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Category: sustainability

Water-based electrolyte helps create safer and long-lasting Zn-Mn batteries

Many countries worldwide are increasingly investing in new infrastructure that enables the production of electricity from renewable energy sources, particularly wind and sunlight. To make the best of these energy solutions, one should also be able to reliably store the excess energy created during periods of intense sunlight or wind, so that it can be used later in times of need.

One promising type of battery for this purpose is based on zinc-manganese (Zn-Mn) and utilizes aqueous (i.e., water-based) electrodes instead of flammable organic electrolytes. These batteries rely on processes known as electrodeposition and dissolution, via which solid materials form and dissolve on electrodes as the battery is charging and discharging.

In Zn-Mn batteries, Zn serves as the anode (i.e., the electrode that releases electrons) and manganese dioxide (MnO₂) the cathode (i.e., the electrode from which electrons are gained). A key chemical reaction prompting their functioning, known as the MnO₂/Mn²⁺ conversion reaction, typically can only occur in acidic conditions.

Space mining without heavy machines? Microbes harvest metals from meteorites aboard space station

If humankind is to explore deep space, one small passenger should not be left behind: microbes. In fact, it would be impossible to leave them behind, since they live on and in our bodies, surfaces and food. Learning how they react to space conditions is critical, but they could also be invaluable fellows in our endeavor to explore space.

Microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi can harvest crucial minerals from rocks and could provide a sustainable alternative to transporting much-needed resources from Earth.

Researchers from Cornell and the University of Edinburgh collaborated to study how those microbes extract platinum group elements from a meteorite in microgravity, with an experiment conducted aboard the International Space Station. They found that “biomining” fungi are particularly adept at extracting the valuable metal palladium, while removing the fungus resulted in a negative effect on nonbiological leaching in microgravity.

These Molecular Filters Thousands of Times Thinner Than a Human Hair Could Change How the World Cleans Water

Industrial separations sit quietly at the heart of modern manufacturing, yet they consume enormous amounts of energy and generate significant environmental costs. A new membrane technology developed by an international research team promises a more precise and sustainable alternative. Scientists

SpaceX Starthink: Building Earth’s Planetary Neocortex with Orbital AI

In a bold fusion of SpaceX’s satellite expertise and Tesla’s AI prowess, the Starthink Synthetic Brain emerges as a revolutionary orbital data center.

Proposed in Digital Habitats February 2026 document, this next-gen satellite leverages the Starlink V3 platform to create a distributed synthetic intelligence wrapping the planet.

Following SpaceX’s FCC filing for up to one million orbital data centers and its acquisition of xAI, Starthink signals humanity’s leap toward a Kardashev II civilization.

As Elon Musk noted in February 2026, ]

“In 36 months, but probably closer to 30, the most economically compelling place to put AI will be space.”

## The Biological Analogy.

Starthink draws from neuroscience: * Neural Cluster: A single Tesla AI5 chip, processing AI inference at ~250W, like a neuron group. * Synthetic Brain: One Starthink satellite, a 2.5-tonne self-contained node with 500 neural clusters, solar power, storage, and comms. * Planetary Neocortex: One million interconnected Brains forming a global mesh intelligence, linked by laser and microwave “synapses.”

Continue reading “SpaceX Starthink: Building Earth’s Planetary Neocortex with Orbital AI” | >

Magnetic Covalent Organic Frameworks (MCOFs): A Sustainable Solution for Emerging Organic Contaminants (EOCs) from the River

Phthalates (PAEs) and bisphenol A (BPA) are significant components in plastic and its derivative industries. They are omnipresent in water sources owing to intensive industrialization and rapid urbanization, hence posing adverse effects on humans and significant environmental issues. Researchers have developed a new magnetic material, called magnetic covalent organic frameworks (MCOFs), that can effectively remove harmful chemicals like PAEs and BPA from water. Made using a special method that prevents clumping, these materials are highly porous, magnetic and reusable up to 15 times. They showed excellent removal efficiency, even at very low pollutant levels found in real river water. The study also revealed that the removal process involves strong chemical bonding. This breakthrough offers a promising, eco-friendly solution for cleaning water contaminated by plastics and industrial waste.

Read the article in Royal Society Open Science.

