Chemical Engineering @ChemengFiles.Com

Perchloric Acid is a substance resembling sulfuric acid in many respects. It is a strong acid, very stable in solution, and has a high boiling point. It possesses some advantages over sulfuric acid, such as being monobasic, and having relatively few insoluble salts. (K, Rb, Cs, and Tl perchlorates are only slightly soluble.) Hence a cheap way of making perchloric acid would be highly advantageous to the chemical industry. The present methods of its production are rather expensive, employing the electrolytic production of sodium perchlorate and the distillation of the latter with sulfuric acid under reduced pressure. The product, a 60% perchloric acid is now sold for $7 to $8 per pound. Ammonium perchlorate is obtainable at a fairly low cost, (about 2O [cents] per pound) and might be used as a basis for the cheaper preparation of perchloric acid.

Plastic Logic, a developer of eReader, has appointed Martin Jackson, one of the most prominent technologists in the United Kingdom, as vice president of technology to drive its R & D center in Cambridge. Jackson has over 20 years experience in executive and managerial expertise in the management of corporate strategies and techniques in the fields of communications, electronics and semiconductors.

ImmunoVaccine Technologies Inc. (IVT) has announced a research partnership with FIT Biotech. This research will develop plasmid DNA GTU (R) FIT Biotech MultiHIV with the supply of the vaccine DepoVax (TM) for the IVT step as therapeutic HIV vaccine.

"DepoVax (TM) will act as a vector in the deployment of the DNA vaccine GTU (R) MultiHIV FIT Biotech, and our objective is to develop an HIV vaccine candidate more sophisticated and effective," commented Dr. Marc Mansour, Vice President R & D of IVT.