New clues help explain why PFAS chemicals resist remediation

Work suggests new avenues for cleaning up these 'forever chemicals'

21-Jan-2021 - The synthetic chemicals known as PFAS, short for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are found in soil and groundwater where they have accumulated, posing risks to human health ranging from respiratory problems to cancer. New research from the University of Houston and Oregon State ...

How will we achieve carbon-neutral flight in future?

Carbon-​neutral aviation and the use of fossil fuels are not mutually exclusive

15-Jan-2021 - Carbon-​neutral aviation is possible, but in future, aircraft are likely to continue to be powered by fossil fuels. The CO2 they emit must be systematically stored underground. This is the most economical of various approaches that ETH researchers have compared in detail. It is politically agreed ...

Putting climate-positive business ideas into practice

Start-ups made carbon-​neutral fuels and turning carbon dioxide into stone

14-Jan-2021 - More and more ETH Zurich researchers are taking the plunge into entrepreneurship. By launching spin-​offs, they hope to turn their lab findings into solutions that can help stem the rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide. There is no shortage of evidence for what the Fifth Assessment Report of the ...

Catalyst transforms plastic waste to valuable ingredients at low temperature

07-Jan-2021 - For the first time, researchers have used a novel catalyst process to recycle a type of plastic found in everything from grocery bags and food packaging to toys and electronics into liquid fuels and wax. "Plastics are essential materials for our life because they bring safety and hygiene to our ...

Batteries, plastics, renewable raw materials: new ideas for the circular economy

BASF launches ambitious Circular Economy Program

11-Dec-2020 - In a circular economy, the aim is to avoid waste, reuse products and recover resources. “Companies that can provide solutions for the transformation to a circular economy will have a crucial competitive advantage,” said Dr. Martin Brudermüller, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors and ...

Wastewater Treatment Using Sunlight

Ozone as a Reaction Partner

10-Nov-2020 - Chemists at the Leibniz Institute for Catalysis in Rostock discovered the molecular mechanism of a photocatalyst that completely breaks down organic contaminants in wastewater with the help of sunlight. Worldwide, for example, more and more residues of drugs such as anti-inflammatory drugs, ...

Flash graphene rocks strategy for plastic waste

Rice University lab detours potential environmental hazard into useful material

03-Nov-2020 - Plastic waste comes back in black as pristine graphene, thanks to ACDC. That's what Rice University scientists call the process they employed to make efficient use of waste plastic that would otherwise add to the planet's environmental woes. In this instance, the lab of Rice chemist James Tour ...

Climate protection: Chemists develop new material for the separation of CO₂ from industrial waste gases

The separation process is both energy efficient and cost-effective

22-Oct-2020 - Chemists at the University of Bayreuth have developed a material that could well make an important contribution to climate protection and sustainable industrial production. With this material, the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO₂) can be specifically separated from industrial waste gases, ...

A first-of-its-kind catalyst mimics natural processes to break down plastics

The new catalyst is able to process polymers widely used in things like plastic grocery bags, milk jugs, shampoo bottles, toys, and food containers

22-Oct-2020 - While plastics recycling is not new science, current processes don't make it economically worthwhile-- waste plastics get "down-cycled" into lower grade, less useful material. It's a challenge that continues to be an obstacle in tackling a growing global pollution crisis in single use plastics. A ...

Circular economy for plastics

Biotechnological solutions for degradation and recycling of plastics

15-Oct-2020 - Plastics are wonderful materials. They are extremely versatile and of almost eternal durability. But that also causes a problem. After around 100 years of plastic production, plastic particles are almost everywhere: in ground water, the oceans, the air and the food chain. Across the globe, ...