Polymer solar cells are lightweight, potentially disposable, economical to fabricate, flexible and have lower potential for negative environmental impact. They will find increasing application in portable devices, as ability to deliver longer battery life will be an important advantage to device manufacturers. They can be bonded to almost any surface which makes them ideal for charging cellphones, laptops, MP3 players. But so far, these devices have been too inefficient to compete with silicon solar cells for most applications. Solar market is presently valued at US$20 billion and is predicted to grow by around 30% pa for the next decade. Read about the research studies resulting in polymer solar cells with good efficiencies in Plastic solar cells have a good potential in portable electronics

Graphene has outstanding electrical conductivity and thermal conductivity, combined with strength and barrier, which make it an exciting new material in development of conductive applications. US graphene manufacturers are associated with university research and are developing materials for lighter, more fuel-efficient aircraft and car parts, stronger wind turbines, medical implants and sports equipment, transparent conductive coatings for solar cells and displays, and a host of other applications. Read in Graphene has potential in automotive, aerospace, wind energy, electronics industry

Globally, over 25% of new crackers that started up between 2003 and 2007 were based on ethane and produce little propylene. Ethylene is projected to grow at about 3% pa, while propylene is expected to see faster growth at 4-5%. At current levels, steam cracker expansions/additions cannot keep pace with propylene demand growth- a shortage of propylene from conventional sources seems to be imminent. Technology has been developed to produce propylene from renewable sources such as biomass. Read in Environment friendly green propylene technologies to be economical in future

The largest markets for engineering polymers are automotive, electrical/electronic and industrial products, where they continue to replace metal parts. As their use lowers cost when compared to conventional materials, they find usage in an increasing range of applications. Their properties include high strength, light weight, high-temperature, corrosion and chemical resistance, desirable electrical properties and design flexibility. To know of the newer developments, read ETP increasingly replace metal in newer applications

The conventional methods to produce food-grade recycled PET are solid state polymerization (SSP), vacuum decontamination, and others. These remove contaminants and also increase intrinsic viscosity. Alternative process is also being developed to process to recycle post-consumer plastic into a food-grade PET. Read in Processes and additives to produce food-grade recycled PET