Global Challenges最新文献

Carbon nanomaterials (CNMs), comprising carbon dots, graphene-related materials, and carbon nanotubes, have significant potential for enhancing agricultural productivity. Their compositional compatibility and exceptional properties intrigue a great deal of explorations in agricultural applications, such as fertilizers, pesticides, and regulators of plant growth. However, the evaluation of their agricultural applicability often lacks quantitative sustainability metrics, with insufficient scrutiny on the carbon footprint and scalability of the manufacturing. This review attempts to provide a quantitative ranking system for evaluating the manufacturing processes of the CNMs by applying the twelve principles of Green Chemistry, particularly in the context of agriculture applications. The review also offers a systematically organized account of CNMs' effects on plant systems, encompassing nutrient enhancement, photosynthesis, soil amelioration, disease resistance, and phytotoxicity, which can provide design rationales for the further development of CNMs.

Urban lakes serve as vital ecological and recreational anchors within built environments, essential for enhancing urban resilience. Evaluating lake health predominantly focuses on water quality, assessing indicators such as nutrient levels, toxicity, pH balance, and water clarity to monitor changes. This study proposes a comprehensive evaluation framework that systematically describes specific spatiotemporal manifestations and periodic exogenous regulation characteristics across five dimensions: physical structure, water quality, shoreline dynamics, external regulation, and social service. Furthermore, it introduces an urban lake health assessment model based on synergistic development to evaluate the integrated development and interaction between water environments and social services. This model is applied across urban lakes in various developmental stages in China. Key findings include: 1) Urban development often impacts lake health disparately, with varying degrees of synergy observed between water environments and social services across different urban lakes. However, shifts in urban ideologies and improvements in governance, along with protective policies and project implementations, have contributed to improving water quality to some extent. 2) Engineering interventions do not consistently correspond with improvements in water quality, and governance measures sometimes yield mixed outcomes, underscoring the necessity for systematic solutions to lake health. Restoring hydrological processes emerges as crucial for enhancing sustainability.

Global energy consumption is increasing yearly, yet the world is trying to move toward carbon neutrality to mitigate global warming. More research is being done on energy storage devices to advance these efforts. One well-known and widely studied technology is Zn-ion batteries (ZIBs). Therefore, this paper demonstrates how laser irradiation at wavelengths of 266 and 1064 nm, in the presence of air or water, can enhance the electrochemical performance of metallic zinc anode in alkaline electrolyte. The obtained samples are characterized using X-ray diffraction analysis, scanning electron microscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. Then, the electrochemical properties are studied by cyclic voltammetry and impedance measurements. Results indicate that the laser processing of the Zn sample increases surface-specific capacity by up to 30% compared to the non-irradiated Zn sample. Furthermore, electrochemical measurements reveal enhanced participation of metallic Zn grains in the oxidation and reduction processes in irradiated samples. In future research, integrating laser treatment into electrode preparation processes can become essential for optimizing anode battery materials.

Lead-containing halide perovskites show promise for solar energy but pose ecological and health risks. To address these, researchers are exploring inorganic binary metal perovskites. This study proposes an eco-friendly, durable hole transport layer (HTL)-free design of CsSn_0.5Ge_0.5I₃ with high power conversion efficiency (PCE). Using the SCAPS-1D simulator, we assessed the efficiency of an HTL-free planar heterojunction, while the Density Functional Theory (DFT)-based CASTEP simulator evaluated the optical properties of CsSn_0.5Ge_0.5I₃ in an orthorhombic structure. Key findings highlight enhanced performance under 100 Wm⁻² AM 1.5G illumination by optimizing absorber layer thickness to 800 nm and reducing defect densities in both the perovskite absorber layer and interfaces to 1 × 10¹⁴ cm⁻³.Additonally, the effects of different electron transport materials (ETMs), optimization of electron transport layer (ETL) thickness (30-50 nm), and back contact design improvements were examined. The simulation's results included an increase over the highest values reported in the literature: an open circuit voltage (Voc) of 1.06 V, a short circuit current density (Jsc) of 28.52 mA/cm², a fill factor (FF) of 86.57%, and a PCE of 26.18% for the FTO/Zn_0.875Mg_0.125O/CsSn_0.5Ge_0.5I₃/Se perovskite solar cell (PSC). This research provides theoretical insights for developing high-efficiency power modules without HTLs with significant industrial and research potential.

