E-Mail
LOWELL, Mass. - The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded UMass Lowell researchers $1.8 million to develop recyclable plastics and manufacturing technologies to help the country reduce its greenhouse-gas emissions and improve its environmental sustainability.
The grant is funded through the REMADE Institute, a public-private partnership created by the DOE to help the U.S. move toward what s known as a circular economy, in which waste is eliminated as much as possible by continually reusing and recycling resources.
The UMass Lowell project will seek ways to improve the recycling of plastic films from industrial and consumer goods that typically end up in landfills. The research aims to create new uses for the plastic waste and possibilities for the re-manufacturing of sustainable products. Innovative plastics-processing technologies developed by the researchers and industrial partners would create new opportunities for manufacturers across the country, according to UM
Credit: WANG Jingyu
Recently, a research group led by Prof. WAN Yinhua from the Institute of Process Engineering (IPE) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences developed a novel targeted modification strategy to improve the separation selectivity of polyamide NF membranes.
The study was published in
Journal of Membrane Science on March 10.
The low selectivity of commercial nanofiltration (NF) membranes to monosaccharides and monovalent salts is mainly due to the nonuniform pore size distribution and strong electronegativity.
Targeted modification can regulate the pore size distribution and electronegativity of polyamide NF membranes, and thus improve the separation selectivity.
In the strategy, carboxyl groups (-COOH) on the surface are activated by N-(3-Dimethylaminopropyl)-N -ethyl carbodiimide (EDC) and N-Hydroxy succinimide (NHS), and subsequently grafted onto monomer or polymer containing amino groups (-NH
E-Mail
IMAGE: This animation depicts the two-stage flash configuration, one of several processes described in a new study detailing how EEMPA, a Pacific Northwest National Laboratory-developed solvent, can capture carbon from flue. view more
Credit: (Animation by Michael Perkins | Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)
RICHLAND, Wash. As part of a marathon research effort to lower the cost of carbon capture, chemists have now demonstrated a method to seize carbon dioxide (CO2) that reduces costs by 19 percent compared to current commercial technology. The new technology requires 17 percent less energy to accomplish the same task as its commercial counterparts, surpassing barriers that have kept other forms of carbon capture from widespread industrial use. And it can be easily applied in existing capture systems.
E-Mail
IMAGE: The cellulose yarn, which the researchers present in the article, is practical to work with and could be used to make clothing with smart functions. Using a standard household sewing. view more
Credit: Anna-Lena Lundqvist/Chalmers University of Technology
Electronic textiles offer revolutionary new opportunities in various fields, in particular healthcare. But to be sustainable, they need to be made of renewable materials. A research team led by Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, now presents a thread made of conductive cellulose, which offers fascinating and practical possibilities for electronic textiles. Miniature, wearable, electronic gadgets are ever more common in our daily lives. But currently, they are often dependent on rare, or in some cases toxic, materials. They are also leading to a gradual build-up of great mountains of electronic waste. There is a real need for organic, renewable materials for use in electronic textiles, says So