Researchers unlock the “silicate magic” for safer, cheaper, and more efficient batteries

Xiaowei Teng leads team eyeing new way of using iron to create high-performance energy storage

22-Oct-2024 - The world is rapidly transitioning to renewable power, but there are shortcomings. Solar power falls at night, and wind power recedes and ascends irregularly. New technologies need to be developed that can store energy from the electrical grid when there’s a surplus and deploy it when there’s not ...

Bee-friendly protection for plants

New types of sensors could help to develop plant protection products that are safe for bees

17-Oct-2024 - The increasing global demand for plant-based foods makes the use of pesticides necessary in order to protect crops from pests and ensure crop yields. However, there is one major disadvantage: among others, the widespread use of pesticides has led to a considerable reduction in insect populations ...

A quick and easy way to produce anode materials for sodium-ion batteries using microwaves

17-Oct-2024 - The research team led by Dr. Daeho Kim and Dr. Jong Hwan Park at the Nano Hybrid Technology Research Center of the Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute (KERI) has developed a groundbreaking process technology that enables for ultrafast, 30-second preparation of hard carbon anodes for ...

Bubble findings could unlock better electrode and electrolyzer designs

A new study of bubbles on electrode surfaces could help improve the efficiency of electrochemical processes that produce fuels, chemicals, and materials

14-Oct-2024 - Industrial electrochemical processes that use electrodes to produce fuels and chemical products are hampered by the formation of bubbles that block parts of the electrode surface, reducing the area available for the active reaction. Such blockage reduces the performance of the electrodes by ...

A surprising way to jump-start battery performance

First charge determines lifespan of lithium-ion batteries

03-Sep-2024 - A lithium-ion battery’s very first charge is more momentous than it sounds. It determines how well and how long the battery will work from then on – in particular, how many cycles of charging and discharging it can handle before deteriorating. In a study published inJoule, researchers at the ...

Soft gold enables connections between nerves and electronics

13-Aug-2024 - Gold does not readily lend itself to being turned into long, thin threads. But researchers at Linköping University in Sweden have now managed to create gold nanowires and develop soft electrodes that can be connected to the nervous system. The electrodes are soft as nerves, stretchable and ...

From waste to value: The right electrolytes can enhance glycerol oxidation

"Our research could help to convert biomass by-products into valuable chemicals more efficiently"

03-Jul-2024 - When biomass is converted into biodiesel, huge amounts of glycerol are produced as a by-product. So far, however, this by-product has been little utilised, even though it could be processed into more valuable chemicals through oxidation in photoelectrochemical reactors. The reason for this: low ...

Why do just one experiment at a time when you can do ten?

Synthetic fuels and chemicals from CO₂: Ten experiments in parallel

28-Jun-2024 - Empa researchers have developed an automated system, which allows them to research catalysts, electrodes, and reaction conditions for CO₂ electrolysis up to ten times faster. The system is complemented by an open-source software for data analysis. If you mix fossil fuel with a little oxygen and ...

MXenes for energy storage: Chemical imaging more than just surface deep

19-Jun-2024 - A new method in spectromicroscopy significantly improves the study of chemical reactions at the nanoscale, both on surfaces and inside layered materials. Scanning X-ray microscopy (SXM) at MAXYMUS beamline of BESSY II enables the investigation of chemical species adsorbed on the top layer ...

Scientists convert chicken fat into energy storage devices

Cost-effective method for converting waste chicken fat into electrically conductive nanostructures

14-May-2024 - The global move toward more sustainable, green energy has increased power reserves and the demand for energy storage devices. Unfortunately, some materials for these devices can be expensive and environmentally problematic. Producing alternative energy storage devices from things that are usually ...