Bridging the best of both electrolyte worlds for a better lithium-ion battery

Researchers apply a ceramic conductor to a polymer electrolyte to increase conductivity

10-Nov-2023 - Lithium-ion batteries powered the device on which these words appear. From phones and laptops to electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries are critical to the technology of the modern world — but they can also explode. Comprising negatively and positively charged electrodes and an electrolyte to ...

When all details matter - Heat Transport in Energy Materials

Discovery could contribute to more energy-efficient technologies by allowing for the tailoring of nanoscale thermal insulators through defect engineering

12-Jun-2023 - Researchers at the NOMAD Laboratory at the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society have shed light of the microscopic mechanisms that determine thermal conduction in heat insulators. Through their computational research they have demonstrated that even short lived and microscopically ...

Novel nonwovens are electrically conductive but thermally insulating

High technological potential

06-Apr-2023 - Researchers at the University of Bayreuth present novel electrospun nonwovens in "Science Advances" that exhibit an unusual combination of high electrical conductivity and extremely low thermal conductivity. The nonwovens represent a breakthrough in materials research: it has been possible to ...

Accurate rapid tests made from smart graphene paper

The potential range of applications covers virtually all chemical, biological and medical analyses that can be performed in aqueous solutions

29-Mar-2023 - A team led by ETH Zurich chemical engineers Chih-​Jen Shih and Andrew deMello have developed a rapid test system made of smart graphene paper. It only costs a few cents per test strip, is easy to use but is as accurate as lab measurements. The approach will impact more than just disease ...

Tuning thermoelectric materials for efficient power generation

24-Mar-2023 - How to make energy conversion more efficient and use waste heat for electricity? Researchers of the Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung tuned the microstructure of thermoelectric materials by doping the grain boundaries with titanium. This way they were able to achieve optimal low thermal and ...

Novel porous materials are ideal for metal-air batteries

13-Mar-2023 - Sustainable energy solutions cannot be pulled out of thin air. However, combining air with metal and other frameworks may pave the way for environmentally friendly energy conversion and storage, according to a research team based in China. They published their review of novel porous materials — ...

An ultra-stable protein nanowire made by bacteria provides clues to combating climate change

07-Feb-2023 - Accelerated climate change is a major and acute threat to life on Earth. Rising temperatures are caused atmospheric methane which is 30-times more potent than CO2 at trapping heat. Microbes are responsible for generating half of this methane and elevated temperatures are also accelerating ...

Powered-up plastics

Sensors and orthoses are possible fields of application

23-Sep-2022 - Until now, it has not been possible to additively manufacture sensors and other electronic devices in a single operation. However, a research team from the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA has now succeeded in doing just that. The key to this achievement? ...

Light accelerates conductivity in nature’s ‘electric grid’

“It is a completely different form of photosynthesis”

09-Sep-2022 - The natural world possesses its own intrinsic electrical grid composed of a global web of tiny bacteria-generated nanowires in the soil and oceans that “breathe” by exhaling excess electrons. In a new study, Yale University researchers discovered that light is a surprising ally in fostering this ...

New magnesium superionic conductor towards lithium-free solid-state batteries

Scientists demonstrate for the first time a metal–organic framework-based magnesium ion conductor showing superionic conductivity even at room temperature

11-Aug-2022 - The development of highly efficient energy storage devices that can store renewable energy is crucial to a sustainable future. In today’s world, solid-state rechargeable lithium ion (Li+) batteries are the state of the art. But lithium is a rare earth metal, and society’s dependence on the ...