Abstract. The synthesis and characterization of effective magnetic covalent organic frameworks (MCOFs) are presented for the highly efficient adsorption of dimethyl phthalate (DMP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and bisphenol A (BPA) from the aqueous environment. The novelty of this research lies in the development of MCOFs through a coprecipitation method that incorporates an innovative silica inner shell. This crucial feature not only prevents aggregation of the magnetic core, which is a significant limitation of conventional adsorbents, but also enables robust interactions between the core and the outer covalent organic framework (COF). The synthesized MCOFs were comprehensively characterised using a variety of techniques. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM) analyses confirmed successful synthesis and strong magnetic properties, while field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) revealed the presence of spherical, porous structures with small granules. Energy-dispursive X-ray (EDX) spectrometry analysis further confirmed the successful synthesis, showing a material composition of 58.2% Fe, 33.4% O, 4.8% C, and 3.2% Si. Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) analysis showed the MCOFs possess a high surface area of 128.1 m2 g–1 and a pore diameter of 16.8 nm, indicating abundant active sites for adsorption. Under optimal conditions (pH 7,100 mg adsorbent dosage, and 25-minute contact time) the MCOFs exhibited exceptional adsorption performance, with removal efficiencies of 90.0% for DMP, 86.0% for DBP, and 92.0% for BPA. The kinetic study revealed that the adsorption mechanism follows the pseudo-second-order model, suggesting a significant chemisorption process. Crucially, in situ FTIR analysis provided spectroscopic validation that hydrogen bonding and π–π stacking are the predominant interactions between the MCOFs and the organic contaminants. The developed analytical method achieved low detection limits of 0.0058 mg l−1 for DMP, 0.0079 mg l−1 for DBP and 0.0063 mg l−1 for BPA, indicating high sensitivity for trace-level contaminant detection in real water samples. Furthermore, the adsorbent demonstrated exceptional reusability, maintaining high performance after 15 adsorption–desorption cycles, which is a significant improvement over conventional adsorbents. This study demonstrates that MCOFs with a silica inner shell are a highly promising, stable and sustainable solution for the removal of emerging organic contaminants (EOCs).

A forgotten battery design from Thomas Edison—how scientists helped reimagine it

A little-known fact: In the year 1900, electric cars outnumbered gas-powered ones on the American road. The lead-acid auto battery of the time, courtesy of Thomas Edison, was expensive and had a range of only about 30 miles. Seeking to improve on this, Edison believed the nickel-iron battery was the future, with the promise of a 100-mile range, a long life and a recharge time of seven hours, fast for that era.

Alas, that promise never reached fruition. Early electric car batteries still suffered from serious limitations, and advances in the internal combustion engine won the day.

Now, an international research collaboration co-led by UCLA has taken a page from Edison’s book, developing nickel-iron battery technology that may be well-suited for storing energy generated at solar farms. The prototype was able to recharge in only seconds, instead of hours, and achieved over 12,000 cycles of draining and recharging—the equivalent of more than 30 years of daily recharges.

New sun-powered device extracts lithium while desalinating seawater

The world needs lithium at higher rates than ever before. But our current methods of getting it are breaking the planet.

The answer to the lithium crisis might just be a high-tech, “solar-powered seesaw” extractor.

According to the researchers at Zhejiang University in China, this new device maximizes lithium yield from seawater while simultaneously desalinating water.

When water meets rock: Exploring water quality impacts from legacy lithium mining in North Carolina

Starting just outside Charlotte, North Carolina, a vast underground deposit of lithium stretches south for 25 miles. A key component of rechargeable batteries and energy grid storage systems, the soft, silvery metal is a global commodity, making this subterranean cache a geopolitically important and potentially lucrative resource.

Here, lithium primarily occurs within granite-like rocks called pegmatite, bound to a green-tinged mineral called spodumene. Two large lithium mines once operated in this region—called the Carolina Tin-Spodumene Belt—but closed decades ago. As demand for renewable energy climbs, mining companies have growing interest in the area.

The presence of historic, or legacy, lithium mines and the prospect of new lithium mining activity have led nearby residents to wonder about the possibility of drinking water contamination. Over the past several years, a team led by Avner Vengosh, Distinguished Professor and Nicholas Chair of Environmental Quality at Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment, has been working to address those concerns.

Solar-powered seesaw extractor simultaneously extracts lithium and desalinates water

The global demand for lithium has skyrocketed over the last several years due to the rapid growth of the electric vehicle market and grid-storage solutions. Currently, production capacity is limited and unlikely to meet future needs. However, researchers are making headway in innovative lithium capture technologies. A new study, published in Device, describes one such technology that extracts lithium from seawater more efficiently than previous extraction methods, with an added benefit of seawater desalination.

Understanding the physics at the anode of sodium-ion batteries

Sodium-ion batteries (NIBs) are gaining traction as a next-generation technology to complement the widely used lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). NIBs offer clear advantages versus LIBs in terms of sustainability and cost, as they rely on sodium—an element that, unlike lithium, is abundant almost everywhere on Earth. However, for NIBs to achieve widespread adoption, they must reach energy densities comparable to LIBs.

State-of-the-art NIB designs use hard carbon (HC), a porous and amorphous type of carbon, as an anode material. Scientists believe that sodium ions aggregate into tiny quasi-metallic clusters within HC nano-pores, and this “pore filling” process remains as the main mechanism contributing to the extended reversible capacity of the HC anode.

Despite some computational studies on this topic, the fundamental processes governing sodium storage and transport in HC remain unclear. Specifically, researchers have struggled to explain how sodium ions can gather to form clusters inside HC pores at operational temperatures, and why the overall movement of sodium ions through the material is sluggish.

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