Industrial Applications of Chemistry
80 real-world industrial processes powered by chemistry
Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) of Thin Films
Growing atomic-scale material layers from gas-phase precursors
Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) grows thin films of materials on substrates by decomposing gas-phase precursor molecules. The technique is essential …
Czochralski Silicon Crystal Growth for Semiconductors
Growing the perfect crystals that power the digital age
The Czochralski (CZ) process grows single-crystal silicon ingots by slowly pulling a seed crystal from a melt of ultra-pure polysilicon …
LED Semiconductor Epitaxial Growth by MOCVD
Growing the crystal layers that emit light
Metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) grows the precisely layered III-V semiconductor crystals (GaN, InGaN, AlGaN) that form the active regions …
Lithium-Ion Battery Cathode Manufacturing
The chemistry powering electric vehicles and portable electronics
Lithium-ion battery cathode materials (NMC, LFP, NCA) are produced by high-temperature solid-state synthesis or co-precipitation methods. The cathode is the …
Optical Fiber Preform Manufacturing by Modified CVD
Creating the glass that carries the world's data
Optical fiber preforms are manufactured by depositing ultra-pure silica glass layers inside a rotating tube using modified chemical vapor deposition …
Photolithography for Semiconductor Patterning
Printing transistors smaller than a virus
Photolithography is the core patterning process in semiconductor fabrication, using light to transfer circuit patterns onto silicon wafers through photoresist …
Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Chemical Etching
Patterning the electronic highways on circuit boards
PCB manufacturing uses chemical etching to create conductive copper traces on fiberglass-reinforced epoxy substrates. The subtractive process involves laminating copper …
Rare Earth Element Separation by Solvent Extraction
Separating the nearly identical elements behind modern electronics
Rare earth elements (REEs) are separated from each other using multistage counter-current solvent extraction, exploiting the slight differences in their …