Burned rice hulls could help batteries store more charge

New research finds hard carbon in rice hull ash, providing a cheap domestic source to replace graphite in batteries.

13-Dec-2024 - A closer inspection of ash from burned rice hulls, the hard outer layer of rice grains, revealed a form of carbon that could nearly double the energy density of typical lithium-ion or sodium-ion batteries. This sustainable source of 'hard' carbon, which outperforms ordinary graphite in battery ...

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 ...

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 ...

Freeze casting - a guide to creating hierarchically structured materials

Diverse applications not only in biomedicine, but also in engineering, from new catalysts to highly porous battery electrodes

30-Apr-2024 - Freeze casting is an elegant, cost-effective manufacturing technique to produce highly porous materials with custom-designed hierarchical architectures, well-defined pore orientation, and multifunctional surface structures. Freeze-cast materials are suitable for many applications, from ...

Template for success: Shaping hard carbon electrodes for next-generation batteries

Scientists use inorganic zinc-based compounds to vastly improve the capacity of sodium- and potassium-ion batteries

14-Nov-2023 - Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are, by far, the most widely used type of rechargeable batteries, spanning numerous applications. These include consumer electronics, electric vehicles (e.g., Tesla cars), renewable energy systems, and spacecrafts. Although LIBs deliver the best performance in many ...

Team finds major storage capacity in water-based batteries

This safer chemistry would also prevent battery fires

05-Apr-2023 - Researchers at Texas A&M University have discovered a 1,000% difference in the storage capacity of metal-free, water-based battery electrodes. These batteries are different from lithium-ion batteries that contain cobalt. The group's goal of researching metal-free batteries stems from having ...

Research examines keys to developing better batteries

“This study really sheds light on how we can design and manufacture battery electrodes to obtain a long cycle life for batteries”

03-May-2022 - It doesn’t come on fast. It may take weeks to notice. You have the newly recharged lithium-ion AA batteries in the wireless kitty water fountain, and they last two days. They once lasted a week or more. Another round of charging, and they last one day. Soon, nothing. You would be forgiven if you ...

Environmentally friendly manufacture of battery electrodes

New dry-coating process

03-Sep-2021 - Conventional processes for manufacturing battery electrodes involve mostly toxic solvents and require a lot of space and energy. This is not the case with DRYtraec® – a new dry-coating process developed by the Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS. The technology is ...

Economical energy storage for the electric car of tomorrow

Dry electrode coating technology allows environmentally friendly battery cell production

07-Jun-2019 - Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS in Dresden have developed a new production process with the aim of efficient and environmentally friendly future battery production. They coat the electrodes of the energy storage cells with a dry film instead of liquid ...

A computational method for designing a new type of 2D carbons

16-Aug-2018 - Zeolites are porous minerals that occur both naturally but also are being synthesized artificially. Because of their stability and durability, they are used in industrial water purification, catalysis, adsorption, and even in blood-clotting powders (e.g. QuickClot used by the US military). A ...