An article features Rice research that determined that polyethylene glycol and graphene quantum dots from common coal are just as effective at halting damage from superoxide and hydrogen peroxides as materials studied in 2013. James Tour, the T.T. and W.F. Chao Chair in Chemistry and a professor of computer science and of materials science and nanoengineering, is quoted and pictured.

Coal used for power generation presents some pretty damning statistics. It accounted for about 67.9 percent of carbon dioxide emissions in the United States electricity sector even though it only generated 31.2 percent of electricity in 2017. Air pollution from burning coal contributes to respiratory, cardiovascular, and neurological health effects, among others.

Despite promises by political entities to save coal, saving coal as an energy source appears unlikely. Coal power projects are declining in the U.S. and around the world as renewables gain traction (renewables even surpassed coal in U.S. electricity generation for the first time this April).

The American Ceramic Society

Link to article.