Researchers Discover a Single Catalyst Capable of Splitting Both Freshwater and Seawater at Low Voltage

14-Sep-2022

Hydrogen has drawn attention in recent years as a potential source of clean energy because it burns without producing climate-damaging emissions. However, traditional hydrogen production methods have a substantial carbon footprint, and cleaner methods are expensive and technically complex. Now ...

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High carrier mobility in cubic boron arsenide offers promise for next-gen electronics

27-Jul-2022

Researchers have for the first time experimentally discovered that a cubic boron arsenide crystal offers high carrier mobility for both electrons and holes – the two ways in which a charge is carried in a semiconducting material – suggesting a major advance for next-generation electronics. While ...

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02-Jun-2022

Lithium-ion batteries are currently the preferred technology to power electric vehicles, but they’re too expensive for long-duration grid-scale energy storage systems, and lithium itself is becoming more challenging to access. While lithium does have many advantages – high energy density and ...

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Gets a good look at tiny freezing water droplets

09-Dec-2021

Though it is one of thegreat mysteries of science, the transformation of water into ice often escapes people's minds as it is justassumed that’swhat happens. But howand whyit happensis the subject of intensescrutinybyice scientists like Hadi Ghasemi,Cullen Associate Professor of ...

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A New and Improved Zeolite Could Mean Greater Yield and Longer Lifecycles for Petrochemical Catalysts

29-Apr-2021

Aromatics are major building blocks of polymers, or plastics, that turn up as everything from PET bottles for water to breathable, wrinkle-resistant polyester clothing. These petrochemicals comprise a specialized, value-added sector of the energy industry. The process for refining crude oil into ...

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Work suggests new avenues for cleaning up these 'forever chemicals'

21-Jan-2021

The synthetic chemicals known as PFAS, short for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are found in soil and groundwater where they have accumulated, posing risks to human health ranging from respiratory problems to cancer. New research from the University of Houston and Oregon State ...

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New anode for aqueous batteries allows use of cheap, plentiful seawater as an electrolyte

13-Jan-2021

Lithium-ion batteries are critical for modern life, from powering our laptops and cell phones to those new holiday toys. But there is a safety risk - the batteries can catch fire. Zinc-based aqueous batteries avoid the fire hazard by using a water-based electrolyte instead of the conventional ...

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Model predicts promising new materials

23-Dec-2020

Superhard materials are in high demand in industry, from energy production to aerospace, but finding suitable new materials has largely been a matter of trial and error based on classical materials such as diamonds. Until now. Researchers from the University of Houston and Manhattan College have ...

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New cathode, electrolyte allow high-power battery previously considered impossible

04-Dec-2020

Magnesium batteries have long been considered a potentially safer and less expensive alternative to lithium-ion batteries, but previous versions have been severely limited in the power they delivered. Researchers from the University of Houston and the Toyota Research Institute of North America ...

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26-Oct-2020

Converting heat into electricity is a property thought to be reserved only for stiff materials like crystals. However, researchers--inspired by the infrared (IR) vision of snakes--developed a mathematical model for converting soft, organic structures into so-called "pyroelectric" materials. The ...

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