The partner has developed an integrated, novel, hydrometallurgical process that is a cost-effective, efficient, safe and eco-friendly answer to the problems faced by the electronics waste recycling industry. The key advantages associated with this technology are as follows:

• Less capital- and energy–intensive solution, the initial investment is almost 30% less as compared to pyrometallurgical technologies.
• High percentage of metal recovery.
• Reduces emission of harmful gases when compared to pyrometallurgical technologies and other leaching technologies using chemicals such as aqua-regia and cyanide-based agents.
• Can handle a wide variety of waste materials.

Conventional brake pads are comprised of resins that break down at high temperatures, forming a thin film on the brake pads which reduces the friction coefficient and contributes to brake failure.

360ip’s partner has developed brake pads with proprietary material compositions optimized for different applications. These material compositions provide brake pads with the following advantages:

• Better safety and reliability
• Longer lifetime
• Reduced braking noise
• Lower cost

360ip’s partner has developed a novel technology that overcomes the disadvantages of conventional techniques for producing ferrous coke. The technology uses a novel binder consisting of an organic polymer, silical sol or silica gel, water and a stabilizing agent for agglomerating the coke powder and iron ore. Furthermore, a cold briquetting technique is employed for the agglomeration, thereby simultaneously providing high- and low-temperature strength, resulting in the ability to withstand mechanical impacts and dropping during transportation, thermal shock, mechanical squeeze, friction and thermal load.

The invention developed by 360ip’s Partner focuses on resolving the limitations of current lead anode technologies for extractive electrolysis (electrowinning) of zinc. By designing a novel porous composite electrode, the Partner was able to decrease cell voltage, decrease power consumption or increase production at existing power consumption levels and improve the purity of the final zinc product.

The corrosion rate of the Partner’s electrodes is 80% less than conventional flat plate anodes. The lead content in the zinc is decreased by 60%. Slime formation is decreased by 90%, which lowers the frequency of cell cleaning. Compared to flat-plate anodes, the porous anode developed by the Partner is approximately 50% lighter in weight. This translates to an advantage in both assembly time and labor requirements.

The Partner’s composite-reinforced porous electrode has the following advantages as compared to the plate-type electrodes:

• Higher active surface area
• Lower cell voltage
• Lower current density
• Better corrosion resistance
• Lighter weight
• Cleaner zinc product
• Less slime formation

Due to its high mechanical strength, thermal resistance, corrosion resistance and non-magnetic properties, tetragonal polycrystalline zirconia, partially stabilized with about 3 mol% yYttria (3Y-TZP) has found applications in a wide range of products including dental implants, bioceramics, cutting tools and even casings for watches. Increasing the fracture toughness of 3Y-TZP can allow the material to withstand higher stress and enhance its reliability and utility. However, current methods are not able to increase simultaneously both fracture toughness and strength.

The 360ip Partner’s invention employs simultaneous silicon carbide (SiC) whisker reinforcement and Sr2Nb2O7 piezoelectric secondary phase toughening to produce a composite ceramic with enhanced fracture toughness and strength.

Compared to existing methods, 3Y-TZP prepared according to the invention has the following advantages:

• High fracture toughness  (18-25 MPam1/2)
• High strength  (1600 -1800 MPa)
• Simple preparation process
• Shortened sintering time

360ip Partner’s invention relates to a novel composite electrode with exceptional catalytic activity that can be used to synthesize DMC from CO2 and methanol at normal process conditions without the use of a catalyst.

The production of DMC using this technology involve two main steps. 1) Preparation of composite electrode,  and 2) Electrolysis process.

360ip Partner’s technology has the following benefits:

• Facilitates high reactivity of CO2 and effective utilization of CO2 resources.
• Overcomes difficulties in preparation and regeneration of catalysts and high pressure requirements of conventional DMC synthesis.
• Low-cost process given that the raw materials are inexpensive and easily available.
• No harmful byproducts/gases, such as hydrogen chloride and polyol, are released.
• Avoids corrosion of equipment unlike conventional phosgene and oxidative carbonylation processes.

360ip partner’s technology provides a method to extract vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) and calcium silicate (Ca2SiO4) from black shale.  CSU’s method involves: milling; oxidizing and roasting; decomposing in sub-molten solution; diluting; leaching; preparing V2O5; and making Ca2SiO4.

Compared to existing methods, the partner’s technology has the following advantages:

• Simple process that requires less time (3-8.6 hours, excluding grinding time as grinding is present in all other processes and consumes almost the same amount of time in each process).
• Low raw material consumption because of the recycling of NaOH and alkali solution.  This results in lower production cost.
• Superior environmental benefits as NaOH and NaNO3 are used instead of Cl and HCl in the initial stage.
• Results in a second valuable end product (Ca2SiO4).
• Competitive recovery and purity rates.