Whether it is to provide pressure as driving force for membrane separation, to pump out a flooded cellar or to circulate hot water in a central heating system: pumps are needed in many places. In fact, pumps account for as much as 10% of the world’s electricity consumption. How do pumps function, and why are … Continue reading How does a pump work?
X-ray diffraction (XRD) is an analysis technique to determine the crystal structure of crystalline materials. You do this by bombarding the material with X-rays. This is radiation with a wavelength of about 1 Angstrom (10-10 m), in the same order of magnitude as the distance between atoms in a crystal. Where a normal mirror reflects … Continue reading Structure determination with X-ray diffraction
Subtle or robust? Wine is an interplay of the type of grapes, the soil, the climate, the time of picking and the craftmanship of winemaking. During the winemaking process, the many components of the grapes are transferred into the wine, and yeasts take care of the conversion of sugars from the grapes into ethanol. As … Continue reading Materials for red wine
Bring nature into your home with wood! With knots – places where a side branch grew on the tree – and grains as an expression of the natural look, and the warm appearance of the material. Wood is a natural composite material, with cellulose fibres embedded in a matrix of lignin and hemicellulose – all … Continue reading Wood, a sustainable natural composite material
Electrochemistry occurs – how could it be otherwise – at the interface between electricity and chemistry. Consider phenomena that occur when chemical reactions generate an electric current, or when you can use electricity to modify chemical compounds or materials. For example, chemical reactions in batteries and fuel cells generate electricity. Conversely, electrolysers allow hydrogen gas … Continue reading Electrochemistry
About five years ago the Dutch book Kennismaken met materialen saw the light of day. A book that has found its way into large and small companies, educational and research institutes, universities, bookstores and libraries, as a reference work but also as a (business) gift for many interested parties. The described examples in the world … Continue reading Book Meet materials has been published – in English!
In the Netherlands anno 2021, energy is mainly used to heat buildings such as houses (with central heating on natural gas, especially in autumn and winter), for lighting and to run appliances (in the form of electricity), to power cars and other vehicles (mainly liquid motor fuels made from oil), and in industry to convert … Continue reading Energy transition – how to depart from fossil fuels
Just like coal, oil, natural gas and electricity, hydrogen is also an energy carrier – it contains energy that can be released, for example through combustion. Hydrogen has a high energy density of around 33 kWh per kilogram, almost three times the value of petrol. In practice, however, this high value is rather disappointing because … Continue reading Hydrogen
The comfortable temperature on earth is due to the unique combination of the distance to the sun and the presence of our atmosphere. As a result, the earth absorbs just the right amount of solar energy we need for life as we know it. And the atmosphere acts as an insulating blanket, keeping the temperature … Continue reading Carbon dioxide and global warming
Just outside the earth’s atmosphere, the sun shines with a power of 1367 watts on a square meter of surface facing the sun. This sunlight radiates continuously from the sun to the earth. On a cloudless day in summer, 1000 watts per square meter arrive at the earth’s surface in the Netherlands – the earth’s … Continue reading Solar energy: from sunlight to electricity
