Botany, the scientific study of plants, encompasses a vast array of topics ranging from plant structure and function to their evolutionary history, ecological interactions, and economic importance. Plants are essential for life on Earth, serving as the primary producers in ecosystems, providing oxygen, food, shelter, and numerous other resources for humans and other organisms. The … Read more
The search for sustainable and affordable energy conversion technologies has highlighted the importance of the oxygen reduction and oxygen evolution reactions (ORR and OER). These processes are crucial for the efficiency of devices such as fuel cells and electrolyzers but have traditionally relied on costly noble metals as catalysts. This dependency poses significant barriers to … Read more
Amid growing global concern over climate change and plastic pollution, researchers at Osaka Metropolitan University are making great strides in the sustainable production of fumaric acid—a component of biodegradable plastics such as polybutylene succinate, which is commonly used for food packaging. The researchers have managed to efficiently produce fumaric acid, which is traditionally derived from … Read more
Green chemistry, also known as sustainable chemistry, is a rapidly growing field that focuses on designing chemical products and processes that minimize the use and generation of hazardous substances. It aims to reduce the environmental impact of chemical manufacturing and promote the efficient use of resources, ultimately leading to a more sustainable and environmentally friendly … Read more
What does it take to produce green hydrogen more efficiently and cheaply? Apparently, small ruthenium particles and a solar-powered system for water electrolysis. This is the solution proposed by a joint team involving the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (Italian Institute of Technology, IIT) of Genoa, and BeDimensional S.p.A. (an IIT spin-off). The technology, developed in … Read more
The rise in global temperatures, largely attributed to human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation, has profound and far-reaching impacts on Earth’s ecosystems. As the climate warms, ecosystems face disruptions that affect biodiversity, species distribution, food webs, and overall ecological balance. Understanding the multifaceted consequences of rising temperatures is crucial for … Read more
Climate change is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon that has garnered significant attention in recent decades due to its far-reaching implications for the planet and its inhabitants. At its core, climate change refers to long-term alterations in temperature and weather patterns on Earth. These changes are largely attributed to human activities that have increased the … Read more
Xanthan gum, derived from plants like cabbage and known for its carbohydrate content, serves as a natural protective barrier in cosmetics to retain their benefits on the skin. In a recent development, this remarkable substance has been harnessed to create a protective shield for battery electrodes, rather than for the skin. Professor Changshin Jo from … Read more
The demand for efficient energy storage systems is steadily on the rise, primarily due to the growing use of intermittent renewable energy sources and the widespread adoption of electric vehicles. Within this context, lithium-sulfur batteries (LSBs) have emerged as a promising solution, offering the potential to store three to five times more energy compared to … Read more
Solar energy has shown promise in splitting water to produce hydrogen, but it has been more costly than hydrogen derived from natural gas, known as “gray” hydrogen. A recent study by the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin and the Technical University of Berlin suggests a profitable path for green hydrogen from sunlight. This approach involves using a portion … Read more
Perovskite-based solar cells are emerging as promising successors to traditional silicon cells. They offer a simpler and cost-effective production process along with excellent performance. Scientists from the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy ISE and the Faculty of Physics at the University of Warsaw have made significant progress in improving the optoelectronic properties of perovskite photovoltaic … Read more
Researchers at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore), have devised an innovative process that efficiently transforms various plastics, including polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), and polystyrene (PS), into valuable chemical components for energy storage. Unlike traditional heat-driven recycling methods like pyrolysis, this process operates at room temperature using light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and a readily available catalyst. … Read more
A recent breakthrough in thermophotovoltaics research has emerged from collaboration between the Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon, the Technical University of Hamburg, and Aalborg University. In a groundbreaking development, scientists have introduced iridium as a novel material for selective emitters, marking the first time this metal has been utilized in this context. This achievement is especially remarkable due … Read more
Despite global efforts to transition to a circular plastics economy, more than 75% of the 400 metric tons of plastic produced annually worldwide still end up as waste. Addressing this challenge, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have presented an ingenious method to recycle a specific form of plastic that proves more difficult to … Read more
Researchers at the University of Illinois have developed a sustainable method for forming carbon-carbon bonds without the need for expensive and rare metal catalysts. The interdisciplinary team of plasma engineers, chemists, and bioengineers used electricity and a plasma-liquid process to generate solvated electrons, which were then used to facilitate carbon-carbon bond formation in a pinacol … Read more
The world is on the verge of a critical moment in the battle against climate change. Scientists have long warned that exceeding a global temperature rise of 1.5⁰C above pre-industrial levels would lead to severe consequences. Unfortunately, a recent report by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reveals that we are rapidly approaching this limit. According … Read more
The primary cause of numerous environmental issues, such as increasing CO2 emissions, can potentially be addressed through electrochemical CO2 reduction (CO2R) to produce valuable carbon-based chemicals. Ionic liquids (ILs) have garnered significant attention as electrolytes and co-catalysts in promoting CO2R due to their unique advantages. Among the potential products of CO2R, the so-called C1 products, … Read more