Flexible polymers made with a new generation of the Nobel-winning “click chemistry” reaction find use in capacitors and other applications

17-Feb-2023

Society’s growing demand for high-voltage electrical technologies – including pulsed power systems, cars and electrified aircraft, and renewable energy applications – requires a new generation of capacitors that store and deliver large amounts of energy under intense thermal and electrical ...

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Recycling strategy could keep lead out of landfills and give used car batteries a second life in high-tech equipment

16-Feb-2023

As lithium-ion batteries continue to decrease in price, they are quickly replacing the lead-acid batteries traditionally used in cars and other vehicles. This is creating a sudden abundance of used lead acid batteries, which would be harmful to the environment and people if not recycled properly. ...

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Single crystal growth method discovered to be effective in controlling orientation

16-Feb-2023

A new method to grow single crystals and simultaneously control their growth orientation without melt processing has been discovered by Texas A&M University materials science and engineering doctoral graduate Dr. Hande Ozcan and Dr. Ibrahim Karaman, department head and Chevron Professor. The ...

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15-Feb-2023

A new type of solar technology has seemed promising in recent years. Halide perovskite solar cells are both high performing and low cost for producing electrical energy – two necessary ingredients for any successful solar technology of the future. But new solar cell materials should also match ...

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By growing uniform lithium crystals on a surprising surface, engineers open a new door to fast-charging lithium-metal batteries

15-Feb-2023

In a new Nature Energy paper, engineers report progress toward lithium-metal batteries that charge fast – as fast as an hour. This fast charging is thanks to lithium metal crystals that can be seeded and grown – quickly and uniformly – on a surprising surface. The trick is to use a crystal ...

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Further optimize battery design, with the potential to transform electrifying transportation

13-Feb-2023

Mohammad Asadi, assistant professor of chemical engineering at Illinois Institute of Technology, has publisheda paper in the journalSciencedescribing the chemistry behind his novel lithium-air battery design. The insights will allow him to further optimize the battery design, with the ...

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"This technique opens the door, so to speak, for lithium ions, so it enhances the current capacity"

10-Feb-2023

A new North Carolina State University study, performed in collaboration with battery testing researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, shows that extremely short pulses from a high-powered laser can cause tiny defects in lithium-ion battery materials – defects ...

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AI and human touch combine to revolutionize chemical synthesis

10-Feb-2023

With a big assist from artificial intelligence and a heavy dose of human touch, Tim Cernak's lab at the University of Michigan made a discovery that dramatically speeds up the time-consuming chemical process of building molecules that will be tomorrow's medicines, agrichemicals or materials. The ...

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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 ...

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A quick electric pulse completely flips the material’s electronic properties, opening a route to ultrafast, brain-inspired, superconducting electronics

01-Feb-2023

With some careful twisting and stacking, MIT physicists have revealed a new and exotic property in “magic-angle” graphene: superconductivity that can be turned on and off with an electric pulse, much like a light switch. The discovery could lead to ultrafast, energy-efficient superconducting ...

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