In The Essential Chemical Industry Online, there are 76 units which describe key aspects of the chemical industry in a concise way. They are designed so that you can ‘dip in’ to them to retrieve the information you need.
Although the units are self-contained, you will find that throughout this web site there are cross-references to material in other units, which is easily obtained by the designated hyperlinks. There is also a facility which allows you to search the whole site. These two approaches will help you to follow up related topics and to explore more widely.
There is an overview of the chemical industry which looks at the industry in an international context. The other 75 units are presented in five thematic groups:
- Industrial processes
- Materials and applications
- Basic chemicals
- Polymers
- Metals
In this section, there are units on speciality chemicals, such as colorants (dyes and pigments), crop protection chemicals and on consumer chemicals such as surfactants and soaps.
However, considerable emphasis is given to biotechnology, with three units being devoted to a wide range of topics, from the development of biofuels to the production of basic and speciality chemicals from biomass.
Other areas covered include the new developments in composites and in nanotechnology.
The following units can be found in this section: