Mining with plants
Most plants don’t grow well in metal-rich soils. But some actively take up metals and store them. Known as phytomining, the process promises a greener and more sustainable approach to producing in-demand metals. Jasmin Fox-Skelly reports
Organic chemistry
Read the organic chemistry highlights for November 2023 written by G. Richard Stephenson, University of East Anglia, UK.
Applied chemistry
Read the latest applied chemistry highlights for November 2023 by Nigel P Freestone | University of Northampton, UK.
Medicines from waste
Reducing environmental impact and decreasing costs are powerful incentives for innovators to focus on, turning potentially hazardous chemical waste into something useful. Increasingly, that also includes looking to industrial waste for chemicals that may be useful to the pharmaceutical industry.
Reducing paint waste
The road to Net Zero is a long and winding one for industry, requiring many long-term changes and significant shifts in everything from more green energy production to zero-emission vehicles, and from more efficient manufacturing to reformulating products using more environmentally friendly raw materials.
Formate: green fuel of the future?
Researchers at MIT and Harvard University, US, have developed a new process that can convert carbon dioxide from flue gases or air into formate – a material that can be used like hydrogen or methanol to power a specialised fuel cell and generate electricity.
Flick, zap, catalysis!
A flick of a switch to apply an external electric field can accelerate a chemical reaction, a collaboration between Welsh and Swiss researchers has shown.
Using antimalarials to treat osteoporosis
Chinese researchers have used AI algorithms to show that an antimalarial drug could treat osteoporosis. In studies on mice, the drug appeared to reverse bone loss related to the disease.
Let’s work together
Collaboration is the current name of the game as far as research is concerned. It is seen as a key aspect for the mobilisation of research capabilities around the world; no more so than in Europe, where the Horizon programme is top of the list.