News tagged with precious materials

Colombia's tinted gold passes for precious stones

All that glitters is gold under a new thermochemical process developed by Colombian engineers for color-tinting the precious metal to make it look like sapphires, rubies or emeralds.

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Apr 08, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (4) | comments 1

Fool's gold may prove an unlikely alternative to overexploited catalytic materials

Catalytic materials, which lower the energy barriers for chemical reactions, are used in everything from the commercial production of chemicals to catalytic converters in car engines. However, with current catalytic materials ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Feb 10, 2012 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (10) | comments 9 | with audio podcast

Electrochemical dissolution of platinum in an ionic liquid

(PhysOrg.com) -- Precious metals, especially platinum, are important catalytic materials for many chemical reactions. For example, platinum is used in some fuel cells; however, broad commercialization of such ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Jan 12, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Researchers develop alternative to gold in electrical applications

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at the University of Connecticut, partnering with United Technologies Research Center (East Hartford, CT) engineers, have modeled and developed new classes of alloy materials for ...

Physics / Condensed Matter

created Oct 13, 2010 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (18) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Japan mines toxic e-waste for precious materials

Seeking to turn an environmental problem into an economic opportunity, high-tech companies in resource-poor Japan are mining mountains of toxic e-waste for precious materials.

Space & Earth / Environment

created Dec 17, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (7) | comments 0

Geologists point to outer space as source of the Earth's mineral riches

According to a new study by geologists at the University of Toronto and the University of Maryland, the wealth of some minerals that lie in the rock beneath the Earth's surface may be extraterrestrial in origin.

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Oct 18, 2009 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (11) | comments 5

A water splitter with a double role

(PhysOrg.com) -- There is a lot of hope invested in hydrogen, but it also presents some problems. It is energy-rich, clean and, as a constituent of water, of almost unlimited availability. However, so far ...

Physics / Soft Matter

created Mar 09, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (12) | comments 4