An enzyme discovered at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) proves adept at breaking down cellulose fibers regardless of whether their crystalline structure is simple or highly ...
Biotechnology
Sep 18, 2017
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(Phys.org) —The survival of the vast majority of plants, including those that people rely on for food, depends on their ability to build strong but flexible cell walls. A key component of these walls is a polysaccharide ...
Biotechnology
Sep 25, 2014
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As hemp makes a comeback in the U.S. after a decades-long ban on its cultivation, scientists are reporting that fibers from the plant can pack as much energy and power as graphene, long-touted as the model material for supercapacitors. ...
Nanomaterials
Aug 12, 2014
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Researchers studying more effective ways to convert woody plant matter into biofuels at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory have identified fundamental forces that change plant structures during pretreatment ...
Materials Science
Nov 13, 2013
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A cheap and simple process using natural fibers embedded with nanoparticles can almost completely rid water of harmful textile dyes in minutes, report Cornell University and Colombian researchers who worked with native Colombian ...
Nanomaterials
Sep 30, 2013
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(Phys.org) —A cheap and simple process using natural fibers embedded with nanoparticles can almost completely rid water of harmful textile dyes in minutes, report Cornell and Colombian researchers who worked with native ...
Nanomaterials
Sep 19, 2013
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(Phys.org) —Paper is known for its ability to absorb liquids, making it ideal for products such as paper towels. But by modifying the underlying network of cellulose fibers, etching off surface "fluff" and applying a thin ...
Materials Science
May 29, 2013
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(Phys.org) —Researchers from North Carolina State University believe they have solved a puzzle that has vexed science since plants first appeared on Earth.
Biotechnology
Apr 15, 2013
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(Phys.org)—An international team of researchers has found evidence that suggests a human ancestor – Australopithecus bahrelghazali – was eating grass plants almost a million years earlier than most scientists had thought. ...
Your next new car hopefully won't be a lemon. But it could be a pineapple or a banana. That's because scientists in Brazil have developed a more effective way to use fibers from these and other plants in a new generation ...
Materials Science
Mar 28, 2011
3
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