PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

How unwanted CDs and DVDs could help cut carbon emissions

2015-04-08
(Press-News.org) Now that most consumers download and stream their movies and music, more and more CDs and DVDs will end up in landfills or be recycled. But soon these discarded discs could take on a different role: curbing the release of greenhouse gases. In the journal ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, scientists report a way to turn the discs into a material that can capture carbon dioxide, a key greenhouse gas, and other compounds.

Mietek Jaroniec and colleagues from Poland and the U.S. note that manufacturers typically use natural sources, such as coal and wood, to make activated carbon. The material is then incorporated in a wide range of applications from decaffeination to gas purification. More recently, scientists have been preparing activated carbon out of everyday plastic products. Jaroniec's team wanted to try this with optical discs, a fast-growing part of our waste stream.

The researchers processed disc fragments into two kinds of activated carbon with high surface areas and large volumes of fine pore. These key characteristics allowed the materials to capture carbon dioxide. They also adsorbed hydrogen gas and benzene, a carcinogenic compound used in industrial processes. The researchers say that in addition to carbon capture applications, their materials could be used to separate volatile organic compounds and store hydrogen.

INFORMATION:

The authors acknowledge funding from the National Science Centre of Poland.

The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 158,000 members, ACS is the world's largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

To automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org.

Follow us: Twitter Facebook



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

A new piece in the 'French paradox' puzzle -- cheese metabolism

2015-04-08
Figuring out why the French have low cardiovascular disease rates despite a diet high in saturated fats has spurred research and many theories to account for this phenomenon known as the "French paradox." Most explanations focus on wine and lifestyle, but a key role could belong to another French staple: cheese. The evidence, say scientists in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, is in cheese metabolism. Hanne Bertram and colleagues note that recent research on some dairy products' positive effects on health has cast doubt on the once-firm rule that saturated ...

UAB researchers develop a harmless artificial virus for gene therapy

2015-04-08
Researchers of the Nanobiology Unit from the UAB Institute of Biotechnology and Biomedicine, led by Antonio Villaverde, managed to create artificial viruses, protein complexes with the ability of self-assembling and forming nanoparticles which are capable of surrounding DNA fragments, penetrating the cells and reaching the nucleus in a very efficient manner, where they then release the therapeutic DNA fragments. The achievement represents an alternative with no biological risk to the use of viruses in gene therapy. Gene therapy, which is the insertion of genes into the ...

Don't blame kids if they do not enjoy school, study suggests

2015-04-08
COLUMBUS, Ohio - When children are unmotivated at school, new research suggests their genes may be part of the equation. A study of more than 13,000 twins from six countries found that 40 to 50 percent of the differences in children's motivation to learn could be explained by their genetic inheritance from their parents. The results surprised study co-author Stephen Petrill, who thought before the study that the twins' shared environment - such as the family and teachers that they had in common - would be a larger factor than genetics. Instead, genetics and nonshared ...

Unraveling the origin of the pseudogap in a charge density wave compound

2015-04-08
The pseudogap, a state characterized by a partial gap and loss of coherence in the electronic excitations, has been associated with many unusual physical phenomena in a variety of materials ranging from cold atoms to colossal magnetoresistant manganese oxides to high temperature copper oxide superconductors. Its nature, however, remains controversial due to the complexity of these materials and the difficulties in studying them. By combining a variety of different experimental techniques and theory, a group led by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne ...

New emotion recognition model

2015-04-08
Philosophers at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum have put forward a new model that explains how humans recognise the emotions of others. According to their theory, humans are capable of perceiving feelings directly via pattern recognition. They do not have to deduce feelings by interpreting other people's behaviour. That model is described by the philosophers Prof Dr Albert Newen and Dr Anna Welpinghus, together with Prof Dr Georg Juckel from the LWL University Hospital for Psychiatry, in the journal Mind & Language. An emotion is a pattern of typical features A key ...

Osteoporosis-related fractures in China expected to double by 2035

2015-04-08
The results of the first study using a health economics model to project osteoporosis-related fractures and costs for the Chinese population, shows that the country's healthcare system will face a dramatic rise in costs over the next few decades. The study forecasts that the incidence and costs of osteoporotic fractures in China will double by 2035, with costs rising to approximately USD 25.58 billion by 2050. In the study, published in the journal 'Osteoporosis International', investigators from the University of Tasmania, Anhui Medical University and Nanjing Medical ...

