News
Stored water can develop slimy bacterial films: nanotechnology may be a solution
6+ day, 10+ hour ago (498+ words) Access to water and sanitation is a basic human right provided for in the South African constitution. However, only 77.1% of households have access to reliable water sources. Many rural areas and villages experience severe water shortages because of minimal municipal…...
Ammonia from wastewater: How we’re turning a pollutant into fertilizer and clean fuel
1+ week, 5+ day ago (936+ words) Ammonia rarely makes headlines, but much of modern life depends on it. The compound of nitrogen and hydrogen is the key ingredient in the fertilizers that help feed roughly half of the world’s population. It is also attracting serious attention…...
Could sodium replace lithium as the dominant ingredient in batteries?
1+ mon, 3+ week ago (1018+ words) The world we live in today runs on batteries. But the lithium ion batteries that dominate the market are expensive and environmentally demanding to extract. The raw materials for lithium ion batteries are scarce and concentrated in a few geographical…...
Human-made chemicals are harming seals at the molecular level
1+ mon, 3+ week ago (1131+ words) Ringed seals are among the most common marine mammals in the Canadian Arctic. They strongly rely on sea ice as a habitat, breathing through holes they maintain in the frozen surface, giving birth in snow lairs and diving beneath the…...
We’re ‘green chemists’ – why we think this emerging science can transform the way the world uses its resources
1+ mon, 3+ week ago (753+ words) Society depends on chemistry far more than we consciously realise, from medicines to energy to electronics. However, chemistry is viewed with as much apprehension as gratitude, because of the pollution and health problems that some chemicals cause. There is a…...
Metal-organic frameworks: Nobel-winning tiny ‘sponge crystals’ with an astonishing amount of inner space
9+ mon, 4+ day ago (704+ words) Stavroula (Alina) Kampouri receives research funding from the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund (ACS PRF) and other public research agencies. Rice University provides funding as a member of The Conversation US. The 2025 Nobel Prize in chemistry was awarded to…...
Oil, petrol, gasoline: a chemical engineer explains how crude turns into fuel
4+ mon, 3+ hour ago (824+ words) Professor of Chemical Engineering, The University of Western Australia Zach Aman has consulted with multiple oil and gas companies, including Woodside, Chevron, Shell, and INPEX. He has received funding from oil and gas companies as well as the Australian Research…...
Silicone wristbands can help scientists track people’s exposure to pollutants like ‘forever chemicals’
4+ mon, 3+ day ago (833+ words) Ph.D. Student in Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University Yaw Edu Essandoh does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations…...
How the UK government plans to limit ‘forever chemical’ pollution – and what’s missing
5+ mon, 1+ week ago (552+ words) Ivan Kourtchev does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. Coventry University provides funding as a…...
CFC replacements cause vast ‘forever chemical’ pollution – new research
5+ mon, 1+ week ago (644+ words) Lucy Hart receives funding from Natural Environment Research Council ECORISC CDT. Ryan Hossaini receives funding from the Natural Environment Research Council When the phaseout of ozone-destroying chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) was first agreed in 1987, the world narrowly avoided an environmental catastrophe. However,…...