Environment - MaterialsViews

Aluminum Foam from Scrap

May 9, 2013 By Martin Grolms Leave a Comment

A group of scientists show a low cost route to manufacture high quality aluminum foam.

Filed Under: Engineering materials, Environment, Research Tagged With: Advanced Engineering Materials, aluminum, foam, low cost route, metals, recycling, scrap

Link to the original paper on Wiley Online Library

Major study into the environmental effects of nanosilver

April 26, 2013 By MaterialsViews staff Leave a Comment

Collecting samples in a sewer channel near Glattstollen (ZH). Image: Christoph Ort/Eawag.

Swiss researchers show that nanosilver is quickly transformed into less problematic substances on its way to the wastewater treatment plant.

Filed Under: Environment, Nano, Research Tagged With: nanoparticles, silver, Swiss National Science Foundation, water pollution, Water Research

Link to the original paper

Palladium-gold catalysts find application in environmental cleanup

April 25, 2013 By MaterialsViews staff Leave a Comment

When chloroform-contaminated water is flowed through a column containing PGClear pellets, the palladium and gold in the pellets spurs a chemical reaction that breaks down chloroform into nontoxic methane and chloride salt. Jeff Fitlow/Rice University.

US government-funded research pays off with new process for environmental remediation.

Filed Under: Chemical production, Environment, Industry, Research Tagged With: catalysis, DuPont, gold, palladium, Rice University, Stanford University, water pollution

Organic solar cells build on biodegradable, recyclable substrates

April 16, 2013 By MaterialsViews staff Leave a Comment

Efficient solar cells can be fabricated using natural substrates derived from plants such as trees.

Filed Under: Energy research, Environment, Research Tagged With: biodegradable materials, biomaterials, cellulose, Georgia Tech, nanocrystals, Scientific Reports, solar cells

Link to the original paper

Lockheed Martin awarded patent on graphene filtering material

April 9, 2013 By MaterialsViews staff Leave a Comment

Perforene material is a molecular filtration solution designed to meet the growing global demand for potable water.

Filed Under: Chemical production, Environment, Graphene, Industry Tagged With: filtering, Lockheed Martin, patent news, water treatment

Fuel from the Sun

April 2, 2013 By Geoffrey Ozin Leave a Comment

Imagine life in a ‘clean house gas’ rather than a ‘green house gas’ world; this will require a change of human behavior from that practiced in the Anthropocene era where the Earth’s ecosystems have been negatively impacted by humans to the Sustanocene age where humans strive to heal the Earth through renewable technologies to make things better. Image: Todd Siler and Geoffrey Ozin - ArtNanoInnovations.

Professor Geoff Ozin on his “super leaf” challenge – producing fuel by matching nature.

Filed Under: Energy research, Environment, Nano, Opinion, Research Tagged With: biomimetics, energy generation, photosynthesis

Destroying greenhouse gases with plasma

March 21, 2013 By Margarete Halle Leave a Comment

Nonthermal plasma operated in dielectric barrier discharge decomposes the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide into its constituent elements: oxygen and nitrogen.

Filed Under: Environment, Research Tagged With: greenhouse gases, nitrous oxide, plasma, Plasma Processes and Polymers

Link to the original paper on Wiley Online Library

A new porous material for carbon capture

March 20, 2013 By MaterialsViews staff Leave a Comment

Chemists at USF and KAUST have discovered a more efficient, less expensive and reusable material for carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and separation.

Filed Under: Environment, Research Tagged With: carbon capture, KAUST, Nature, porous materials, University of South Florida

Link to the original paper

MOF material improves carbon dioxide scrubbing

March 11, 2013 By MaterialsViews staff Leave a Comment

The metal-organic framework material at the center of a new discovery by chemists at the USF and KAUST is shown under a microscope. The crystals have been found to be a more efficient, less expensive and reusable material for carbon capture and separation, and is a promising breakthrough in developing better carbon-control technologies. Image: USF/Mike Zawortko.

Material investigated by USF and KAUST chemists could be a breakthrough in developing new tools for cleaner air and energy production.

Filed Under: Environment, Research Tagged With: KAUST, metal organic frameworks, MOFs, Nature, University of South Florida

Link to the original paper

Novel Material Knocks Bacteria Away

February 8, 2013 By Martin Grolms Leave a Comment

Duke University engineers have developed a material that can be applied like paint to the hull of a ship and dislodge bacteria from the ship’s surface.