♻️ Recycling polyurethane, Clean lithium extraction, and safer lithium batteries for EVs

Welcome back to the sixteenth edition of Sustainability, a weekly newsletter by Interesting Engineering.

Last week, scientists at Hokkaido University in Japan developed a nickel foam catalyst that effectively converts ammonia to clean wastewater. It can also be used to produce clean fuel, primarily hydrogen gas, making the catalyst versatile. The catalyst, called NiOOH-Ni (Nickel Oxyhydroxide-Nickel), was created using an electrochemical process in which nickel foam was treated with an electrical current while submerged in a chemical solution.

This week, scientists from Aarhus University developed a more efficient technique to recycle polyurethane (PUR) foam, which is widely used in products like mattresses and insulation. The new method would efficiently recycle the vastly utilized PUR materials and reduce waste as a result in addition to lowering production costs and supporting a more sustainable circular economy.

Also, ElectraLith, a startup has found a solution to conventional lithium mining methods inflicting significant damage on Earth’s natural resources. They have developed Direct Lithium Extraction and Refining (DLE-R), a technology that allows lithium extraction from brines without using water and any harmful chemicals. In another lithium-ion battery development, scientists found a way to make them safer from catching fire or exploding. They developed TTape, a strip that helps detect hotspots vulnerable to thermal runaway in lithium-ion batteries and also extends the lifespan of the batteries.

In a new episode of Lexicon, a podcast by Interesting Engineering, Dr. Mohamad Khoshkalam, a postdoctoral materials scientist at the Technical University of Denmark talks about how potassium silicate, an abundant earth material, is being transformed into a sustainable alternative to lithium-ion batteries. This could offer potential breakthroughs in performance and safety. 

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NEWS BULLETIN

• ⛏️ Clean lithium extraction possible with new zero-water, zero-chemical method This entire process operates on renewable energy, eliminating the need for any harmful chemicals.

• ⚙️ Tokamak Energy advances vanadium alloys development for fusion breeder blankets Vanadium base alloys are the leading candidate materials for breeder blanket structures in fusion power plant designs.

• 🏎️ Photos: Retro hypercar Kalmar 9X9 to redefine expectations in automotive world KALMAR Automotives exhibits a brand new hypercar series, KALMAR 9X9 hailing it as the peak of automotive haute couture.

• 🌡️ This temperature monitoring tech to prevent fire, make lithium batteries safer for EVs TTape helps detect hotspots vulnerable to thermal runaway on lithium-ion batteries to prevent fire, and explosions and also extend the lifespan of the batteries.

• 🔋 From pebbles to power: the rise of potassium silicate batteries If developed to scale, these new batteries could revolutionize many industries from EVs to your mobile phone.

• 🚘 New method to check fuel cell degradation can improve hydrogen vehicle’s life Long-lasting fuel cells are especially necessary for hydrogen-powered clean vehicles that need to operate for hours.

• 🗻 Threat: Arctic permafrost melting emits harmful mercury in Alaska’s Yukon River Arctic permafrost melting due to climate change releases mercury sequestered for millennia into Alaska’s Yukon River, endangering a vital freshwater source.

• 🏎️ Photos: Rimac’s all-electric 2,107hp hypercar Nevera R hits 186 mph in 8.66 seconds Nevera R leverages cutting-edge technology to deliver more power and efficiency.

• 🌅 World’s largest solar microgrid to power Saudi Arabia’ Red Sea Project Huawei’s FusionSolar Smart String Energy Storage Solution will power the Red Sea City’s off-grid, clean energy needs.

MUST READ

♻️ Experts develop a more efficient way to recycle polyurethane

Polyurethane (PUR), made from two main chemicals – urethane and polymers, is a synthetic resin and versatile plastic that is used in many products for its strength, durability, flexibility, and thermal stability.

Now scientists have found a better way to recycle this material. Researchers from Aarhus University developed a highly efficient technique for recycling polyurethane (PUR) foam, which is widely used in products like mattresses and insulation. It involves breaking down PUR foam and isolating it from its prime elements – polyol and isocyanate, in a single process, paving the way for to reuse of these materials for new manufacturing. 

