It is one of the world’s favourite ingredients, particularly during the festive season, yet no two cocoa beans are the same. ISO’s International Standard for cocoa quality has recently been updated, just…

It is over 100 years since the Haber-Bosch process began in 1913 with the world’s first ammonia synthesis plant. It led to the first synthetic fixed nitrogen, of which today over 85% is used to make fertiliser responsible for feeding around 50% of the world’s human population. With a growing population and rising living standards worldwide, the need to obtain reliable, economic supplies of this vital plant nutrient for crop growth is as important as ever. This article details the historic background to the discovery and development of a process “of greater fundamental importance to the modern world than the airplane, nuclear energy, spaceflight or television” (1, 2). It covers the role of the Billingham, UK, site in developing the process up to the present day. The technology was pioneered in Germany and developed commercially by BASF. In 1998 ICI’s catalyst business, now Johnson Matthey, acquired BASF’s catalytic expertise in this application and now Johnson Matthey is a world-leading supplier of catalyst and technology for ammonia production globally.

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When is a food ingredient considered as “natural”? Until now, there was no internationally agreed definition of a “natural” food ingredient, but a new ISO technical specification will help the food and…

The second-hand economy is booming with more and more consumers buying used goods. How can we be sure that the second-hand baby crib we buy won’t cause injury or harm? Purchasing used products can bring…

Palladium impregnated activated carbon (Pd/C) filters play a major role in air quality management by the removal of toxic carbon monoxide from confined environments. However, Pd is an expensive metal and therefore, recovery and reuse of Pd from spent filter cartridges is highly desirable. The objective of the present study was to biosynthesise Pd nanoparticles (NPs) using green tea as a reducing agent. The source of Pd for the NP synthesis was spent Pd/C. Three different acid based Pd extraction protocols constituting of hydrochloric acid-hydrogen peroxide (HCl-H₂O₂), 2 M HCl and aqua regia were systematically explored. The Pd impregnated carbon was characterised using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS), ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) before and after Pd extraction. It was found that the aqua regia based extraction protocol was the most efficient among the three chosen acid or acid mixtures with an average absolute yield of 96%. Finally, an attempt was made towards one pot biosynthesis of Pd NPs from the recovered extract by using green tea as a reducing agent. The synthesised NPs were characterised using UV-vis spectroscopy, SEM and XRD.

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Introduction When the first edition of this book by Karl B. Schnelle and Charles A. Brown was published (1) some 16 years ago, there were a number of texts available that covered various aspects of pollution emissions and their control, including “Practical Handbook of Environmental Control” by Conrad P. Straub (2) that gave in tabular…

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The thermodynamic properties were reviewed by the author in 1995. A new assessment of the enthalpy of fusion has led to a revision of the thermodynamic properties of the liquid phase and although the enthalpy of sublimation at 298.15 K is retained as 377 ± 4 kJ mol^–1 the normal boiling point is revised to 3272 K at one atmosphere pressure.

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Introduction “Food Packaging” is the seventh volume of Nanotechnology in the Agri-Food Industry, a series aimed at bringing together the most recent and innovative applications of nanotechnology in the agriculture and food industries and to present future perspectives in the design of new or alternative foods. The volume “Food Packaging” presents the development of novel…

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The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 include targets around reducing hunger for people worldwide (1). There are a number of challenges which industry is working hard to address. In farming, the challenges include crop growth and nutrition and making the most of available land for food production. Once the food is harvested, there…

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Today is World AIDS Day, a day to show support for people living with HIV, the Human Immunodeficiency Virus. It’s also a day to raise awareness about condom safety.