Pitt researchers aim to reduce annual diesel fuel consumption of Port Authority buses by 800,000 gallons with thermoelectric devices inside exhaust pipes that will recover waste heat to produce electricity to power the buses' electrical systems, reducing carbon-based fuel consumption by reusing a by-product of carbon-based fuel. Co-PIs on the project are Matthew Barry, assistant professor in Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science (MEMS), and Shervin Sammak, research assistant professor in MEMS and a Pitt CRC consultant. At left, Sammak points out the exhaust pipes located on the top of the bus. Below, Sammak and Barry discuss mass transit, bus exhaust and waste heat with Andrew Lukaszewicz,  PAT interim director of rail service delivery.

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This simulation was chosen for the cover of the September 2018 issue of the Royal Society of Chemistry journal Catalysis Science & Technology, accompanying the paper "The effect of topology in Lewis pair functionalized metal organic frameworks on CO₂ adsorption and hydrogenation" by Pitt CRC associate director J. Karl Johnson, PhD, with co-authors Jingyun Ye and Lin Li.

Dr. Johnson, associate director at Pitt CRC and William Kepler Whiteford Professor in the Department of Chemical & Petroleum Engineering, explains the research. "We are identifying the potential of two metal organic frameworks (MOFs) - compounds of metal ions grouped in clusters. These compounds have the potential to be used for both CO₂ capture from exhaust gas, and for catalytic conversion of CO₂ into valuable chemicals."

Left: Design of a nano-material capable of separating CO₂ (in red and gray) from N₂ molecules (blue) and also capable of causing a catalytic reaction of CO₂ with hydrogen molecules  to produce formic acid, a valuable precursor molecule for synthesis of fuels.

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"Stepping toward a Smaller Carbon Footprint."

With CRC support, James Pipas and Paul Cantalupo analyze virus genomes found in mosquitoes - and in the blood meal mosquitoes draw from their prey. The mosquitoes are located, trapped, and identified using advanced drones and robotic traps in Texas, the Caribbean island of Grenada, and Tanzania. It is all part of Project Premonition, a global effort led by Microsoft Research to identify existing and emerging viruses. 

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