
This special edition, produced in collaboration with the consortium ARC CBBC, explores the concept of the “Refinery of the Future”, a crucial yet challenging vision. Would it be possible to build a fully fossil-free refinery that could meet post-2050 demands by employing new feedstocks, new energy sources and new processes? You’ll find answers to this question and much more in this special.
Researchers from Utrecht, Eindhoven and Delft are teaming up with several industrial partners in a five-year multilateral ARC CBBC project to carry out optimisation at both atomic and reactor scale of methane pyrolysis.
Lees artikelDefining the future of the chemical industry is a good start, but realizing these visions will prove challenging. We asked Bas de Bruin, Guido Mul and Atsushi Urakawa, all of them PIs within ARC CBBC, to share their ideas on how we can turn that envisioned future into reality.
If you ask ARC CBBC researchers, future coatings will be able to adapt to light, temperature or chemicals and even be self-healing.
Electrosynthesis is gaining traction as an interesting method to enable sustainable production processes. For example, by creating relevant chemical building blocks from carbohydrates.
Colour is an intriguing phenomenon, as it is truly in the eye of the beholder. To create that sensation of colour, nanometer-scale particles need to be structured in just the right way.
Lees artikelTo keep pace with a rapidly changing world, the chemical industry will have to reinvent itself, says Bert Weckhuysen, scientific director of the ARC CBBC consortium.
Lees artikelWhen you’re driven by something bigger than yourself, it’s hard to put your work down, says Thomas Freese (32).
With the end of her PhD track in sight, Sofie Ferwerda explains how she navigates the worlds of academia and industry in her research, which includes a collaboration with BASF.
Combining transdisciplinary challenge-based education with design thinking creates a unique environment for students to learn skills that will help them navigate sustainability transitions.
You won’t see editor-in-chief Esther Thole charging down a black slope. But when it comes to mindblowing science, she can stomach steep descents and sharp curves.
Lees artikelMarie Brands just went for it. Driven by her passion for sustainability, she founded Elexel, an independent electrolyzer testing and scale-up service company. Though it is still in its early stages, she dreams big.
Lees artikelWhile many current flame retardants are effective, they contain halogens such as chlorine or bromine, which are not ideal in terms of safety. In ChemCatChem, researchers from KU Leuven, Oleon and Devan present the synthesis approach of a new phosphorous, biobased flame retardant.
Researchers at Wageningen University & Research and KeyGene have developed a method that enables plant cells to regenerate into new plants without the need for externally administered hormones. The researchers report their findings in The Plant Cell.
For decades, researchers labelling cysteines with methanethiosulfonate groups have observed the formation of a mysterious dimer. Martina Huber set to work with a team from Leiden to unravel the hitherto unknown structure. The answer to the puzzle can be found in ChemistryOpen.
Between endless emails, meetings, and administrative tasks, finding time for deep work has become increasingly difficult in academic life. In her final column of the year, Isabelle Kohler shares the strategies she’s developed to protect time for the work that truly fulfills her: writing, reading, and thinking.
Biochemists at Utrecht University have developed a fluorescent sensor that makes DNA damage and repair visible in living cells and animals for the first time. In an article published in Nature Communications, the researchers demonstrate how the sensor binds to damaged DNA without interfering with the repair process.
Research that is both innovative and fundamental, and which is of a high quality and/or scientific urgency. This is the goal of the 21 successfully funded projects. Some of the projects also involve members of our associations.
The Young Scientist Forum (YSF2026) offers a combination of scientific presentations and career talks covering all those other topics that are crucial to researchers. We can already introduce the speakers. Not yet registered? Don’t wait too long, the deadline is 10 December 2025.