From 7th to 10th September, the highly anticipated 17th Pujiang Innovation Forum 2024 was grandly held in Shanghai. The Pujiang Innovation Forum is an international, high-level science and technology innovation forum hosted by the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China and the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government. This year’s forum, themed "Sharing Innovation and Shaping the Future: Towards an Open Environment for Scientific and Technological Innovation", attracted more than 400 experts, scholars and industry leaders, with approximately 40% being international guests. The Forum also published more than 4000 project requests related to research and knowledge exchanges.

The Nottingham Ningbo China Beacons of Excellence Research and Innovation Institute (hereinafter referred to as "the China Beacons Institute") was invited to participate in the forum. Through expert presentations, product and technology exhibitions, and video showcases, the China Beacons Institute displayed its cutting-edge research achievements in the fields of Intelligent Manufacturing, Green Chemicals and Energy, Life Science and Healthcare.

Unleashing new energy potential, creating a cleaner planet

Today, sustainable development drives continuous technological innovation. Several scientists from the China Beacons Institute specialising in Green Chemicals and Energy showcased cutting-edge achievements in renewable energy, energy storage, and green chemical processes from various perspectives. They also explored the possibilities of cross-border and cross-disciplinary collaborations to jointly create a sustainable future.

Dr Nicholas Musyoka, Associate Professor of Renewable Energy and Energy Storage and the “World’s Top 2% Scientists”, delivered a keynote speech titled "Africa: A Renewable Energy Hub – Potential, Challenges, and Global Co-innovation Opportunities" at the sub-forum themed on “Innovation without Borders Global Co-Innovation” of Youth Hub. He introduced Africa's abundant renewable energy resources, including solar, wind, hydropower, geothermal, and biomass, highlighting their regional distribution, development potential, and economic value. Dr Nicholas Musyoka also mentioned that the hydrogen economy holds great potential. Exporting green hydrogen and other Powerfuels (Power-to-X）products could create new economic growth opportunities for society.

He also highlighted the importance of international cooperation in driving a green future. "Currently, Africa's renewable energy development faces challenges such as technological development and economic costs, and global cooperation is crucial for its energy transition," he added. Dr Nicholas Musyoka called on governments, businesses, research institutions, and all sectors of society to strengthen collaboration through technical cooperation, capacity building, joint financing, business incubation, and policy development, to collectively advance Africa's clean energy transition.

Assistant Professor of Renewable and Energy Storage, Paulo Debiagi introduced the achievements of project “Clean Circles” on iron as a fuel in in transforming coal-fired power plants with the aim of achieving zero-carbon power generation. Dr Paulo Debiagi pointed out: “Based on mature dry metal cycle technology, existing coal-fired power plants can be converted into iron-burning power plants. This not only addresses the issue of electricity instability caused by seasonal and natural conditions in renewable energies like wind and solar power, but also reduces or even replaces the use of coal fuel through plant conversion.” This research undoubtedly provides new ideas for energy transition.

In the field of battery material innovation, Muhammad Sajjad, Assistant Professor of Renewable Energy and Energy Storage and the “World’s Top 2% Scientists”, demonstrated the potential of holey graphyne as anode materials for lithium-ion and sodium-ion batteries. This material shows higher lithium and sodium storage capacities compared to traditional graphite anodes, while also exhibiting lower volumetric expansion, ensuring battery cycle life and safety. Additionally, the migration energy barriers for lithium and sodium ions in holey graphyne are lower than those in conventional commercial anode materials, further proving its excellent charge and discharge performance and providing a reference for developing new high-performance battery materials.

In the field of lake management, Assistant Professor of Chemical Processes and Process Intensification, Fathima Jerosha Ifthikar Ahmed, shared a technique for mitigating lake eutrophication. It is well known that agricultural pollution and industrial discharges undoubtedly exacerbate the problem of lake eutrophication. Dr Jerosha utilised layered rare earth hydroxides (LRH) through mechanisms of ion exchange, ligand exchange, and co-precipitation to effectively remove phosphates from water and suppress the attenuation effects caused by sediments and humic acids. This provides an efficient, stable, and reusable new method for lake management and sustainable development.

In recent years, antibiotic resistance has posed a significant challenge to global public health. With the increasing number of resistant bacterial strains, the search for alternative therapies has become particularly urgent. Dr Jodi Woan-Fei Law, Assistant Professor of Life Science and Healthcare, shared her team's exploration of microbial drugs from the Streptomyces genus. The researchers isolated several new Streptomyces species from remote mangroves, exploring their antimicrobial, anticancer, and antioxidant properties to address antimicrobial resistance and other medical challenges. For example, she and her team discovered Streptomyces MUM178J and developed a probiotic specifically for aquatic animals using this strain, which enhances their immune systems and significantly reduces the likelihood of aquatic animals carrying Vibrio parahaemolyticus.

Noteworthy, the advancements in medical technologies have underscored the critical need for efficient and accurate biomarker detection.Dr Imran Mahmood Khan, Assistant Professor of Smart Food, presented a new nanocomplex for detecting vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). This research employs the Plasmonic Enhanced Luminescence Conjugate (PELC) technology and optimised base pairing to significantly boost the upconversion luminescence signal, enhancing both the stability and specificity of VEGF detection. This nanocomplex promises as a sensitive, rapid, and cost-effective platform for VEGF detection, offering significant potential for the early diagnosis, prognosis, and therapeutic monitoring of various diseases.

In addition to Green Chemicals and Energy and Life Science and Healthcare, Dr Yi Nie, Assistant Professor of Intelligent Manufacturing, has researched and produced a series of finely structured, multifunctional metal 3D printed products. These metal components are low in density and lightweight, with excellent mechanical properties such as strength and hardness. They offer functions like damping and shock absorption, energy buffering, as well as thermal and magnetic insulation. These products have broad applications in aerospace, energy, and biomedical fields, highlighting the potential of metal 3D printing in driving the development of Industry 4.0.

Looking ahead, the China Beacons Institute will continue to uphold the philosophy of excellence and innovation, leveraging the international scientific and technological resources of the University of Nottingham. It will deepen industry-academia-research collaboration, promote the transformation and application of more scientific and technological achievements, and empower global technological innovation and high-quality development.

(All pictures are from Pujiang Innovation Forum.)