Breaking the stable carbon-fluorine bonds within per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) is one of the most significant challenges in mitigating persistent PFAS pollution. The Hydrothermal Alkaline Technology (HALT; diagram), invented at the Colorado School of Mines (Golden, Colo.; www.mines.edu) and…
The production of “green” hydrogen via electrolysis is seen as a key decarbonization pathway for certain industry sectors, but its efficiency can be hampered by a number of factors, including the accumulation of gas bubbles on electrode surfaces within electrolyzers…
Extremely high-salinity water streams present difficulties for many types of processing equipment, such as membranes and filters, and most commercial treatment methods involve thermal evaporators or crystallization, which are energy-intensive and require special anti-corrosion materials. A new membrane-less, non-evaporative process…
Most existing carbon-dioxide removal (CDR) approaches have focused on air, but the volumetric concentration of dissolved inorganic CO2 in surface water is much higher (150X) than its concentration in the atmosphere. Removing CO2 from water could prove to be a…
Pyrolysis has received much attention as a technology capable of breaking down waste plastics in recycling processes, but existing pyrolysis approaches often give rise to products with broad molar mass distributions and poor yields. Catalysts can improve yield and selectivity,…
A first-of-its-kind energy-recovery system harnesses the energy of water flow and pressure in pipelines to produce renewable energy. The patented HydroXS unit, developed by InPipe Energy, Inc. (Portland, Ore.; www.inpipeenergy.com) in collaboration with Grundfos Corp. (Brookshire, Tex.; www.grundfos.com/us), is a…
A patent-pending material developed at the Technical University of Munich (TUM; www.tum.de) has achieved the fastest-ever conductivity of lithium ions, and is now poised to significantly improve the efficiency of future solid-state batteries. Solid-state batteries, often seen as a more…
Manufacturing traditional cement for concrete is responsible for a sizeable (~8%) portion of overall global CO2 emissions. Meanwhile, anthropogenic global warming is driving the need for housing structures capable of withstanding hurricane-force winds and wildfires. The cement technology company Eco…
In the catering industry, refined cooking oils (those that have undergone a process to remove lower-boiling-point impurities) are used and re-used in frying. Despite the refining process, high temperatures cause the oils to oxidize, creating polar compounds that degrade the…
Due to rising demand and widespread supply-chain turmoil, researchers around the world are investigating creative methods to obtain rare-earth elements (REEs) and other critical minerals and metals (CMMs). The ash from combusting coal has previously been seen as a potential…