Background The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) emphasizes the urgent need to remove CO2 from the atmosphere by the end of the century to limit global warming to below 2 °C. Direct Air Capture (DAC) is essential in all scenarios to meet this target, requiring the removal of about 1,000 gigatons of CO2. DAC systems use chemical sorbents...

Background Many companies have made sustainability pledges like having net-zero greenhouse gas emissions and eliminating plastic waste. However, few tools are available to guide industry transition toward this future while remaining profitable. The complex multi-material structures of plastics and multilayer materials pose significant challenges for...

Background Mid to long-wave infrared detectors capture and interpret infrared radiation emitted by objects, and convert it into additional data. These detectors have wide ranging applications including gas sensing, thermal imaging, environmental monitoring, and defense applications. Typically, these detectors use micro- or nano-scale microwave-frequency...

Background The increasing frequency and severity of wildfires creates difficulty for power engineers to decide on the best course of action for ensuring reliable and resilient system operation. To enable informed decision-making in the presence of active wildfire risks, knowledge of the local environmental conditions surrounding the electric power...

Background Zn-air batteries (ZABs) are an emerging technology recognized for their environmentally friendly properties, cost-effectiveness, and high energy density. ZABs are reinventing next generation metal air batteries and are considered potential alternatives to lithium-ion batteries, providing a greener alternative. These batteries operate by...

Background The increasing level of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) poses a significant environmental challenge, necessitating innovative direct air capture designs. Traditional methods of CO₂ separation and capture, such as amine scrubbing or passive membrane filtration, often struggle with the issue of high energy consumption, low selectivity, and...

Background The Center for Negative Carbon Emissions at Arizona State University is actively engaged in research focused on sorbent materials used in direct air capture of carbon dioxide. Much of this research centers on understanding the chemical and physical properties of these materials and how they influence direct air capture performance. Carbon...

Background The construction industry is facing the dual challenges of enhancing sustainability while addressing environmental safety concerns. One promising approach to achieving both goals is the utilization of mine tailings as a raw material in construction. Mine tailings, the residual byproducts of mining operations, are abundant and pose significant...

Background Millimeter-wave (mmWave) and terahertz (THz) frequency bands are growing in prevalence in current and future communication systems. These frequency ranges provide higher bandwidths, which enable the communication systems to efficiently meet the higher data requirements of high speed applications including augmented or virtual reality, autonomous...

Background The chemical composition of aerosol particles provides key insights into the study of the behavior of planetary atmospheres. Measuring aerosol composition typically involves separating the aerosols from the carrier atmospheric gases, which can be challenging. Current methods for aerosol mass spectrometry (AMS) are well-established in the...