Binding Modes and Water-Mediation of Polyelectrolyte Adsorption to a Neutral CaCO Surface.

Aqueous polyelectrolytes are effective mineralization inhibitors due to their ability to template onto crystal surfaces and chelate ions in solution. These additives have been shown to alter the morphology of calcium carbonate crystals, making them promising candidates for biological and industrial applications. However, while key to designing more effective mineralization inhibitors, the molecular mechanisms governing the interactions between polyelectrolytes and crystal surfaces remain poorly understood.

Simple Genomic Traits Predict Rates of Polysaccharide Biodegradation.

Natural and chemically modified polysaccharides are extensively employed across a wide array of industries, leading to their prevalence in the waste streams of industrialized societies. With projected increasing demand, a pressing challenge is to swiftly assess and predict their biodegradability to inform the development of new sustainable materials. In this study, we developed a scalable method to evaluate polysaccharide breakdown by measuring microbial growth and analyzing microbial genomes.

Solar-matched S-scheme ZnO/g-CN for visible light-driven paracetamol degradation.

In pursuit of an efficient visible light driven photocatalyst for paracetamol degradation in wastewater, we have fabricated the ZnO/g-CN S-Scheme photocatalysts and explored the optimal percentage to form a composite of graphitic carbon nitride (g-CN) with zinc oxide (ZnO) for enhanced performance. Our study aimed to address the urgent need for a catalyst capable of environmentally friendly degradation of paracetamol, a common pharmaceutical pollutant, using visible light conditions. Here, we tailored the band gap of a photocatalyst to match solar radiation as a transformative advancement in environmental catalysis.

Biodegradable Alkali-Swellable Emulsion Polymers: Industrial and Commercial Thickeners.

Sustainability and circularity are key issues facing the global polymer industry. The search for biodegradable and environmentally-friendly polymers that can replace conventional materials is a difficult challenge that has been met with limited success. Alternatives must be cost-effective, scalable, and provide equivalent performance.