IITGN researchers have prepared low-cost, sustainable, and scalable nitrogen-doped porous carbons by mixing cow dung with melamine and potassium bicarbonate to tackle fossil fuel emissions and global warming. While melamine provides nitrogen for improved performance, potassium bicarbonate is a green, less corrosive, and effective activating agent to create a high surface area. The material’s activity in terms of trapping CO₂ molecules was 58% better than that of pristine carbon. Good adsorption capacity at low temperature and excellent regeneration stability over multiple cycles make it a suitable candidate for large-scale deployment. Minimal wastewater generation makes the process environmentally sustainable.

A research team led by the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO) in collaboration with the University of Maryland (UMD) has engineered a dry-preservable cultured cell line expressing the odorant receptor Or47a. The cell line responded specifically to its target odor molecules both before and after being stored in a dried state at room temperature for 2 weeks. This is an initial step towards the development of cell-based portable devices for odor sensing.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers invented a reusable adhesive from waste polymers that is tougher than commercial glues, works underwater as well as in dry environments, and bonds a variety of materials, including wood, glass, metal, paper and polymers. Inspired by the way mussels stick stubbornly to surfaces, the innovative adhesive contains reversible chemical crosslinkers that allow the hardened glue to soften, detach and be reused, unlike current glues, which set permanently after one use.