Flakes and Nanoparticles from Waste Ru-Plated Fashion Items through Food Waste by-Products.

Ruthenium is relevant for a broad range of applications, including catalysis and electronics. Like other metals of the platinum group, ruthenium stands out as one of the rarest elements in the Earth's crust. The demand for Ru from the industry is putting pressure on its availability.

A nanoscale study of the structure and electrical response of Sepia eumelanin.

Eumelanin, the brown-black member of the melanin biopigment family, is a prototype material for sustainable (green) organic electronics. Sepia eumelanin (Sepia) is a type of biosourced eumelanin extracted from the ink sac of cuttlefish. Electron microscopy and scanning probe microscopy images of Sepia show distinguishable near spherical granules with diameters of about 150-200 nm.

Biosourced quinones for high-performance environmentally benign electrochemical capacitors via interface engineering.

Biosourced and biodegradable organic electrode materials respond to the need for sustainable storage of renewable energy. Here, we report on electrochemical capacitors based on electrodes made up of quinones, such as Sepia melanin and catechin/tannic acid (Ctn/TA), solution-deposited on carbon paper engineered to create high-performance interfaces. Sepia melanin and Ctn/TA on TCP electrodes exhibit a capacitance as high as 1355 mF cm (452 F g) and 898 mF cm (300 F g), respectively.

Electronic properties of lithium-ion battery cathodes studied in ion-gated transistor configuration.

Electronic and ionic transport governs lithium-ion battery (LIB) operation. The in operando study of electronic transport in lithium-ion transition metal oxide (LMOx) cathodes at different states of charge enables the evaluation of the state of health of LIBs and the optimization of their performance. We report on electronic transport in LIB cathode materials at different states of charge controlled in operando in ion-gated transistor (IGT) configuration.

Recovery of gold from e-waste via food waste byproducts.

Global materials' and energy constraints and environmental issues call for a holistic approach to waste upcycling. We propose a chemically rational, cost-effective and environmentally friendly recovery of non-leaching gold from e-waste using aqueous chemistry with hydrogen peroxide, an environmentally benign oxidant, and lactic acid, a food chain byproduct. The oxidation of the base metals enables the release of gold in its metallic state in the form of flakes subsequently separated via filtration.