In an ambition to tackle the environmental and economic challenges linked to PUR material that is likely derived from fossil fuels and more often than not ends up in landfills or incinerated. However, the new method would efficiently recycle the vastly utilized PUR materials and reduce waste as a result in addition to lowering production costs and supporting a more sustainable circular economy.

The recycling method required heating flexible PUR foam to 220 degrees Celsius in a reactor with a small amount of succinic acid, which decomposes the plastic. After, this mixture is filtered to separate the component – polyol via a process known as acidolysis. The filtered material can be reused to produce new PUR products, while the remaining material is converted into diamines, which are used in the production of isocyanates.

The technique enabled up to 82 percent of the original material to be recovered, making PUR recycling more efficient and sustainable. "The method is easy to scale up," says Steffan Kvist Kristensen, the study’s author and assistant professor at the Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center (iNANO) at Aarhus University.

The scientist foresees the substantial potential for recycling the PUR foam waste at the factories that use it as raw material (slabstock) in their production, an official statement noted. 

"But the prospect of also handling PUR waste from consumers requires further development," added Kristensen.

The study was published last week (August 16, 2024) in the journal – Green Chemistry.

OTHER IMPORTANT UPDATES

• 🔋 MIT engineers design tiny batteries for powering cell-sized robots

• ☢️ China limits exports of antimony that’s used in nuclear weapons, EV batteries

• ⛽️ China unveils ‘world’s first’ offshore flue gas waste heat power generation unit

• 🏭 US: World’s largest 8,500 MWh capacity battery to be built in Maine

• 🛸 AC energy costs cut by 50% with spacecraft tech that’s 8 times more effective

• 🚛 US firm plans ‘super tough’ hydrogen cells to power heavy-duty trucks

• 🪵 Wood waste turned catalyst could unlock affordable green hydrogen from ocean

• ☢️ Japan: Robot detects 25-ton radioactive water leak at Fukushima nuclear site

• ⚡️ Fireproof: 95% recyclable home battery lasts 20 years, bears -40°F to 131°F

• 💨 World’s 1st carbon removal facility to capture 30,000 tons of CO2 over decade

• 🌞 Deal sets stage for a dramatic jump in solar power production in Alaska

• 🔥 Hundreds of firefighters battle Madeira wildfire

• 🏜️ ‘The land is becoming desert’: drought pushes Sicily’s farming heritage to the brink

🗼 Act to shrink your carbon footprint

As greenhouse gas emissions reached record highs last year, a report was released on November 2023 by the United Nations Environment Programme namely the Emissions Gap Report 2023: Broken Record – Temperatures hit new highs, yet world fails to cut emissions (again). It spotlighted some progress since the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015. 

According to the report, By 2030, GHG emissions were initially expected to rise by 16 percent under existing policies. Now, the increase is projected at three percent, but emissions still need to drop by 28 percent for the Paris Agreement's two degrees Celsius goal and 42 percent for the 1.5 degrees Celsius target.

Implementing Nationally Determined Contributions

Additionally, it noted executing unconditional Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) effectively and fully as part of the Paris Agreement will likely put the world on track for limiting the temperature rise to 2.9 degrees Celius above pre-industrial levels this century. The organization noted that fully implementing conditional NDCs would lower this to 2.5 degrees Celsius.

Stronger actions for high-emitting, greater capacity countries.

To tackle the consequences of climate change and still reach net zero by 2050, the EGR report urged all nations to speed up low-carbon economic transformations. Countries with higher emissions and greater capacity must take stronger actions and help developing nations achieve low-emission growth.

Rethinking solutions

The report examines how better implementation could make the next round of NDCs, due in 2025, more effective in reducing GHG emissions by 2035, aligning with the two degrees Celsius and 1.5 degrees Celsius targets. It also explores the potential and risks of carbon dioxide removal methods, including nature-based solutions and direct air carbon capture and storage. 

United Nations Climate Change however has also reported that implementing NDCs has already sparked low-carbon solutions and new markets but more effective action is needed to achieve the goals. With the agreement finally beginning to take hold, more countries, regions, cities, and companies are establishing carbon neutrality targets. Zero-carbon solutions are increasingly competitive in sectors accounting for 25 percent of emissions, particularly in power and transport. This shift has opened up numerous business opportunities for early adopters.

More to come in the forthcoming edition of Sustainability.