TECHNOLOGY
CONCENTRATES
Light-emitting diodes
Chrome plating process
M&T Chemicals, Inc., says it has
developed a chrome plating process which combines the advantages of soluble and insoluble catalyst systems. The Rahway, N.J.,
firm, a subsidiary of American
Can Co., says its Luma-Chrome
process operates at low chromic
acid concentrations with a soluble
primary sulfate catalyst (sulfuric
acid is the makeup), and a selfregulating insoluble secondary
catalyst. M&T claims the process
gives improved plating speeds and
lower finishing costs. •
Mercury in water
High, but periodically varying, mercury levels in drinking water have
been found in a survey of 24 Chicago-area communities conducted
by Midwest College of Engineers,
Chicago. MCE used flameless
atomic absorption to find more than
18 p.p.b. mercury in one well in
Aurora, III., and periodic levels
higher than the recommended federal maximum of 5 p.p.b. in other
suburban areas. •
Long-lived foams
A process for making high-expansion, long-lived, semiplastic foams
has been developed by Douglas
United Nuclear, Inc., Richland, Wash.,
at AEC's Hanford reactor. Designed to encapsulate radioactive
noble gases in an emergency and
prevent their escape, the foam's
long-lived bubbles may also be
suitable for control of particulate
and gaseous industrial effluents,
or protection of plants from frost, note
project engineers Jim Mecca and
H. F. Jensen. A foam made from
polyethyjeneimine, polyvinyl alcohol,
a surfactant, and water lasts almost
250 days. AEC has applied for a
patent on the foaming process. •
A new process for fabricating electronic display panels from thousands of tiny light-emitting semiconductor diodes—with application
in computers, two-way communications, and eventually perhaps
low-cost home display terminals—
has been developed by Dr. Allen
M. Barnett, Dr. Simeon V. Galginaitis, and Frederick K. Heumann at
General Electric's research and development center, Schenectady,
N.Y. The GE scientists can put
as many as 2000 diodes and their
interconnections on a coin-sized
wafer of gallium phosphide by
etching grooves into the wafer and
growing in gallium phosphide
containing an n-type dopant •
Gaseous diffusion plants
0/7 from shale
Elsewhere, AEC has contracted
for additional electric power to
bring its three gaseous diffusion
plants back to full capacity. Currently, the plants—which produce
enriched uranium reactor fuels—
are operating at about 40% of
capacity. AEC also plans a 10-year,
$750 million production improvement and uprating program. •
Oil has been successfully produced
from large uncrushed oil shale
boulders of up to 5 tons in two retorting tests made by the Bureau
of Mines simulating underground
conditions. Heating the shale at
more than 900° F. released the oil
for collection at the retort bottom. •
Pollution instrumentation
U.S. requirements for air pollution
analysis instrumentation will grow
to between $60 and $80 million
yearly by 1980, according to a
study by Arthur D. Little, Inc., Cambridge, Mass. The 260-page study
assesses existing and needed
technology, and identifies three
principal instrumentation sectors
and 12 subsectors. It concludes
that only a few segments will reach
annual sales of $10 million by
1980. In March, ADL will issue a
similar study on water pollution
equipment. C&EN projects a total
pollution instrumentation market
of at least $1 billion for the 1970's
(C&EN, Feb. 15, page 78). •
22 C&EN MARCH 1, 1971
0/7 absorbent
Electro-optic ceramics
"Whiter whites" and "blacker blacks"
characterize ferroelectric electrooptic ceramics made by a process
developed by Dr. Gene H. Haertling, Sandia Laboratories, Albuquerque, N.M. Dr. Haertling says
that the greater degree of blackwhite contrast (4000:1 compared
to 1000:1) should make the materials
useful in optical memory devices, as
well as in display applications. The
improved process is used to produce lanthanum-modified lead zirconate/lead titanate. •
Sorboil, a fibrous material which
may be useful for cleaning up oil
spills, is being developed by Innova Corp., Seattle, Wash. Sorboil's inventor, G. Otto Orth, says
that the material—made by hydrocarbon treatment of recycled waste
such as shredded cardboard or old
newsprint—has many times the
oil absorbency of straw, and may
be cheaper and more easily disposed of than some competitive
oil absorbents. So far tested only
in the laboratory, Sorboil may
have other applications besides
oil spill cleanup. A new company,
Marlex Enviro-Systems, Ltd., Vancouver, B.C., will have sole marketing rights in Canada. •