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Category: sustainability – Page 2

Krypton gas emerges as a new ingredient for quantum computing

To commercialize quantum computing, manufacturers need high-quality superconducting materials for microchips, but they also require a reliable, sustainable nanofabrication process. Tantalum is a corrosion-resistant metal that meets the first criterion but not the second. That’s because it has to be deposited on a substrate at temperatures that typically exceed 400°C (752°F)—too hot for many semiconductor foundries’ current tools.

Cornell researchers have developed a method that uses krypton gas to slash that deposition temperature to 200°C (392°F) while depositing tantalum on silicon, a standard high-quality substrate. The process resulted in thin films that also have substantially higher electronic conductivity.

“Tantalum as a material has been shown to be very exciting from a device performance perspective, but its manufacturability had some question marks because of integration challenges such as required process temperatures,” said Valla Fatemi, assistant professor and Aref and Manon Lahham Faculty Fellow in the Cornell Duffield College of Engineering, who led the project.

Bibliometric Analysis of Global Research on Sugarcane Production and Its Effects on Biodiversity: Trends, Critical Points, and Knowledge Gaps

The rising global demand for renewable energy and the urgency of mitigating climate change have positioned biofuels, particularly sugarcane ethanol, at the forefront of sustainability and conservation debates. Although promoted as a renewable alternative, sugarcane cultivation can cause habitat loss, biodiversity decline, soil degradation, and water contamination. This study presents a bibliometric assessment of 217 publications addressing the biodiversity impacts of sugarcane production, based on searches in the Web of Science Core Collection for papers published between 1998 and 2023. Using the bibliometrix package in R, we identified key publication trends, collaboration networks, and thematic structures. Between 1998 and 2006, no studies were returned by our searches, after which research activity increased substantially, peaking in 2021.

This Metal From Outer Space Could Radically Transform EverythingFrom Electric Vehicles to Nuclear Submarines

“When you’re faced with a critical material problem, you can do one of two things: You can find more, or you can use less,” says Tom Lograsso, director of the Critical Materials Institute, a mineral research laboratory within the U.S. Department of Energy.

The sheer quantity of rare earths required for magnet production is staggering when put into raw numbers. For example, a Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarine requires 9,200 pounds of permanent magnets made with rare earths. (Permanent magnets are always magnetic, unlike electrical magnets that require an electrical charge to work.) And a proposal by the U.S. Departments of Energy and Interior to generate 86 gigawatts of offshore wind power by 2050 would require more than 17,000 tons of neodymium.

“The biggest worry for the magnet industry is supply risk,” says Greer. That makes his breakthrough—a powerful magnet that doesn’t rely on rare earths—a potential game changer.

Single synthetic peptide forms electrically polarized, self-healing hydrogel

Researchers from the RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science (CSRS) and RIKEN Pioneering Research Institute (PRI) in Japan, together with collaborators from the University of Münster, Germany, have developed a new hydrogel that offers significant advantages over others currently on the market in the field of biomaterials.

Based on a single synthetic peptide called FQ(Pyr), the new hydrogel has a highly organized structure made of nanofibers containing tiny water channels. The molecules within each nanofiber all point in the same direction, creating electrical polarization along the fiber. This means that, in addition to being strong and flexible, the new gel could be used to transport ions, generate electrical signals when squeezed or have other advanced interactions with biological tissues.

The findings were published in Nature Communications.

Two solar farms in Minnesota restored wildflowers, grasses and have population of bees, butterflies, wasps; scientists call it evidence of… — The Times of India

Two solar farms in Minnesota were built on retired agricultural land, and instead of the gravel or mown turf that usually goes under panels, the ground was seeded with native wildflowers and prairie grasses. Researchers from Argonne National Laboratory came back to the same test plots for five years and counted what flew and crawled past them.

New membrane removes more than 99.99% of oil from seawater while producing fresh water using sunlight

As freshwater shortages intensify around the world, scientists are searching for technologies that can do more than simply desalinate seawater. One of the biggest challenges is treating oil-contaminated seawater, where conventional desalination systems often fail because oil clogs membranes, blocks water transport and reduces efficiency.

Key principle to boost efficiency of artificial photosynthesis and next-generation semiconductors

A research team led by Taeyeon Kim, a professor in the Department of Chemistry at Sungkyunkwan University, in collaboration with a team from Yonsei University, has identified a new principle that controls charge separation, a phenomenon that plays a central role in both plants’ generation of electrical energy (photosynthesis) and next-generation molecular semiconductor devices.

The findings were published in Nature Communications.

When plants absorb sunlight to generate energy, they rapidly separate and transfer charge within their internal structures. Inspired by this process, the scientific community has long sought to develop next-generation energy devices such as artificial photosynthesis systems and organic solar cells. Molecular aggregate structures formed by densely stacked “perylene bisimide (PBI),” an organic semiconductor molecule known for its excellent electron-accepting properties, have drawn particular research attention. However, the complex environment created by tightly clustered molecules has made it difficult to precisely determine how the surrounding environment alone affects charge transfer.

New strategy for designing ultra-fast charging batteries could prevent hazardous lithium plating

A redesigned lithium-ion anode retained 86% of its initial capacity at a demanding 10C charge rate and stayed stable for more than 250 cycles, while aiming to reduce hazardous lithium plating during fast charging.

The rapid progress in electric vehicles and high-power electronics has increased the demand for ultra-fast-charging lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries. However, during fast charging, current Li-ion rechargeable batteries suffer from severe degradation in power and potential catastrophic failure, increasing safety risks. This is mainly due to electrochemical instability at the anode–electrolyte interface, causing hazardous Li metal plating on their surface and poor thermal stability.

Recently, high-voltage anode materials have emerged as promising alternatives because they prevent excessive lithium plating and the formation of unstable solid-electrolyte interface layers. Despite these advantages, current state-of-the-art materials are limited by poor ionic conductivity and thermal stability, reducing power output and long-term reliability.

To address these issues, a research team led by associate professor Dongwook Han from Seoul National University of Science and Technology in South Korea developed a novel strategy.

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