When we started using plastics about 70 years ago, not much thought—if any—was given to the implications of their lifespan and the fact that they can take centuries to decompose. Consequently, as plastics have diversified ...
Materials Science
Oct 22, 2020
2
501
A team of researchers from the U.K., China, and Saudi Arabia has developed a process for converting plastic waste into hydrogen gas and carbon nanotubes. In their paper published in the journal Nature Catalysis, the group ...
More than 1.3 billion tonnes of plastic will be dumped on land and in the oceans over the period from 2016 to 2040 unless the world acts, say a team of 17 global experts who have developed a computer model to track the stocks ...
Environment
Jul 23, 2020
6
417
Moderate-temperature thermal sources often radiate waste heat as a by-product of mechanical work, chemical or nuclear reactions, or information processing. In a new report in Science, Paul S. Davids and a research team at ...
Ultrathin carbon nanotubes crystals could have wonderous uses, like converting waste heat into electricity with near-perfect efficiency, and Rice University engineers have taken a big step toward that goal.
Nanophysics
Mar 9, 2020
0
243
That banana peel, turned into graphene, can help facilitate a massive reduction of the environmental impact of concrete and other building materials. While you're at it, toss in those plastic empties.
Nanomaterials
Jan 27, 2020
9
4779
The materials the United States and other countries plan to use to store high-level nuclear waste will likely degrade faster than anyone previously knew because of the way those materials interact, new research shows.
Materials Science
Jan 27, 2020
15
1271
By one official estimate, American manufacturing, transportation, residential and commercial consumers use only about 40 percent of the energy they draw on, wasting 60 percent. Very often, this wasted energy escapes as heat, ...
Polymers
Jul 10, 2019
0
66
A new family of enzymes has been engineered to perform one of the most important steps in the conversion of plant waste into sustainable and high-value products such as nylon, plastics and chemicals.
Biochemistry
Jun 24, 2019
3
1
The promise of thermoelectric materials as a source of clean energy has driven the search for materials that can efficiently produce substantial amounts of power from waste heat.
Materials Science
Jun 21, 2019
0
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