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BASF SE, centrotherm photovoltaics AG, and its subsidiary GP Solar GmbH have entered into an extended joint development agreement for chemicals required in the manufacturing process of crystalline solar cells. The collaboration started with its first phase in 2008. The first products ready for the market are expected within 2009 and will improve texturing of solar cells in order to enhance their efficiency. With the new process, texturing of the solar cell will take place at about room temperature, reducing the damage at grain boundaries and thus the rate of breakage. In addition, targeted surface structuring increases the overall electrical efficiency of the cell. The project work is jointly carried out at the centrotherm subsidiary's research center in Konstanz, Germany, and at BASF's headquarters in Ludwigshafen, Germany. www.basf.com
Research by Michigan State University chemist Kevin Walker is paving the way for potentially cleaner, more efficient production of cancer-fighting paclitaxel -better known as Taxol, a frontline drug used to treat many cancers, including those of the breast, lung, head, and neck. First isolated from the bark of the Pacific yew in 1967, paclitaxel has since been made by synthetically modifying an intermediate substance isolated from yew needles using toxic solvents or by fermenting cell cultures. Walker's method employs natural enzymes, i. e., native N-debenzoyl-29-deoxypaclitaxel:Nbenzoyltransferase (NDTBT), from Taxus plants, instead, that can do in one step what traditional synthetic construction does in multiples steps. Under the new process, the construction of Taxol uses a biological assembly line where each enzyme does its job to create the final product. Particular enzymes on the assembly line can attach slightly different components on the molecular frame to create new-generation Taxol molecules. This can lead to more effective drug variants and eventually better health care treatment. http://news.msu.edu
Businesses will soon not only be leasing cars and computers but also chemicals. The German Federal Environment Agency (UBA) makes this proposal in its "Sustainable Chemicals" paper. The idea is simple: producers or importers no longer sell a chemical, say a solvent used in platinum production, but instead provide the benefits obtained from the chemical, including its professional and ecological application. After use the supplier recovers the used chemicals, treats them, and handles their ecological disposal.
According to the chemical leasing concept suppliers will benefit from providing their know-how and not from the volumes of chemicals sold, as done in the past. UBA President Andreas Troge expects positive effects for the environment as resources will be saved. The background paper on sustainable chemicals management is available at: www.umweltbundesamt.de/uba-info-medien-e/mysql_medien.php?anfra-ge=Kennummer&Suchwort=3734 i Corbis Digital Stock i Conceived by Kevin D. Walker, drafted by Thomas P. Carter
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