New biodegradable, recyclable battery is made of crab shells
Looking for a lithium alternative, researchers combined chitin and zinc to create a low-cost, long-lived battery with a smaller environmental footprint.
Sep 2022 8
Prachi Patel
Prachi Patel is a Pittsburgh-based freelance journalist who writes about energy, materials science, nanotechnology, biotechnology, and computing. Writes for Scientific American, IEEE Spectrum, Chemical & Engineering News, and MRS Bulletin. Find her at www.lekh.org.
Sep 2022 1
Engineers devise a resin to recycle wind turbine blades into countertops, diapers, and even gummy bears
The world will produce over 40 million tonnes of turbine blade waste by 2050. A new resin makes it easier to turn them into valuable products.
Aug 2022 25
Floating artificial leaves create fuel from sunshine and water
Lightweight artificial leaf that works just as well as natural ones could float on ponds and seas to make clean fuel
Aug 2022 18
Engineers make strong concrete with waste tire rubber
The new greener, lighter concrete ditches expensive, mined natural materials for ground-up tires, finding a use for the billions that go to landfill
Aug 2022 11
Tiny device could aid large-scale carbon storage
Lab-on-a-chip reveals how chemical reactions with the gas unfold in rocks at very high time and scale resolutions
Aug 2022 4
New heat pump design inflates efficiency and deflates costs
The remarkably simple new technology could lower the cost of owning a climate-friendly HVAC system and increase its adoption
Jul 2022 28
First-of-its-kind solar tower brews jet fuel from water and CO2
Technology to make carbon-neutral kerosene has moved out of the lab and into a real-world demonstration, hinting at the future of solar jet fuels
Jul 2022 21
Strong plastic made from waste biomass degrades into sugar
Made from inexpensive materials, this plastic withstands high temperatures and blocks food-damaging gases just like conventional plastics used for food and drink packaging.
Jul 2022 7
Superworms gobble up Styrofoam
By identifying the enzymes in the worms’ guts that break down Styrofoam, researchers hope to make large-scale recycling of the notorious material easier
Jun 2022 30
Bacterial batteries connect like miniscule Legos to deliver power
Researchers cleverly combined three different bacteria to make 3-cm-square biobatteries that can run for weeks instead of hours, and can click together for more or less power
