As cities continue to expand and face rising environmental pressure, scientists are seeking innovative solutions that can help urban areas become cleaner, greener, and more resilient. A new perspective paper highlights biochar, a carbon rich material made from organic waste, as a transformative tool that could significantly improve the environmental future of cities around the world.

A new study marks a significant step forward in positioning synthetic polymers as an alternative for expensive, unsustainable minerals used in the manufacture of devices such as conductors, transistors and diodes.

A new study shows that lithium — a critical element used in rechargeable batteries and susceptible to supply chain disruption — can be recovered from battery waste using an electrochemically driven recovery process. The method has been tested on commonly used types of lithium-containing batteries and demonstrates economic viability with the potential to simplify operations, minimize costs and increase the sustainability and attractiveness of the recovery process for commercial use.

A study by researchers at ICIQ and Ben-Gurion University reveals that the choice of deuterium source can steer hydrogen isotope exchange reactions along entirely different mechanistic routes.

Iron-nitrogen-carbon catalysts have the potential to replace the more expensive platinum catalysts currently used in fuel cells. This is shown by a study conducted by researchers from the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB), Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) and universities in Tartu and Tallinn, Estonia. At BESSY II, the team observed the formation of complex microstructures within various samples. They then analysed which structural parameters were particularly important for fostering the preferred electrochemical reactions. The raw material for such catalysts is well decomposed peat.

Researchers from the Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin (HZB) and the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society (FHI) have uncovered how carbonate molecules affect the conversion of CO₂ into valuable fuels on gold electrocatalysts. Their findings reveal key molecular mechanisms in CO₂ electrocatalysis and hydrogen evolution, pointing to new strategies for improving energy efficiency and reaction selectivity.