Fracking fluid chemicals uncovered, helping test for contamination

2015-04-08
The organic chemicals in fracking fluid have been uncovered in two new studies, providing a basis for water contamination testing and future regulation. The research, published in Trends in Environmental Analytical Chemistry and Science of the Total Environment, reveals that fracking fluid contains compounds like biocides, which are potentially harmful if they leak into the groundwater. The authors behind the new study say it's time for the relatively new science to catch up with the extensive public awareness. They say an increasing research focus on contamination from ...

Mental disorders and physical diseases co-occur in teenagers

2015-04-08
Every third teenager has suffered from one mental disorder and one physical disease. These co-occurrences come in specific associations: More often than average, depression occurs together with diseases of the digestive system, eating disorders with seizures and anxiety disorders together with arthritis, heart disease as well as diseases of the digestives system. These findings were reported by researchers from the University of Basel and the Ruhr-Universität Bochum. Their results based on data from 6,500 U.S. teenagers have been published in the scientific journal ...

Gene study helps explain Legionnaires' probe complications

2015-04-08
Genetic research helps to explain why tracing the source of an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease that claimed four lives has proven to be more complicated than scientists hoped. A DNA study of bacteria samples taken from patients infected during the 2012 outbreak in Edinburgh shows that it was caused by several subtypes of the bacteria. The unexpected discovery means that tracing the source of this - and any future outbreaks - will be challenging, researchers say. There were 92 confirmed or suspected cases during the outbreak in 2012 in addition to the four deaths. ...

Researchers urge stronger warning for indoor tanning risks

2015-04-08
AURORA, Colo. (April 8, 2015) - The U.S. Surgeon General should declare that indoor ultraviolet radiation tanning causes skin cancer, according to an article published today by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Robert P. Dellavalle, MD, PhD, MSPH, associate professor of dermatology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine on the Anschutz Medical Campus, is the corresponding author of the article, which says there is enough evidence for the Surgeon General to clearly state that use of indoor tanning beds causes skin cancer. Dellavalle and his co-authors ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Pennington Biomedical’s Dr. Leanne Redman honored with the E. V. McCollum Award from the American Society for Nutrition

CCNY physicists uncover electronic interactions mediated via spin waves

Researchers’ 3D-printing formula may transform future of foam

Nurture more important than nature for robotic hand

Drug-delivering aptamers target leukemia stem cells for one-two knockout punch

New study finds that over 95% of sponsored influencer posts on Twitter were not disclosed

New sea grant report helps great lakes fish farmers navigate aquaculture regulations

Strain “trick” improves perovskite solar cells’ efficiency

How GPS helps older drivers stay on the roads

Estrogen and progesterone stimulate the body to make opioids

Dancing with the cells – how acoustically levitating a diamond led to a breakthrough in biotech automation

Machine learning helps construct an evolutionary timeline of bacteria

Cellular regulator of mRNA vaccine revealed... offering new therapeutic options

Animal behavioral diversity at risk in the face of declining biodiversity

Finding their way: GPS ignites independence in older adult drivers

Antibiotic resistance among key bacterial species plateaus over time

‘Some insects are declining but what’s happening to the other 99%?’

Powerful new software platform could reshape biomedical research by making data analysis more accessible

Revealing capillaries and cells in living organs with ultrasound

American College of Physicians awards $260,000 in grants to address equity challenges in obesity care

Researchers from MARE ULisboa discover that the European catfish, an invasive species in Portugal, has a prolonged breeding season, enhancing its invasive potential

Rakesh K. Jain, PhD, FAACR, honored with the 2025 AACR Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research

Solar cells made of moon dust could power future space exploration

Deporting immigrants may further shrink the health care workforce

Border region emergency medical services in migrant emergency care

Resident physician intentions regarding unionization

Healthy nutrition and physical lifestyle choices lower cancer mortality risk for survivors, new ACS study finds

Mass General Brigham researchers reveal 17 modifiable risk factors shared by stroke, dementia, and late-life depression

Promising drug discovery research gets funding boost from Ontario Institute for Cancer Research

Carbon capture could become practical with scalable, affordable materials

[Press-News.org] How unwanted CDs and DVDs could help cut carbon emissions