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Researchers have developed sustainable hydrogels that capture carbon dioxide effectively from the air. These hydrogels work well in humid conditions and offer a low-energy, scalable solution for carbon capture technologies.
Recent research has focused extensively on utilizing natural materials such as silk, wood, paper, plant fibers, and biomass for fabricating green electronics. These materials are abundant, low-cost, renewable, and biodegradable, making them an ideal alternative to conventional plastics.
Research uses unique catalysts and clean energy to lower atmospheric CO2. A new type of graphene-based catalyst, employing machine learning and theory, shows optimal results.
Combining innovative hydrogel technology and architectural design, these windows offer improved temperature regulation and significant energy savings - a major stride towards a greener future.
Our society generates staggering amounts of waste in all areas of economic activities. Foremost among them, apart from energy waste, are the food and plastic sectors. However, both food and plastic wastes are potentially valuable sources of carbon. are working on upcycling of waste materials to high-value carbon by combining materials science and nanotechnology approaches to develop functional nanostructures for advanced energy storage, catalysis, water purification, and biosensor applications.
Researchers have made significant strides in developing photodetectors made with tungsten disulfide (WS2) on paper substrates for disposable electronics. This research, which addresses the growing issue of electronic waste, has yielded promising results with WS2 photodetectors on paper substrates reaching photo responses comparable to commercially available silicon photodetectors. The findings have significant implications for ubiquitous electronics and low-performance sensing applications.
The extensive use of polymer-made, disposable and non-biodegradable COVID-19 pandemic health protectives like surgical face masks, hand gloves and PPE kits, combined with a lack of proper waste recycling systems, considerably increased plastic pollution around the world. Researchers are harnessing a new way to turn these COVID-19 pandemic wastes towards sensor design by fabricating a mask-glove-based contact-separation triboelectric nanogenerator (MG-CS TENG).
With a growing sustainability movement around the globe, the concept of urban farming has gained huge popularity for the development of sustainable communities. Urban farming practices don't necessarily use the same practices as conventional farming; this is especially true for the more high-tech approaches taken in vertical farming and warehouse farming. There is an opportunity and a requirement for smart technologies and the use of novel materials in urban farming, which can contribute to building a higher productivity and more sustainable urban farms.