Experts from across the disciplines come together at new center to push the boundaries of smart robotics and AI

Inaugural summit that looks to the future of smart machines marks opening of new robotics center

Meeting Announcement

UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER

 

IMAGE: LIVING AND WORKING WITH SMART ROBOTS ... RESEARCHERS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER ARE LOOKING AT THE FUTURE OF HUMAN-ROBOT RELATIONSHIPS. view more 

CREDIT: MARKETING MANCHESTER

How humans and super smart robots will live and work together in the future will be among the key issues being scrutinised by experts at a new centre of excellence for AI and autonomous machines based at The University of Manchester.

The Manchester Centre for Robotics and AI will be a new specialist multi-disciplinary centre to explore developments in smart robotics through the lens of artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomous machinery.

The University of Manchester has built a modern reputation of excellence in AI and robotics, partly based on the legacy of pioneering thought leadership begun in this field in Manchester by legendary codebreaker Alan Turing.

Manchester’s new multi-disciplinary centre is home to world-leading research from across the academic disciplines – and this group will hold its first conference on Wednesday, Nov 23, at the University’s new engineering and materials facilities.

A  highlight will be a joint talk by robotics expert Dr Andy Weightman and theologian Dr Scott Midson which is expected to put a spotlight on ‘posthumanism’, a future world where humans won’t be the only highly intelligent decision-makers.

Dr Weightman, who researches home-based rehabilitation robotics for people with neurological impairment, and Dr Midson, who researches theological and philosophical critiques of posthumanism, will discuss how interdisciplinary research can help with the special challenges of rehabilitation robotics – and, ultimately, what it means to be human “in the face of the promises and challenges of human enhancement through robotic and autonomous machines”.

Other topics that the centre will have a focus on will include applications of robotics in extreme environments.

For the past decade, a specialist Manchester team led by Professor Barry Lennox has designed robots to work safely in nuclear decommissioning sites in the UK. A ground-breaking robot called Lyra that has been developed by Professor Lennox’s team - and recently deployed at the Dounreay site in Scotland, the “world’s deepest nuclear clean up site” – has been listed in Time Magazine’s Top 200 innovations of 2022.

Angelo Cangelosi, Professor of Machine Learning and Robotics at Manchester, said the University offers a world-leading position in the field of autonomous systems – a technology that will be an integral part of our future world. 

Professor Cangelosi, co-Director of Manchester’s Centre for Robotics and AI, said: “We are delighted to host our inaugural conference which will provide a special showcase for our diverse academic expertise to design robotics for a variety of real world applications.

"Our research and innovation team are at the interface between robotics, autonomy and AI – and their knowledge is drawn from across the University's disciplines, including biological and medical sciences – as well the humanities and even theology. 

“This rich diversity offers Manchester a distinctive approach to designing robots and autonomous systems for real world applications, especially when combined with our novel use of AI-based knowledge.”

Delegates will have a chance to observe a series of robots and autonomous machines being demoed at the new conference.

The University of Manchester’s Centre for Robotics and AI will aim to: 

• design control systems with a focus on bio-inspired solutions to mechatronics, eg the use of biomimetic sensors, actuators and robot platforms; 
• develop new software engineering and AI methodologies for verification in autonomous systems, with the aim to design trustworthy autonomous systems; 
• research human-robot interaction, with a pioneering focus on the use of brain-inspired approaches to robot control, learning and interaction; and 
• research the ethics and human-centred robotics issues, for the understanding of the impact of the use of robots and autonomous systems with individuals and society. 

Living and working with smart robots ... researchers at The University of Manchester are looking at the future of human-robot relationships.

CREDI

Marketing Manchester

Self-organization: What robotics can learn from amoebae

Peer-Reviewed Publication

LUDWIG-MAXIMILIANS-UNIVERSITÄT MÜNCHEN

LMU researchers have developed a new model to describe how biological or technical systems form complex structures without external guidance.

Amoebae are single-cell organisms. By means of self-organization, they can form complex structures – and do this purely through local interactions: If they have a lot of food, they disperse evenly through a culture medium. But if food becomes scarce, they emit the messenger known as cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP). This chemical signal induces amoebae to gather in one place and form a multicellular aggregation. The result is a fruiting body.

“The phenomenon is well known,” says Prof. Erwin Frey from LMU’s Faculty of Physics. “Before now, however, no research group has investigated how information processing, at a general level, affects the aggregation of systems of agents when individual agents – in our case, amoebae – are self-propelled.” More knowledge about these mechanisms would also be interesting, adds Frey, as regards translating them to artificial technical systems.

Together with other researchers, Frey describes in Nature Communications how active systems that process information in their environment can be used – for technological or biological applications. It is not about understanding all details of the communication between individual agents, but about the specific structures formed through self-organization. This applies to amoebae – and also to certain kinds of robots. The research was undertaken in collaboration with Prof. Igor Aronson during his stay at LMU as a Humboldt Research Award winner.

From biological mechanism to technological application

Background: The term “active matter” refers to biological or technical systems from which larger structures are formed by means of self-organization. Such processes are based upon exclusively local interactions between identical, self-propelled units, such as amoebae or indeed robots.

Inspired by biological systems, Frey and his co-authors propose a new model in which self-propelled agents communicate with each other. These agents recognize chemical, biological, or physical signals at a local level and make individual decisions using their internal machinery that result in collective self-organization. This orientation gives rise to larger structures, which can span multiple length scales.

The new paradigm of communicating active matter forms the basis of the study. Local decisions in response to a signal and the transmission of information, lead to collectively controlled self-organization.

Frey sees a possible application of the new model in soft robots – which is to say, robots that are made of soft materials. Such robots are suitable, for example, for performing tasks in human bodies. They can communicate with other soft robots via electromagnetic waves for purposes such as administering drugs at specific sites in the body. The new model can help nanotechnologists design such robot systems by describing the collective properties of robot swarms.

“It’s sufficient to roughly understand how individual agents communicate with each other; self-organization takes care of the rest,” says Frey. “This is a paradigm shift specifically in robotics, where researchers are attempting to do precisely the opposite – they want to obtain extremely high levels of control.” But that does not always succeed. “Our proposal, by contrast, is to exploit the capacity for self-organization.”

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JOURNAL

Nature Communications

DOI

10.1038/s41467-022-34484-2 

ARTICLE TITLE

Multi-scale organization in communicating active matter

FSU researchers find decrease in crucial trace element preceded ancient mass extinction

Peer-Reviewed Publication

FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: THE RESEARCH GROUP COLLECTING SAMPLES. view more 

CREDIT: PHOTO BY BEN GILL/VIRGINIA TECH

A decline in the element molybdenum across the planet’s oceans preceded a significant extinction event approximately 183 million years ago, new research from Florida State University shows.

The decrease may have contributed to the mass extinction, in which up to 90% of species in the oceans perished, and it suggests that much more organic carbon was buried in the extinction event than had been previously estimated. The work is published in AGU Advances.

“This research tells us more about what was happening with molybdenum during this extinction event, but we also take it a step further,” said Jeremy Owens, an associate professor in FSU’s Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science and a paper co-author. “Our findings help us understand how much carbon was cycling through the system, and it’s much larger than previously thought — potentially on the scale of modern atmospheric and oceanic increases due to human activities.”

Previous research showed decreases in molybdenum during the main phase of the ancient mass extinction, but it was unclear how widespread the decrease was, how early it started or how long it lasted.

To answer those questions, the researchers analyzed rocks from three sites in Alberta, Canada, which had been part of a massive ocean that surrounded the ancient continent of Pangea. Because the site was connected to that global ocean, the researchers were able to infer conditions across the entire globe, instead of only a single basin.

They found new estimates for the start and duration of the molybdenum drawdown and the initial phase of deoxygenation. Their research showed that the decrease preceded the start of the extinction by about one million years, and it lasted about two million years in total, which is much longer than scientists had previously estimated.

The decrease in molybdenum also implies a massive increase in organic carbon burial in the ocean that may have been several times larger than previous calculations. Those calculations were based on estimations of carbon dioxide released from volcanic activity, implying that carbon dioxide release from volcanoes was actually much higher, which would be necessary to balance global carbon reservoirs.

Just like 183 million years ago, more and more carbon dioxide is being added to the Earth system today, which could reduce marine trace metals such as molybdenum that many organisms rely on for survival as the oceans lose oxygen and bury more organic carbon. After the ancient extinction event, global conditions gradually became more hospitable to life, but that process took hundreds of thousands of years.

“The uniqueness of the study sites has allowed us to take a deep look into how the chemistry of the global ocean changed across millions of years, which reconciles much of the current scientific debates that are focused on the local versus global aspects of this time interval,” said Theodore Them, a former postdoctoral fellow at FSU who is now an assistant professor at the College of Charleston.

Researchers from the California Institute of Technology, Western Michigan University, the University of Utrecht, and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University were co-authors in this study.

This research was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, NASA, and the Sloan Foundation.

A fossilized ammonite found during fieldwork in Alberta, Canada.

CREDIT

Photo by Ben Gill/Virginia Tech

JOURNAL

AGU Advances

DOI

10.1029/2022AV000671 

ARTICLE TITLE

Reduced Marine Molybdenum Inventory Related to Enhanced Organic Carbon Burial and an Expansion of Reducing Environments in the Toarcian (Early Jurassic) Oceans

Using satellites for faster flood information

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND

 

IMAGE: FLOODING IN BRISBANE CITY. view more 

CREDIT: THE UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND

Researchers at The University of Queensland have used satellites with radar imaging sensors to see through clouds and map flooding and say the technique could provide faster, more detailed information to keep communities safe.

Professor Noam Levin from UQ’s School of Earth and Environmental Sciences said the project combined images from optical satellites with information from imaging radar satellites.

“Monitoring floods in towns and cities is challenging, with flood waters often rising and then receding in a few days,” Professor Levin said.

“While large satellites in the past provided images every 7-14 days, now groups of small satellites can collect several images a day over the same location.

“Radar imaging sensors can provide images at night or on days with thick cloud cover – a huge advantage in stormy conditions.

“They use a flash, like on a camera, and the light is sent at wavelengths between 1mm and 1.0m, which can pass through clouds and smoke.”

During Brisbane’s February 2022 floods, researchers combined satellite day-time pictures showing the extent of the flood with imaging radar and optical night-time data of the lights associated with human activity.

“We could see which areas became dark as the flood waters encroached,” Professor Levin said.

“We matched this with data from river gauges operated by the Bureau of Meteorology, and with changes in electricity loads reported by Energex, the power supplier.”

Professor Stuart Phinn said the technique could play a vital role in protecting Australians during future flooding events.

“In combination with existing flood monitoring and modelling technologies, satellites could change the way we monitor major flood events, understand how they occur, and direct emergency and other responses,” Professor Phinn said.

“With faster update times – at least twice a day – and more accurate and timely data, agencies monitoring the floods can assess changes and alert people in at-risk areas.

“This technique can also be used post-disaster to assess the extent of damage, direct recovery efforts and for the assessment of insurance claims.”

The team used optical satellites from Planet Inc. and from NASA’s VIIRS, as well as imaging radar satellites from Capella.

The research has been published in Remote Sensing.

Map of inundated western Brisbane suburbs on 28 February 2022 derived from PlanetScope (purple) and Capella (pink) satellite data.

CREDIT

The University of Queensland

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JOURNAL

Remote Sensing

DOI

10.3390/rs14195009 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Assessing the 2022 flood impacts in Queensland combining daytime and nighttime optical and imaging radar data

Most young people’s well-being falls sharply in first years of secondary school

Research based on data from 11,000 students in the UK charted an across-the-board fall in well-being, regardless of circumstances, between ages 11 and 14. This decline is probably linked to the transition to secondary school

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE

Most young people in the UK experience a sharp decline in their well-being during their first years at secondary school, regardless of their circumstances or background, new research shows.

Academics from the Universities of Cambridge and Manchester analysed the well-being and self-esteem of more than 11,000 young people from across the UK, using data collected when they were 11, and again when they were 14. The adolescents’ overall ‘subjective well-being’ – their satisfaction with different aspects of life (such as friends, school and family) – dropped significantly during the intervening years.

It is widely accepted that young people’s well-being and mental health are influenced by factors such as economic circumstances and family life. The research shows that notwithstanding this, well-being tends to fall steeply and across the board during early adolescence.

That decline is probably linked to the transition to secondary school at age 11. The study identified that the particular aspects of well-being which changed in early adolescence were typically related to school and peer relationships, suggesting a close connection with shifts in these young people’s academic and social lives.

In addition, students with higher self-esteem at age 11 experienced a less significant drop in well-being at age 14. This indicates that structured efforts to strengthen adolescents’ self-esteem, particularly during the first years of secondary school, could mitigate the likely downturn in well-being and life satisfaction.

Ioannis Katsantonis, a doctoral researcher at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, who led the study said: “Even though this was a large, diverse group of adolescents, we saw a consistent fall in well-being. One of the most striking aspects was the clear association with changes at school. It suggests we urgently need to do more to support students’ well-being at secondary schools across the UK.”

Ros McLellan, Associate Professor at the University of Cambridge, specialist in student well-being, and co-author, said: “The link between self-esteem and well-being seems especially important. Supporting students’ capacity to feel positive about themselves during early adolescence is not a fix-all solution, but it could be highly beneficial, given that we know their well-being is vulnerable.”

Globally, adolescent well-being is in decline. In the UK, the Children’s Society has shown that 12% of young people aged 10 to 17 have poor well-being. Dr Jose Marquez, a Research Associate at the Institute of Education, University of Manchester, and co-author, said: “Until now, we haven’t fully understood how universally poor well-being is experienced. The relationship between well-being and self-esteem has also been unclear.”

The researchers used data from the Millennium Cohort Study, which involves a nationally representative sample of people born between 2000 and 2002 and incorporates standard questionnaires about well-being and self-esteem. They then calculated a well-being ‘score’ for each student, balanced to control for other factors that influence well-being – such as economic advantage, bullying, and general feelings of safety.

While most adolescents were satisfied with life at age 11, the majority were extremely dissatisfied by age 14. By that age, the well-being scores of 79% of the participants fell below what had been the average score for the entire group three years earlier. “This is a statistically significant drop,” Katsantonis said. “It goes far beyond anything we would classify as moderate.”

The study also captured information about the adolescents’ satisfaction with specific aspects of their lives, such as schoolwork, personal appearance, family and friends. This suggested that the most dramatic downturns between 11 and 14 were probably related to school and relationships with peers.

Despite the overall fall, students with better well-being at age 14 tended to be those who had higher self-esteem at age 11. The pattern did not apply in reverse, however: better well-being at age 11 did not predict better self-esteem later. This implies a causal link in which self-esteem seems to protect adolescents from what would otherwise be sharper declines in well-being.

“Supporting self-esteem is not the only thing we need to do to improve young people’s well-being,” Katsantonis said. “It should never, for example, become an excuse not to tackle poverty or address bullying – but it can be used to improve young people’s life satisfaction at this critical stage.”

The researchers identify various ways in which schools could support this. At a basic level, Katsantonis suggested that celebrating students’ achievements, underlining the value of things they had done well, and avoiding negative comparisons with other students, could all help.

More strategically, the study suggests incorporating more features that promote self-esteem into England’s well-being curriculum, and stresses the need to ensure that similar efforts are made across the UK. Recent studies have, for example,  highlighted the potential benefits of mindfulness training in schools, and of ‘positive psychology’ initiatives which teach adolescents to set achievable personal goals, and to acknowledge and reflect on their own character strengths.

McLellan added: “It’s really important that this is sustained – it can’t just be a case of doing something once when students start secondary school, or implementing the odd practice here and there. A concerted effort to improve students’ sense of self-worth could have really positive results. Many good teachers are doing this already, but it is perhaps even more important than we thought.”

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JOURNAL

British Journal of Developmental Psychology

DOI

10.1111/bjdp.12436 

ARTICLE TITLE

Development of subjective well-being and its relationship with self-esteem in early adolescence

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

23-Nov-2022

Disclaimer: AAA

Oldest army ant ever discovered reveals iconic predator once raided Europe

A rare 35-million-year-old fossil army ant, discovered in a 100-year-old museum collection, uncovers previously unknown European relatives of the infamously voracious insect

Peer-Reviewed Publication

NEW JERSEY INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

 

IMAGE: RESEARCHERS AT NEW JERSEY INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY HAVE REPORTED THE DISCOVERY OF THE OLDEST ARMY ANT ON RECORD, PRESERVED IN BALTIC AMBER DATING TO THE EOCENE (~35 MILLION YEARS AGO). view more 

CREDIT: SOSIAK ET AL. 2022, MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY, HARVARD UNIVERSITY; ©PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE

Their nomadic lifestyle and ravenous raiding have taken army ants (Dorylinae) to most continents on Earth, but a rare fossil discovery is now offering first evidence that the infamous predators once swarmed a land they are strikingly absent from today — Europe.

In the journal Biology Letters, researchers at New Jersey Institute of Technology and Colorado State University have reported the discovery of the oldest army ant on record, preserved in Baltic amber dating to the Eocene (~35 million years ago).

The eyeless specimen Dissimulodorylus perseus (D. perseus) — named after the mythical Greek hero Perseus who famously defeated Medusa with the limited use of sight — marks just the second fossil army ant species ever described, and the first army ant fossil recovered from the Eastern Hemisphere.

Sized at roughly 3 millimeters in length, researchers say the ant fossil brings to light previously unknown army ant lineages that would have existed across Continental Europe before undergoing extinction in the past 50 million years.

Remarkably, the fossil had been kept in obscurity for nearly 100 years in the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University, before being identified by the paper’s lead author and NJIT Ph.D. candidate, Christine Sosiak.

“The museum houses hundreds of drawers full of insect fossils, but I happened to come across a tiny specimen labeled as a common type of ant while gathering data for another project,” said Sosiak. “Once I put the ant under the microscope, I immediately realized the label was inaccurate … I thought, this is something really different.”

“This amber would have been excavated around or before the 1930s, so to now learn it contained a rare army ant is surprising enough, much less one that demonstrates these ants roamed Europe,” said Phillip Barden, assistant professor of biology at NJIT and senior author of the paper. “From everything we know about army ants living today, there’s no hint of such extinct diversity. … With this fossil now out of obscurity, we’ve gained a rare paleontological porthole into the history of these unique predators.”

A Paleontological Porthole into a Unique Predator’s History

Today, there are about 270 army ant species living in the Eastern Hemisphere, and roughly 150 across North and South America.

Based on X-ray and CT-scan analysis of the fossil, the NJIT team gathered phylogenetic and morphological data that places D. perseus as a close relative to eyeless species of army ants currently found in Africa and Southern Asia, called Dorylus.

“At the time the fossil formed, Europe was hotter and wetter than it is today and may have provided an ideal habitat for ancient army ants,” said Barden. “Europe underwent several cooling cycles over tens of millions of years since the Eocene, however, which may have been inhospitable to these tropical-adapted species.”

The team’s analysis further revealed that the ant possessed an enlarged antibiotic gland, typically found in other army ants for sustaining life underground, suggesting the long-lost European army ant lineage was similarly suited to subterranean living.

It’s a factor Sosiak says makes this fossil, and other fossil army ants, a rarity. Only one definitive fossil had been recorded until now, unearthed from the Caribbean (16 ~Ma.).

“This was an incredibly lucky find. Because this ant was probably subterranean like most army ants today, it was much less likely to come into contact with tree resin that forms such fossils,” said Sosiak. “We have a very small window into the history of life on our planet, and unusual fossils such as this provide fresh insight.”

Sosiak says D. perseus’ anatomical traits — including its sharply pointed mandibles and lack of eyes — help classify the specimen as a worker ant in its colony, which would have been involved in carrying its queen’s larvae and raiding for food with soldier ants when it was alive.

“Army ant workers participate in raiding swarms, hunting other insects and even vertebrates. Because these army ants are blind, they use chemical communication to stay coordinated with one another to take down large prey,” explained Sosiak. “This worker may have strayed too far from its fellow hunters and into sticky tree resin, which eventually solidified and encased the ant as we see it today.”

Army ants’ distinct combination of behavior and traits is so unusual in the ant world, that it’s warranted its own name — army ant syndrome.

In contrast with other ant lineages, army ants have wingless queens capable of laying millions of eggs a day, while their nomadic colonies temporarily occupy nests between phases of travel that take the shape of bivouacs, sometimes involving millions of ants stretching for 100m.

The carnivores are perhaps best known for their highly coordinated foraging that can involve consuming upwards of 500,000 prey a day.

Barden says army ant syndrome is a case of convergent evolution that would have occurred twice — once in the Neotropics and once in the Afrotropics.

“The discovery is the first physical evidence of the army ant syndrome in the Eocene, establishing that hallmarks of these specialized predators were in place even before the ancestors of certain army ants like Dorylus,” said Barden.

For now, the newly identified fossil joins just eight fossil species within the ant subfamily that army ants belong to, called Dorylinae — five from Dominican amber (16 ~Ma.), and three species known from Baltic amber (34 ~Ma.).

D. perseus will remain deposited at the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University for future study.

Reconstruction of D. perseus from NJIT’s Barden Lab shows anatomical similarities with certain army ants alive today.

CREDIT

Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University; ©President and Fellows of Harvard College

Sosiak CE, Borowiec ML, Barden P. 2022 An Eocene army ant. Biol. Lett.

https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2022.0398

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JOURNAL

Biology Letters

DOI

10.1098/rsbl.2022.0398 

NTU Singapore scientists convert waste paper into battery parts for smartphones and electric vehicles

Peer-Reviewed Publication

NANYANG TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: ASSISTANT PROFESSOR LAI CHANGQUAN, FROM NTU’S SCHOOL OF MECHANICAL & AEROSPACE ENGINEERING, THE LEAD SCIENTIST THAT DEVELOPED THE TECHNIQUE TO CREATE ANODES FROM WASTE PAPER. view more 

CREDIT: NTU SINGAPORE

Scientists from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) have developed a technique to convert waste paper, from single-use packaging and bags, and cardboard boxes, into a crucial component of lithium-ion batteries.

 

Through a process called carbonisation which converts paper into pure carbon, the NTU researchers turned the paper’s fibres into electrodes, which can be made into rechargeable batteries that power mobile phones, medical equipment, and electric vehicles.

 

To carbonise the paper, the team exposed the paper to high temperatures, which reduces it to pure carbon, water vapour and oils that can be used for biofuel. As carbonisation takes place in the absence of oxygen, this emits negligible amounts of carbon dioxide, and the process is a greener alternative to disposing of kraft paper through incineration, producing large amounts of greenhouse gasses.

 

The carbon anodes produced by the research team also demonstrated superior durability, flexibility, and electrochemical properties. Laboratory tests showed that the anodes could be charged and discharged up to 1,200 times, which is at least twice as durable as anodes in current phone batteries. The batteries that use the NTU-made anodes could also withstand more physical stress than their counterparts, absorbing crushing energy up to five times better.

 

The NTU-developed method also uses less energy-intensive processes and heavy metals compared to current industrial methods of manufacturing battery anodes. As the anode is worth 10 per cent to 15 per cent of the total cost of a lithium-ion battery[1], this latest method, which uses a low-cost waste material, is expected to also bring down the cost of manufacturing them.

 

The findings were published in the scientific peer-reviewed journal Additive Manufacturing in October.

Using waste paper as the raw material to produce battery anodes would also ease our reliance on conventional sources for carbon, such as carbonaceous fillers and carbon-yielding binders, which are mined and later processed with harsh chemicals and machinery.

 

Paper waste, which comprises disposed paper bags cardboard, newspaper, and other paper packaging, accounted for nearly a fifth of the waste generated in Singapore in 2020[2].

 

Kraft paper bags, which make up the bulk of Singapore’s paper waste, were also found to have large environmental footprints compared to their counterparts made of cotton and plastic, due to their greater contribution to global warming when incinerated and the eco-toxicity potential in producing them, a separate 2020 NTU study[3] found.