Highly sensitive vertically aligned carbon nanotube arrays (VANTAs) interdigitated electrode (IDE) arrays are developed for electrochemical biosensing of two cytokines (i.e., interleukin-10 (IL-10) and interferon-gamma (IFN-γ)) that are useful for early detection Johne's disease (Bovine Paratuberculosis) in cattle. The high aspect ratio VANTA-IDEs (50–60 µm in height) are grown through a chemical vapor deposition process from an iron (Fe) catalyst that is lithographically patterned on a silicon wafer with equal finger width and inter-finger spacing of 25 µm. After functionalization with distinct antibodies the VANTA-IDEs are capable of selective detection of both IL-10 and IFN-γ within an actual biological matrix (i.e., diluted bovine implant supernatant) over concentration ranges of 0.1 to 30 pg mL⁻¹ (limit of detection – LOD: 0.0911 pg mL⁻¹) and 50–500 pg mL⁻¹ (LOD: 24.17 pg mL⁻¹), respectively with a response time of <35 min. Results demonstrate important initial steps for rapid, pen-side identification of cattle with stage-I Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis infection before physical symptoms of Johne's disease are present. Such a rapid pen-side diagnostic test can be used on cattle at an auction or before they are introduced to a herd to ensure the larger population does not become infected with Johne's disease.

This paper assesses the National Recovery and Resilience Plans (NRRPs) of EU member states and regions to uncover commonalities and differences between green and digital transitions, focusing on the role of institutions, among additional socio-economic drivers, in modeling them. To that end, relevant indicators have been assembled, and several econometric models have been developed and tested to evaluate institutional performance in relation to green and digital transformations. The study reveals discrepancies in the two explored transition fields and highlights the power of institutional factors in boosting them. Specifically, the findings demonstrate that the green transition in EU regions is positively associated with variables such as life expectancy, institutional quality, tertiary education attainment, and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with innovative activities, while the fruits of digitalization are mainly allied to population with higher studies, core creative class employment, accountability of institutions, and innovative SMEs. These insights offer valuable guidance for decision-makers to draw lessons from high-performing or successful regions and strategically assign resources. This includes paying attention to regional financial allocations and their alignment with territorial planning and long-term policies.

The cover image is based on the Article Photoelectrocatalytic Hydrogen Generation: Current Advances in Materials and Operando Characterization by Mohammed Ahmed Zabara et al., https://doi.org/10.1002/gch2.202400011

The scale of food waste across Europe is alarming, and its reduction is becoming an important public policy and governance issue. Sustainable Development Goal Target 12.3 constitutes a global attempt to galvanize system-level reductions. In response, layers of varied regulation and governance at regional and national levels have emerged. This paper studies the types of governance architectures visible across Europe, what policy interventions they bring, and whether responses to the food waste challenge are converging. It looks at four leading food waste jurisdictions—France, England, Norway, and Italy—and investigates the hidden realities obscured by the simplistic division of legislative/top-down versus voluntary/bottom-up approaches. It applies a governance matrix to understand the variety of food waste “steering modes”, exploring both the extent to which a regime is hierarchical and/or non-hierarchical and why. Notably, the paper also identifies some general tendencies in food waste governance, including legislative threats, challenges in distributing responsibility across the actors, focus on “low hanging fruits”, and an overall harmonization of policy responses in a neoliberal paradigm, with redistribution often pursued as a panacea for the food waste crisis.

This research explores green-technology alternatives to extract vegetable oils as alternatives to hexane, a non-renewable solvent, focussing on sunflower oil. It compares pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) with ethanol and supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) with CO₂. Both processes aim to maximize oil yield, tocopherol content (α, β, γ, and δ), fatty acid profile (FA), and triacylglycerol (TAG) composition. Results show that SFE at 32 MPa achieves an 87.58% oil recovery, while PLE at 84 °C achieves 93.93%. PLE with ethanol extracts polar minority compounds along with the oil due to its higher temperature, favoring extraction. The total tocopherol content is 91.17 mg/100 g of oil in optimized SFE conditions, with α-tocopherol extraction influenced by temperature, γ and δ-tocopherol by pressure. PLE yields 83.16 mg/100 g of oil in tocopherols influenced less by process variables. The fatty acid (FA) profile do not vary in the oils obtained from different processes or based on the variables within each process, with linoleic and oleic acids being the most abundant. Similarly, triacylglycerols (TAGs) C54:5 and C54:6 are predominant. The optimization of SFE and PLE processes indicates a strong potential for using green solvents in the extraction of tocopherol-rich sunflower oil.