Discover the innovations undergoing research, development and testing at NTU research centres
NTU has several research centres focusing on environmental sustainability. This includes the Earth Observatory of Singapore (EOS), Energy Research Institute @NTU (ERI@N), Nanyang Environment & Water Research Institute (NEWRI), Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering (SCELSE), Singapore CEA Alliance for Research in Circular Economy (SCARCE), Future Ready Food Safety Hub (FRESH@NTU), Institute for Digital Molecular Analytics & Science (IDMxS), NTU Integrated Medical, Biological & Environmental Life Sciences (NIMBELS) and a Sustainable Learning Lab located in the National Institute of Education.
Earth Observatory of Singapore (EOS)
The Earth Observatory of Singapore conducts fundamental research on earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis and climate change in and around Southeast Asia, toward safer and more sustainable societies. EOS aims to help build the social compact for Singapore to tackle the challenges of climate change and sustainability, which is central to the major Green Plan policy priority of the Government.
The Institute integrates research across NTU in the context of the energy challenge, and then helps translate outcomes into industry and practice. ERI@N's research focuses on a host of
Interdisciplinary Research Programmes, Flagship Programmes, Consortium Platform and an Accelerator Programme that covers the energy value chain from generation to innovative end-use solutions, motivated by industrialisation and deployment.
Singapore CEA Alliance for Research in Circular Economy (SCARCE)
A joint laboratory between NTU Singapore and the French Alternative
Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA). The joint venture will synergize the expertise of researchers from Singapore and France to address the recycling and recovery of materials from electrical and electronic waste (e-waste), such as discarded lithium-ion
batteries and printed circuit boards. In addition, the laboratory will explore advanced separation and extraction processes of e-waste which are less energy intensive and toxic as compared to current practices. The overall aim is to develop innovative
and energy efficient solutions to recycle and recover e-waste.
Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering (SCELSE)
Hosted by NTU in partnership with NUS, SCELSE is linking new insights from the life sciences with expertise from the emerging technologies in engineering and natural sciences to understand, harness and control microbial biofilm communities and microbiomes. The exploratory power available to SCELSE researchers, from laboratory-scale to full-scale environmental, medical and engineered systems, combined with an unrivalled level of interdisciplinary expertise places SCELSE in a unique position, to deliver a comprehensive understanding of all aspects of a microbial system.
Future Ready Food Safety Hub (FRESH@NTU)
Set up as a national research platform under the Singapore Food Story R&D agenda, the Future Ready Food Safety Hub (FRESH) provides expert counsel and food safety research services to public and private organisations working to bring novel foods to Singapore. Leveraging our expertise in food toxicology and risk assessment science we help ensure that foods, even those without prior history of safe consumption, can be safely eaten.
Institute for Digital Molecular Analytics and Science (IDMxS)
The Institute for Digital Molecular Analytics and Science (IDMxS), is a Research Centre of Excellence (RCE) at NTU. IDMxS is an organised effort focused on interfacing the biological and living world with the world of information technology and data science.
NTU Integrated Medical, Biological & Environmental Life Sciences (NIMBELS)
NTU Integrated Medical, Biological & Environmental Life Sciences (NIMBELS) is a university-level strategic venture that brings various NTU entities together and collaborate on initiatives to promote synergistic and interdisciplinary partnerships that are critical to addressing many of today’s health and environmental challenges.
Sustainability Learning Lab (SLL) at NIE
The Sustainability Learning Lab (SLL) is a formal center of excellence situated within the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University. Set against a backdrop of rapid climate change, widespread ecological degradation, and uneven development, sustainability is one of humanity’s grand challenges. The inception of SLL is driven by the collective aspiration of our research and teaching community to cultivate sustainability knowledge as well as foster adaptable and inclusive shared futures.
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Research News
Making e-waste plastic reuse greener
Electronics is one of the largest contributors to plastic waste. Plastics from electronic waste (e-waste) pose an environmental hazard if not disposed of properly as they often contain toxic chemical additives.
One such contaminant is brominated flame retardants (BFRs) that make e-waste plastics fire-proof. These compounds leach out of the plastic into the environment when e-waste plastics are discarded. Heating the plastic during recycling also releases the toxic compounds.
Now, NTU scientists led by Assoc Prof Lee Jong-Min of NTU’s School of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology have come up with a way to make e-waste plastic recycling safer. Using a mixture of 1-propanol and heptane, they dissolved and removed BFRs from acrylonitrile butadiene styrene – a type of plastic commonly used in the casings of keyboards and laptops.
The solvents dissolved only the BFRs, enabling the researchers to recover over 80% of the plastic after removing the BFRs. The properties of the plastic were also unchanged.
The researchers hope that their method will facilitate the recovery of clean plastic and increase the recycling of e-waste plastic.
The findings were published in “Enhanced extraction of brominated flame retardants from e-waste plastics” in Chemical Engineering Journal(2023), DOI: 10.1016/j.cej.2023.144126.
The article appeared first in NTU's research and innovation magazine Pushing Frontiers (issue #24, October 2024).
- Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
- Engineering & Technology
- Discoveries
- Recycling
- Sustainability
