptosis.

Summarising the results, they noted that the combination of YM155 and platinum compounds "may have potential as a novel therapeutic regimen".

"Platinum-based combination chemotherapy is the standard of care for most individuals with advanced NSCLC," they wrote.

"We have shown that treatment of NSCLC cells with YM155 results in a marked increase in the anti-tumour effects of cisplatin and carboplatin both in vitro and in vivo."

The 13 Japanese researchers were drawn from the Department of Medical Oncology at Kinki University School of Medicine and the Institute of Drug Discovery Research.

Source:

New apoptosis inhibitor protein sensitises cancer cell to platinum-based compounds (19/07/10)

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Saint-Gobain announces new platinum-cured manifolds

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics has a new addition to its line of tubing products after confirming the introduction of platinum-cured manifolds.

The manifolds, which are produced by Sani-Link Ultra, offer impressively smooth surfaces and all but remove the need for fittings, connections or assembly.

In addition, they almost eliminate leak points and possible entrapment areas, while ultra-low TOCs minimise scope for contamination by extractables, Azom.com reports.

"Process engineers can specify custom configurations that incorporate Sani-Tech Ultra manifolds and either Sani-Tech Ultra 50 or Sani-Tech Ultra 65 tubing," noted the news provider.

"These components can be manufactured as complete assemblies that are already gamma-irradiated for easy implementation. Assembly components can also include filters, bags, tube clamps and sterile connectors."

The manifolds come in four styles - elbow, cross, tee and wye - and a range of sizes, while a double wye option is also available for use in double-headed peristaltic pumps.

Other applications for the silicone-based, patented designs include sterile filing, filtration and fermentation, sampling, closed collection systems and drug delivery and discovery.

Source:

Saint-Gobain Launches New Manifolds Made of Silicone Materials (20/07/10)

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