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n the context of the second session of the International Conference on Chemicals Management, ICMM has launched Minerals and Metals Management 2020, an action plan for chemicals management in the mining and metals sector.

ICMM has released the May 2009 issue of its Good Practice newsletter: Action for a safer world. It is themed around the need for sound chemicals management and looks to the UN's Second International Conference on Chemicals Management in Geneva on 11-15 May. This will be the setting for the launch of ICMM's own action plan on chemicals management for the mining and metals sector - Minerals and Metals Management 2020.

At the 7th International Corrosion Solutions Conference (CSC09), 21st to 23rd September, 2009 in Park City, Utah, USA, metallurgists, fabricators, chemical and materials engineers will discuss topics ranging from alloy development and plant engineering to fabrication, failure analysis, and much more. Conference sessions are tailored to chemical processing, oil and gas, material selection, fabrication advances, and other challenging processing environments. The following abstract provides a glimpse of the papers being presented at this year's event

Materials & Chemicals is an interdisciplinary heavy industry sector. Materials industry applies the properties of matter to various areas of science and engineering. It incorporates elements of applied physics and chemistry.

A new approach to storing electrical energy can store more energy than gasoline in the same volume, and could help extend the range of electric vehicles. But some experts say other approaches are more practical. The biggest technological hurdle facing electric vehicles is their range. Even the best rechargeable batteries cannot match the density of energy stored in a fuel tank. Combining electric power with a combustion engine to make a hybrid electric vehicle sidesteps that problem. But a new take on electrical power storage that is part battery, part chemical fuel cell could ditch gasoline for good.The new design stores energy more densely than petrol, and was conceived by Stuart Licht of the University of Massachusetts, Boston, and colleagues. Batteries produce electricity from a closed chemical system that is eventually exhausted. Fuel cells use a constant supply of fuel, so they are continually topped up. Licht's cell has features of each. Its negative electrode, or anode, is made from vanadium boride, which serves double-duty as a fuel too. But unlike the flowing fuel of a fuel cell, the material is held internally, like the anode material of a battery. The vanadium boride reacts with a constant stream of oxygen, as in a fuel cell, provided by the positive electrode, or cathode. This brings in a supply of air from outside.

Europe's focus on bulk chemical manufacture may have faded in recent times, but 2009 is proving to be the year of new advanced materials launches - particularly where high-performance and specialist qualities are demanded by customers. Sean Ottewell reports.

Growing a mixed "lawn" of two kinds of nanowires can make a new kind of light-sensing array that could be made in metre-scale sheets. The researchers behind the prototype say such cheap, high-quality image sensors would allow uses not conceivable using today's more expensive technology. Current sensors, such as those found in digital cameras, are made like any other silicon chip - they are carved out from a block of material. The new nanowire sensors are instead built from the bottom up, using chemically-grown nano-sized components. A research team led by Ali Javey, at the University of California, Berkeley, developed the process. They start by growing an unruly "lawn" of nanowires on a surface. The crop is then printed onto another surface, a step that simultaneously tidies them up. "At the first stage, the nanowires are more-or-less standing up, like a bad hair day. But during the printing process, they effectively get combed," says Javey. The nanowires, which are a few tenths of a millimetre long and a few tens of nanometres wide, can be printed onto anything from silicon to plastic or paper. Whatever the surface, it must be prepared with a pattern that guides the nanowires to predetermined locations. To make the functioning sensor, two different "crops" of nanotubes are printed onto the same surface. Cadmium selenide nanowires produce electric charge when hit by light, while those made from silicon-coated germanium act as transistors to amplify that charge.

Rohm and Haas Company has reported second quarter 2008 sales of $2,567 million, a 17% increase over the same period in 2007, with Electronic Materials and the chemical businesses outside North America delivering strong growth. The Electronic Materials Group comprises two reportable segments which provide materials for use in applications such as telecommunications, consumer electronics and household appliances. Sales for the Electronic Materials Group were $536 million in the second quarter of 2008, up 34% over the same period in 2007, reflecting the impact of acquisitions in Display Technologies as well as solid organic growth of Electronic Technologies. The Electronic Technologies segment is comprised of the company's Semiconductor Technologies, Circuit Board Technologies and Packaging and Finishing Technologies business units. Sales for the segment of $460 million were up 16% versus the second quarter of 2007, driven by strong growth in Asia for all business units. Sales in the second quarter excluding precious metals pass-through sales were up 15%. Semiconductor Technologies sales grew 13%, reflecting strong demand and favorable currencies, particularly in the Asia Pacific Region. Circuit Board Technologies sales increased 20% as compared to the same period last year, with solid growth in the Asia Pacific Region more than offsetting declines in North America. Packaging and Finishing Technologies sales rose 20% versus last year, primarily driven by strong growth in precious metal sales and in process sales. Adjusted pre-tax earnings for this segment of $107 million were up 11% from the second quarter of 2007, reflecting increased demand and favorable currencies, partially offset by higher metal costs and increased costs related to expansion efforts, including the new Asia Technical Center in Taiwan.\n\n\n

Growth in Asia is illustrated from this reporting at multiple levels of business - Opportunities are available for copper in a multitude of applications.

Compared to other solar energy applications, solar cooling is a relatively new, but growing, technology. Many projects using the technology are still for the purposes of demonstration only, but a growing number of systems are being implemented all over the world for conventional use. In order to give an insight into this innovative technology, detailed information about the possible technical applications of solar cooling systems is provided in this section.\n\nPassive solar cooling, based on bioclimatic strategies such as sun protection using natural screening devices or increased cooling by using ponds or water basins o the roof or close to the external walls, is widely applied and should be the first step to take in cooling a building. Such measures are easier and less costly to implement, they decrease the need for additional cooling and, therefore, for additional energy demand (and also for investment). Sufficient insulation of the building also decreases the need for cooling, as well as for heating.\n\nIf the outcome of these measures is not sufficient in itself, a solar assisted cooling system may be an intelligent solution. In solar assisted cooling systems solar heat is used to drive the cooling process for air conditioning in buildings. Instead of using electricity, free solar thermal energy is used for cooling through a thermal-chemical sorption process.\n\n

It's clear that you won't soon hear that an electric car is being powered by eel-inspired technology, but the main advantage of this type of chemical battery in medical purposes usage is that if it breaks, "there are no toxins released into your system. It would be just like any other cell in your body.", says Xu.

2010/2011* * Transport * Chemicals * Waste Management * Mining * A Ten Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns

"There is currently no uniform approach to nanomaterials at the EU level and no EU register. However, nanomaterials are, to a limited extent, covered by EU sector-specific regulation. For instance the Food Information Regulation, the Cosmetics Regulation, the Medical Devices Regulation and the Biocides Regulation contain specific provisions on nanomaterials. While moreover applying to substances in the nano form, the Regulation on Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) does not currently contain specific provisions on nanomaterials."