This fast-rising waste stream contains billions of dollars’ worth of metals, and start-ups are seeking efficient, sustainable ways to recover that treasure
Category: sustainability
Water locked in 1-nanometer channels could enable safer energy storage
Can pure water store electrical energy? A research team led by Dr. Vasily Artemov within the Cluster of Excellence “BlueMat—Water-Driven Materials” at Hamburg University of Technology has now shown that it can. By confining water within nanometer-sized channels in clay minerals, the researchers created a supercapacitor capable of efficiently storing and transporting electrical charge.
What makes the finding unusual is that it uses pure water as its electrolyte—the medium that transports electrical charge. Today’s batteries and supercapacitors typically rely on added salts, acids, or other chemical electrolytes. In contrast, the new system works without such additives and is based solely on abundant, naturally occurring materials: water, clay, and carbon.
“Our goal is to develop safer and more sustainable energy-storage technologies based on abundant materials rather than complex chemical compounds,” says Artemov, lead author of the paper published in Nature Communications. “The device stores and releases energy efficiently, operates at a comparatively high voltage for a water-based system, and remains stable over tens of thousands of charging cycles.”
New pilot plant converts unsorted plastic waste into oil in 30 mins
A mobile pilot plant has been designed to convert various types of plastic waste into oil.
Developed by the Catalysis Engineering Group at the University of Amsterdam (UvA), the Solvothermal Liquefaction (STL) process uses a potent mix of solvent, heat, catalysts, and intense pressure to cook mixed plastic waste back into oil.
Interestingly, the resulting dark brown oil contains the precise molecules needed to remake brand-new, virgin plastic, thereby closing the recycling loop.
New method turns ocean water into drinking water, without waste
The energy-efficient desalination system produces fresh water without chemical additives and transforms leftover salts into useful materials.
Aerosols may warm or cool the climate depending on timing, new study finds
A new study from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem challenges a long-held assumption in climate science by showing that aerosols—tiny particles suspended in the atmosphere—can either warm or cool the climate, depending on the time scale considered.
Led by Prof. Guy Dagan of the Fredy and Nadine Herrmann Institute of Earth Sciences, the research reveals that aerosol-cloud interactions can produce opposite climate effects in the short and long term. The findings, published in Nature Communications, offer a new explanation for why aerosols remain one of the largest sources of uncertainty in climate projections.
Aerosols come from a variety of natural and human-made sources, including air pollution, wildfires, sea spray and dust. Scientists have long known that these particles influence how clouds form and how much heat Earth retains, but accurately estimating their overall impact on climate has proved difficult.
Additive-free and brine-discharge-free solar-thermal desalination with simultaneous complete mineral mining from ocean water
Tang, L., Singh, S.C., Wei, R. et al. Light Sci Appl 15, 246 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-026-02315-4
PLA Block Polymers: Versatile Materials for a Sustainable Future
Block polymers present an almost endless realm of possibilities to develop functional materials for myriad applications. The established self-assembly of block polymers allows researchers to access properties that are inaccessible in homopolymers. However, there is a need to develop more sustainable options than the current commodity block polymers. Derived from renewable resources and industrially compostable, poly(lactide) (PLA) is at the forefront of technological advancements in sustainable block polymers. Its material properties including high stiffness, relatively high glass transition temperature, and semicrystallinity in isotactic versions lend themselves to many applications, and its ease of synthesis provides a well-established platform for developing high-performance materials. This Perspective highlights recent advancements associated with PLA-containing block polymers, including their syntheses, mesostructural considerations, and mechanical properties, from resilient elastomers to tough plastics. We also give our perspective on the subfield of PLA block polymers, our outlook on the future, and our assessment of exciting developments yet to come.
Hidden meltwater found deep in Antarctic coastal waters reveals stronger climate impacts
Freshwater from melting Antarctic glaciers may be influencing the Southern Ocean in ways scientists have largely overlooked. New research, published in Frontiers in Marine Science, has found that glacial meltwater is not confined to the ocean’s surface, as previously assumed, but can also be detected much deeper in coastal waters along the Western Antarctic Peninsula.
The findings suggest that meltwater from glaciers is being transported and stored tens of meters below the surface, where it could alter ocean circulation, affect the movement of heat and nutrients, and influence how the region responds to climate change.
A new strategy for assembling π-conjugated panels into square molecules revealed
A research group has developed a new method for selectively synthesizing three-dimensional macrocycles,⁽¹⁾ in which four panels are arranged in a square, by connecting planar π-conjugated molecules⁽²⁾ at right angles.
This method is applicable to a wide variety of π-conjugated molecules and allows the size of the internal cavity to be designed. Furthermore, the resulting square macrocycles exhibit acid responsiveness, reversibly changing color under the action of a mild acid, while acid-mediated hydrolysis enables the starting monomers to be recovered in high yield—realizing a sustainable molecular synthesis that reverts to and regenerates the starting materials. The originality of this work lies in having a single imine bond play three roles: creating the shape, responding to stimuli and reverting back.
These research results were published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society on Monday, June 1, 2026. The team includes Associate Professor Yasutomo Segawa and Assistant Professor Takashi Harimoto at the Institute for Molecular Science (National Institutes of Natural Sciences) and the Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI).