Taking a step back: How I got into research
Vinesh k -
Hi everyone! I wanted to take a step back this week from strictly discussing my research progress and talk about what drives me in research and sustainability in general.
My journey in sustainability started with a bald, charming man named Matt Ferrell. He’s a YouTuber focused on sustainable tech, and I remember falling in love with the crazy ideas (like batteries using liquid air: watch here) and sustainable materials like bioplastics (here’s one by a channel called DW Planet A: watch here). Watching these videos was really my start in sustainability, but what’s truly kept me going is how fascinating these frontier technologies can be.
I remember wanting to create my own bioplastic after watching that video by DW, which led me to develop a lychee-seed-based one that could replace bubble wrap. But I also learned that economics was just as important (shoutout to Mr. Thorson). The bioplastic I developed had limited applications because, frankly, it was too expensive. That’s when I realized the trifecta needed for a sustainable innovation to actually make an impact:
- Sustainability (of course)
- Scalability
- Affordability
Without these three, it’s unlikely a technology will drive meaningful change.
That’s where my interest in materials science comes into play. What I find fascinating about materials is how everything can change in an instant with the discovery of a new one. I’ve seen it firsthand: while researching sustainable cements at ASU’s Neithalath Lab of Sustainable Engineering, we turned toxic mining waste into a sustainable cement that could lower carbon emissions. That innovation had two of the three prongs — it was sustainable and scalable — but it simply wasn’t affordable.
That’s why I wanted to take a much closer look at affordability through my Senior Project. Working on atmospheric water capture materials is great, but if they’re too expensive to reach the people who need them most, the innovation will just stay on a lab bench. That’s why I decided to focus specifically on costs and explore how to minimize them — which, as I’m finding out, is no easy task.
Now, as far as research progress, I extended my model to include a different form factor of the material: powdered. (Essentially, surface area is really important for materials that capture things from air, so the materials were crushed into a fine powder to see if that improved the outcome. Interestingly enough, it didn’t.) And in my analysis, I found that activated alumina was again the more cost-effective sorbent!
Stay tuned for more updates, and comment if you want me to send over some YT channel recommendations!
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