Hybrid nanomaterial creates current from both light and heat

A hybrid nanomaterial developed at the University of Texas at Arlington can give clean and constant energy for small devices such as self-powered sensors, low-power electronic devices and implantable biomedical micro-devices. The material, developed by associate physics professor Wei Chen, can convert light and thermal energy into electrical current. While there have been materials that can covert...

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Sunlight, water and rust produce low-cost hydrogen

The École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland is developing a technology for making hydrogen that has as its ingredients water, rust – and sunlight. The EPFL researchers’ technology uses inexpensive materials water and metal oxides such as iron oxide or rust in solar hydrogen production. The device, which is still in the experimental stage, builds on research conducted in the 1990’s at EPFL...

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Cheaper nickel catalyst used in photocatalytic hydrogen production

Why pay around $24,000 per pound for a catalyst when you can get similar results for $8 per pound? That is what’s driving the University of Rochester’s work in developing a nickel-based catalyst to replace platinum catalysts in photocatalytic hydrogen production systems. The job is seen as advancing in efforts to efficiently use sunlight for clean, carbon-free energy and fuel. “People have typically used...

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University of Melbourne develops carbon dioxide-specific ‘molecular sieve’

A molecular sieve, specifically designed to trap and store carbon dioxide molecules, could be key to the development of a cost-effective carbon capture and storage method. According to a team of researchers from the University of Melbourne’s Cooperative Research Center for Greenhouse Gas Technologies, their technology works somewhat like a trap-door, with the material only allowing certain molecules to enter...

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World War I-era fermentation process produces fuel of the future

An old bacterial fermentation process – abandoned as impractical decades ago – has found new favor with scientists who say it’s great for producing renewable diesel fuel. Chemists and chemical engineers at the University of California, Berkeley have retooled a process discovered nearly 100 years ago by Chaim Weizmann (who was also the first president of Israel) to produce a high-energy, low-emitting transportation fuel...

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Ames Lab researchers remove and reuse rare earth metals from magnets

With rare earth metals being a vital but costly component of many next-generation technologies, ways to stretch the availability of the existing supply – such as recycling – could be important in keeping costs down. Rare earth metals, of which China has a lot, are difficult to extract and demand is growing faster than supply. This is leading to price increases and fears of shortage. China itself has placed...

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Brown University creates promising alternative to platinum in fuel cells

A new catalytic material based on the element cobalt could be the key to cheaper hydrogen fuel cells by acting as an alternative to platinum. To produce electricity, a fuel cell needs a catalyst that can oxidize the fuel – in this case hydrogen – releasing electrons which create a current. Most fuel cells use the rare metal platinum, a proven catalyst, but while this material is efficient, it is also expensive...

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Japan develops light-weight, energy-dense manganese lithium-ion battery

A cathode made from inexpensive and abundant manganese and a new electrolyte solution are the key to how Japan’s NEC Corporation improved their battery energy density by approximately 30 percent. The company currently develops and produces manganese lithium-ion batteries. Their newest prototype features cathodes that support high-voltage operation and an electrolyte solution that improves the stability...

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Mixing layers in organic solar cell doesn’t necessarily lower efficiency

Mixing it up might not be a bad thing when it comes to organic solar cells. Organic or polymer based solar cells are so called because they use conductive organic polymers of small molecules to transform light into energy, usually consisting of two domains known as the acceptor and donor layers. When light hits an organic solar cell, the photons of light create excitons which move through the domains, generating a charge that can be harnessed for electricity.

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Supercapacitors pushed as EV power source

Electric vehicles are coming out as alternatives to emission-ridden transportation but they currently face major drawbacks that hamper their widespread deployment. Among these are the high cost and limited power that their batteries can provide. One alternative, according to researchers at Drexel University, are through the use of supercapacitors which are commonly used to run robots and back up computer...

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