Chemical engineers at EPFL have developed a graphene filter for carbon capture that surpasses the efficiency of commercial capture technologies, and can reduce the cost carbon capture down to $30 per ton of carbon dioxide.
Credit: S. Dukhovnikov
Air pollution from fuel combustion is one of the greatest environmental problems, especially in urban environments. In densely populated cities, the presence of nitrogen oxides, very small carbon particles, and carbon monoxide (CO) in the air seriously harms the human health and increases mortality. A collaboration between researchers from the University of Barcelona and from the Boreskov Institute of Catalysis of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Novosibirsk (Russia) opens the way for reducing emissions of automotive pollutants. In a recent study, the scientists present design principles and catalyst syntheses to transform toxic molecules in the air at temperatures below 0?C.
E-Mail
IMAGE: Chemistry professor Chris Cairo co-led a study that identified a new mechanism responsible for the harmful buildup of plaque on artery walls that can restrict blood flow. The discovery also. view more
Credit: Richard Siemens
Glycomics researchers at the University of Alberta and CHU Sainte-Justine have reported a discovery that could lead to new treatments for cardiovascular disease.
The researchers identified a new mechanism responsible for the buildup of plaque on artery walls, a process known as atherosclerosis. This plaque, made up of fats, cholesterol and other substances, can restrict blood flow and is a major factor in cardiovascular disease.
E-Mail
Organic molecules that capture photons and convert these into electricity have important applications for producing green energy. Light-harvesting complexes need two semiconductors, an electron donor and an acceptor. How well they work is measured by their quantum efficiency, the rate by which photons are converted into electron-hole pairs.
Quantum efficiency is lower than optimal if there is self-quenching , where one molecule excited by an incoming photon donates some of its energy to an identical non-excited molecule, yielding two molecules at an intermediate energy state too low to produce an electron-hole pair. But if electron donors and acceptors are better spaced out, self-quenching is limited, so that quantum efficiency improves.