Turning CO₂ into value: design strategies for highly efficient catalysts

Hydrolysate from leather tanning waste as clay modifier for pig manure treatment

The heavy metals pollution from agricultural waste is a significant concern. Among these, zinc and copper are prevalent pollutants that can be found in pig manure. The application of sorbents has emerged as a pivotal strategy for the effective removal of these pollutants from manure. One of the most well-known and widely used sorbents are clays and organoclays. In this work, both pristine Ca-montmorillonite (STx) and protein-functionalized Ca-montmorillonite (STx-HY) are tested as sorbents fo...

Ice sliding on nanoscale-smooth surfaces and the role of the quasi-liquid layer

Understanding ice adhesion and detachment from solid surfaces is essential for the rational design of effective icephobic coatings. In this study, we present a peculiar regime of ice sliding on surfaces with a roughness in the nanometer range, demonstrating that sliding can be consistently observed on various surfaces, including glass and polysaccharide-based monolayer coatings. Such sliding can be interpreted as the macroscopic manifestation of an interfacial layer, often referred to as quas...

My avatar moves with me, so I am the one acting: Avatar responsiveness supports implicit sense of agency in virtual reality

Virtual reality (VR) allows users to interact with computer-generated environments in a controlled yet immersive manner. One of its most relevant features is its ability to induce virtual embodiment, the process of becoming rooted in a virtual body. A key component of this experience is the sense of agency over the action-outcomes produced in the virtual environment. However, to date, no study has jointly examined explicit and implicit senses of agency within a VR paradigm in which actions le...