Noah Tech Blog

We often think of lead as the toughest metal, but did you know barium is just a little bit tougher?

An underdog on the periodic table, barium is not the most well-known element, yet every day we enjoy the benefits that barium provides us. Barium is an alkaline earth metal, primarily sourced from the minerals barite and witherite. Fresh cut barium has a silvery-white sheen but when left in contact with oxygen it quickly begins to oxidize. 

Ammonium Tungstate comes in two main forms – paratungstate and metatungstate. Ammonium paratungstate is a white crystalline salt of ammonium and tungsten, partly soluble in water, and is usually found in one of two states within its chemical compound – either pentahydrate (with five molecules of water) and decahydrate (with ten molecules of water).

The global adhesives market is one of the fastest-growing segments of commercial chemistry. Valued at over $50 billion and expected to grow to over $63 billion by 2021, the market is changing rapidly. Chemists are racing to develop the next generation of safer, smarter, more sustainable adhesives for use in industries like automotive and medical.

These three chemical advancements could be the mark of what’s next in the non-toxic adhesive space.

Rare earth elements are commonly used in fields like medicine, science, and manufacturing. While they’re not always “rare,” they are typically highly dispersed in nature and difficult to extract. They tend to stick together, and usually occur in the same ore deposits as lanthanides.

What new uses are being found for these seventeen elements, and more specifically, rare earth metals and salts? Noah Technologies has been watching the following three developments closely.

Zirconium hydroxide is an extremely versatile compound. Not only is Zr(OH)₄ used in chemical research, it’s also a critical component in many commercial production processes, chemical refining, and even pollution control.

Here are three of the most unusual uses for zirconium hydroxide:

Questions are swirling around whether or not the Environmental Protection Agency is in danger. Will the EPA change drastically over the course of the next few years, or could the agency even cease to exist?

By now you know that a new presidential administration is currently managing the U.S. government, and few things have the potential to impact the near future of chemical research as drastically as new governmental regulations and priorities.

Innovation in the materials science sector is anything but slow. In fact, it’s arguably one of the most exciting areas of modern chemistry, responsible for much of the technological advancement and textile development we know today.

Catalysis is inarguably one of the most important components of the global chemicals industry. Some estimates suggest it’s intrinsically linked to as much as 40% of the world’s GDP and is particularly relevant in fields like agriculture, medicine, and pharmaceuticals.