ScienceDaily: Matter & Energy News

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is an important chemical, with a wide variety of applications. However, the current method used to manufacture H2O2 is expensive and generates a considerable amount of waste, making it an unsustainable approach. In this study, a group of researchers produced H2O2 from waste coffee grounds and tea leaves, and then demonstrated its industrial use. Their novel method proved to be simple, cost-effective, and most importantly, sustainable.

Researchers have developed a tiny, flexible neural probe that can be implanted for longer time periods to record and stimulate neural activity, while minimizing injury to the surrounding tissue. The probe would be ideal for studying small and dynamic areas of the nervous system like peripheral nerves or the spinal cord.

Scientists have refined the use of magnetic fields to improve the performance of doughnut-shaped fusion facilities known as tokamaks. The improved technique protects internal parts from damage by instabilities and allows tokamaks to operate for longer without pausing.

A team used light and water to convert acetylene into ethylene, a widely used, highly valuable chemical that is a key ingredient in plastics. While this conversion typically requires high temperatures and pressures, flammable hydrogen and expensive metals to drive the reaction, a photosynthesis-like process is much less expensive and less energy intensive. Not only is the new process environmentally friendly, it also works incredibly well -- successfully converting nearly 100% of acetylene into ethylene with 99% selectivity.

Researchers have develop a silicon-based optical communications link that can improve data-intensive internet applications from video streaming services to high-capacity transactions for the stock market. This device could enable the next generation of optical interconnects for use in data-center networks that form the backbone of the internet.

Researchers identify why the fast fashion business model creates waste and whether regulators can establish incentives for consumers and manufacturers are steps to reducing waste.

Researchers use a viscoelastic material flowing through a microfluidic chip to sort E. coli bacteria based on their degree of elongation. By using this 'lab-on-a-chip' device, scientists may be able to set up more reproducible experiments, as well monitor the progression of bacterial infections at a patient's bedside.

Physicists have designed a framework that allows scientists to observe interactions between light and electrons using a traditional scanning electron microscope. The procedure is considerably cheaper than the technology that has been used to date, and also enables a wider range of experiments.