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Funding: The work was partially funded by the FCT (Grant FRH/BD/82696/2011) with National (OE) and European Union (FEDER, program COMPETE of QREN) funds. The authors are also grateful to Junta de Extremadura and FEDER (Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional "Una manera de hacer Europa"), for financial help by project IB16108, and also to the program "Ayudas a grupos de la Junta de Extremadura" GR18150. Acknowledgments: The authors are grateful for the SAIUEX (Servicios de Apoyo a la Investigación de la Universidad de Extremadura) for their help in textural and surface chemistry analysis of the hydrochars. ; The aim of this work was to test activated carbons derived from hydrochars produced from sunflower stem, olive stone and walnut shells, as adsorbents for emerging contaminants in aqueous solution, namely fluoxetine and nicotinic acid. The adsorption capacity was determined by the chemical nature of the adsorbents, namely the presence of specific functional groups and their positive or negative ionization in aqueous solutions and also by steric factors. The activated carbons produced by air showed a higher adsorption capacity of fluoxetine, whilst the samples produced by carbon dioxide activation were more useful to remove nicotinic acid. In general, surface acidity was advantageous for fluoxetine adsorption and detrimental for nicotinic acid removal. The adsorption mechanisms involved in each case were discussed and related to the adsorbents characteristics. The maximum adsorption capacity, Q0, given by the Langmuir model was 44.1 and 91.9 mg g-1 for fluoxetine and nicotinic acid adsorption, respectively. ; publishersversion ; published

Valuing diversity leads to scientific excellence, the progress of science and most importantly, it is simply the right thing to do. We can value diversity not only in words, but also in actions. From the structure of DNA,1 to computer science,2 and space-station batteries,3 several key scientific discoveries that enhance our lives today, were made by marginalized scientists. These three scientists, Rosalind E. Franklin, Alan M. Turing and Olga D. González-Sanabria, did not conform to the cultural expectations of how scientists should look and behave. Unfortunately, marginalized scientists are often viewed as just a resource rather than the lifeblood that constitutes science itself. We need to embrace scientists from all walks of life and corners of the globe; this will also mean that nobody is excluded from tackling the life-threatening societal challenges that lie ahead. An awareness of science policy is essential to safeguarding our future. Science policy deals with creating the framework and codes of conduct that determine how science can best serve society.4-6 Discussions around science policy are often accompanied by anecdotes of "good" and "bad" practices regarding the merits of diversity and inclusion. Excellence and truth, which flow inexorably from diversity and inclusion, are the bedrocks upon which science should influence political and economic outcomes. A vital area of science policy is to support the professional development of marginalized scientists, an objective that must be acted upon by scientific leaders and communicators.

Batteries that extend performance beyond the intrinsic limits of Li-ion batteries are among the most important developments required to continue the revolution promised by electrochemical devices. Of these next-generation batteries, lithium sulfur (Li–S) chemistry is among the most commercially mature, with cells offering a substantial increase in gravimetric energy density, reduced costs and improved safety prospects. However, there remain outstanding issues to advance the commercial prospects of the technology and benefit from the economies of scale felt by Li-ion cells, including improving both the rate performance and longevity of cells. To address these challenges, the Faraday Institution, the UK's independent institute for electrochemical energy storage science and technology, launched the Lithium Sulfur Technology Accelerator (LiSTAR) programme in October 2019. This Roadmap, authored by researchers and partners of the LiSTAR programme, is intended to highlight the outstanding issues that must be addressed and provide an insight into the pathways towards solving them adopted by the LiSTAR consortium. In compiling this Roadmap we hope to aid the development of the wider Li–S research community, providing a guide for academia, industry, government and funding agencies in this important and rapidly developing research space.