 

The current innovation which presents an opportunity to upcycle waste products and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, accelerating our transition towards a circular economy, green materials, and clean energy, reflects NTU's commitment to mitigate our impact on the environment, which is one of four humanity’s grand challenges that the University seeks to address through its NTU 2025 strategic plan.

 

Assistant Professor Lai Changquan, from NTU’s School of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, who led the project, said: “Paper is used in many facets in our daily lives, from gift wrapping and arts and crafts, to a myriad of industrial uses, such as heavy-duty packaging, protective wrapping, and the filling of voids in construction. However, little is done to manage it when it is disposed of, besides incineration, which generates high levels of carbon emissions due to their composition. Our method to give kraft paper another lease of life, funnelling it into the growing need for devices such as electric vehicles and smartphones, would not only help cut down on carbon emissions but would also ease the reliance on mining and heavy industrial methods.”

 

The research team has filed for a patent with NTUitive, NTU’s innovation and enterprise company. They are also working towards commercialising their invention.

The recipe for greener battery parts

To produce the carbon anodes, the NTU researchers joined and laser cut several thin sheets of kraft paper to form different lattice geometries, some resembling a spikey piñata (see Figure 1). The paper was then heated to 1200°C in a furnace without the presence of oxygen, to convert it into carbon, forming the anodes.

The NTU team attributes the anode’s superior durability, flexibility, and electrochemical properties to the arrangement of the paper fibres. They said the combination of strength and mechanical toughness shown by the NTU-made anodes would allow batteries of phones, laptops and automobiles to better withstand shocks from falls and crashes.

 

Current lithium battery technology relies on internal carbon electrodes that gradually crack and crumble after physical shocks from being dropped, which is one of the main reasons why battery life gets shorter with time.

 

The researchers say that their anodes, which are hardier than current electrodes used in batteries, would help address this problem and extend the life of batteries in a wide array of uses, from electronics to electric vehicles.

 

Co-author of the study Mr Lim Guo Yao, a research engineer from NTU’s School of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, said: “Our anodes displayed a combination of strengths, such as durability, shock absorption, electrical conductivity, which are not found in current materials. These structural and functional properties demonstrate that our kraft paper-based anodes are a sustainable and scalable alternative to current carbon materials, and would find economic value in demanding, high-end, multifunctional applications, such as the nascent field of structural batteries.”

 

Asst Prof Lai added: “Our method converts a common and ubiquitous material – paper – into another that is extremely durable and in high demand. We hope that our anodes will serve the world’s quickly growing need for a sustainable and greener material for batteries, whose manufacturing and improper waste management have shown to have a negative impact on our environment.”

 

Highlighting the significance of the work done by the NTU research team, Professor Juan Hinestroza from the Department of Human Centered Design of Cornell University, US, who was not involved in the research, said: “As kraft paper is produced in very large quantities and disposed likewise all over the world, I believe that the creative approach pioneered by the researchers at NTU Singapore has a great potential for impact at a global scale. Any discovery that will allow the use of waste as a raw material for high-value products like electrodes and foams is indeed a great contribution. I think that this work may open a new avenue and motivate other researchers to find pathways for the transformation of other cellulose-based substrates, such as textiles and packaging materials, which are being discarded in large quantities all over the globe.”

 

The NTU team will be conducting further research to improve the energy storage capacity of their material and minimise the heat energy required to convert the paper into carbon.

 

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Figure 1: Illustration of the process to convert kraft paper into anodes, developed by NTU Singapore. The structures were turned into carbon anodes at high temperatures in a subsequent step.

 

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[1] Lux Research. Li-ion Battery Innovation Roadmap (2019).

[2] Singapore National Environmental Agency. Reduction In Overall Waste Generation In 2020, With Less Waste Sent To Semakau Landfill (2021).

[3] Nanyang Technological University. NTU Singapore scientists report that plastic bags could be 'ecofriendlier' than paper and cotton bags in cities like Singapore (2020).

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JOURNAL

Additive Manufacturing

DOI

10.1016/j.addma.2022.102992 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

ARTICLE TITLE

Exceptional energy absorption characteristics and compressive resilience of functional carbon foams scalably and sustainably derived from additively manufactured kraft paper