Carbon Cocatalysts Self-Destruction in Photocatalytic Air Purification.

The most promising strategy for photocatalyst design involves loading cocatalysts to enhance charge-carrier separation, with carbon nanomaterials perceived as being more environmentally and economically feasible than noble metals. However, this study reveals a critical limitation: in atmospheric environments where reactant density is relatively low, the generation of OH radicals triggers the breakdown of the C-C network in carbon cocatalysts rather than degrading air pollutants. This self-destruction of carbon cocatalysts not only reduced long-term efficiency but also led to their mineralization into CO, causing unintended secondary air pollution.

The unseen carbon: Scope 3 emissions transform understanding of electricity generation in import-dependent nations.

Energy system decarbonization requires accurate emissions accounting. While many import-dependent nations rely on foreign fuels, infrastructure, and technologies for electricity generation, their emissions calculations often overlook critical supply chain and life cycle impacts. This study applies life cycle assessment to evaluate the comprehensive carbon footprint of electricity production in import-dependent economies, encompassing direct operations (Scope 1), energy use (Scope 2), and supply chain emissions (Scope 3).

The potential of electrodialysis as a cost-effective alternative to reverse osmosis for brackish water desalination.

While electrodialysis (ED) demonstrates lower energy consumption than reverse osmosis (RO) in the desalination of low salinity waters, RO continues to be the predominant technology for brackish water desalination. In this study, we probe this skewed market share and project the potential for future disruption by ED through systematic assessment of the levelized cost of water (LCOW). Using rigorous process- and economic-models, we minimize the LCOW of RO and ED systems, highlighting important tradeoffs between capital and operating expenditure for each technology.

Low-Voltage Hydrogen Production via Hydrogen Peroxide Oxidation Facilitated by Oxo Ligand Axially Coordinated to Cobalt in Phthalocyanine Moiety.

A cobalt phthalocyanine having an electron-poor CoN (+δ) in its phthalocyanine moiety was presented as an electrocatalyst for hydrogen peroxide oxidation reaction (HPOR). We suggested that hydrogen peroxide as an electrolysis medium for hydrogen production and therefore as a hydrogen carrier, demonstrating that the electrocatalyst guaranteed high hydrogen production rate by hydrogen peroxide splitting. The electron deficiency of cobalt allows CoN to have the highly HPOR-active monovalent oxidation state and facilitates HPOR at small overpotentials range around the onset potential.

When Bigger Is Not Greener: Ensuring the Sustainability of Power-to-Gas Hydrogen on a National Scale.

As the prices of photovoltaics and wind turbines continue to decrease, more renewable electricity-generating capacity is installed globally. While this is considered an integral part of a sustainable energy future by many nations, it also poses a significant strain on current electricity grids due to the inherent output variability of renewable electricity. This work addresses the challenge of renewable electricity surplus (RES) utilization with target-scaling of centralized power-to-gas (PtG) hydrogen production.

Sustainable biopolyol production via solvothermal liquefaction silvergrass saccharification residue: Experimental, economic, and environmental approach.

With the rising environmental concern, sustainable chemistry should be accomplished by considering technical, economic, and environmental factors that guarantee the successful implementation of new alternative products. Hence, we performed the integrated techno-economic and life cycle assessment for two-step solvothermal liquefaction (two-pot synthesis) and simplified solvothermal liquefaction (one-pot synthesis) based on experiment results. Based on the itemized cost estimation, the unit biopolyol production costs obtained from the two-pot synthesis and one-pot synthesis were 10.

Mining Nontraditional Water Sources for a Distributed Hydrogen Economy.

Securing decarbonized economies for energy and commodities will require abundant and widely available green H. Ubiquitous wastewaters and nontraditional water sources could potentially feed water electrolyzers to produce this green hydrogen without competing with drinking water sources. Herein, we show that the energy and costs of treating nontraditional water sources such as municipal wastewater, industrial and resource extraction wastewater, and seawater are negligible with respect to those for water electrolysis.

Techno-economic analysis of livestock urine and manure as a microalgal growth medium.

Microalgae have the potential to utilize the nutrients in livestock urine and manure (LUM) for the production of useful biomass, which can be used as a source of bioindustry. This study aims to evaluate the economic benefits of LUM feedstock that have not been clearly discussed before. Two types of photobioreactors were designed with a capacity of 200 m d.

Preliminary techno-economic analysis of biodiesel production over solid-biochar.

This study suggests the economic potential of biochar-based biodiesel production by conducting the techno-economic analysis. The itemized cost estimation was performed by categorizing biochar production facility and biodiesel conversion plants for 30,000 ton y of biodiesel production capacity. The result of sensitivity analysis shows the methanol and waste cooking oil (WCO) costs are significantly sensitive to determine a unit biodiesel production cost.

Techno-economic assessment of conventional and direct-transesterification processes for microalgal biomass to biodiesel conversion.

The simplified direct-transesterification (DT) process was compared to the conventional biodiesel production process based on a reported previous experimental work with economic standpoint. Based on the process flow diagram, capital and operating costs were itemized properly and then unit biodiesel production cost was calculated. The results show the biodiesel production costs were 18.

Dynamic characterization of human breast cancer cells using a piezoresistive microcantilever.

In this paper, frequency response (dynamic compression and recovery) is suggested as a new physical marker to differentiate between breast cancer cells (MCF7) and normal cells (MCF10A). A single cell is placed on the laminated piezoelectric actuator and a piezoresistive microcantilever is placed on the upper surface of the cell at a specified preload displacement (or an equivalent force). The piezoelectric actuator excites the single cell in a sinusoidal fashion and its dynamic deformation is then evaluated from the displacement converted by measuring the voltage output through a piezoresistor in the microcantilever.