Nickel impedes movement of lithium ions in batteries

While adding nickel to the electrode of a lithium-ion battery can improve its energy storage capacity, it blocks the flow of lithium-ion, decreasing its rate of discharge. Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory took a closer look at battery materials at the nano scale and found that nickel forms a physical barrier that impedes the movement of lithium ions...

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Sulfur embedded black silicon absorbs infrared radiation, improves solar cells

Black silicon – which can absorb infrared radiation - could be the key to more efficient solar cells, found researchers at Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute. Silicon solar cells can convert around three-quarters of the sun’s spectrum into energy – mostly through absorbing visible light – but about a quarter of the sun’s spectrum is infrared radiation. In standard solar cells this potential source of solar energy...

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Japanese researchers make battery with sugar anode

Today, lithium-ion batteries are commonly used resources. But lithium is actually a rare element mostly confined to specific regions like China and Australia. As a result, batteries derived from it become expensive and tend to be scarce. In Japan, a team of researchers at the Tokyo University of Science have found a “sweet” way to potentially overcome these setbacks – by simply using sugar...

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NREL produces ethylene with no carbon emissions

Researchers at the United States Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory have found a way to completely cut the carbon dioxide emissions from the manufacture of ethylene, a high-value organic compound. Ethylene is widely used in the chemical industry but currently is produced only from fossil fuels, emitting huge amounts of carbon dioxide in its production. Steam cracking of long-chain...

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U.S. Navy using seawater to create alternative fuel for its fleet

Scientists at the United States Naval Research Laboratory are working on creating a source of fuel from seawater. Specifically, they are developing a process to extract carbon dioxide and produce hydrogen from seawater. Carbon dioxide and hydrogen can then be catalytically converted into jet fuel though a gas-to-liquids process. NRL worked with standard, commercially available electrochemical cell...

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British researchers created cheaper material to capture carbon

Carbon capture storage or C.C.S. is a technology that holds a great potential to significantly curb carbon emissions but one of the major setbacks to the widespread adoption of this technology is its high cost. A new material developed by British researchers at the University of Nottingham could help overcome this hindrance and even “offer an exciting breakthrough in combating atmospheric pollution.” Dubbed...

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Lead telluride-based thermoelectric material developed

A new thermoelectric material, based on the common semiconductor lead telluride, could hold the key to successfully and efficiently capturing waste heat and converting it to an additional source of energy. Thermoelectric materials, where a current can be produced when exposed to temperature differences, have applications in the automobile industry, heavy manufacturing industries and other places where large...

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Window-type ventilation systems more cost-efficient – Korean researchers

A team of researchers from Hanyang University and Korea Institute of Energy Research found that window-integrated heat recovery ventilation systems, particularly those that are not connected with central air conditioning systems and ducts, are more energy- and cost-efficient than other thermal insulation schemes. Their study found that the heat exchange of ductless window-integrated ventilation systems...

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Iron-air batteries: ‘Eco-friendly’ storage solutions for renewable power

Economical and yet effective means of storing energy are necessary for maximizing the benefits of renewable energy. But in the rush to develop energy storage for renewable energy generation, scientists say we must make sure the solution is environmentally acceptable. “We have to build batteries that are not just inexpensive but also environmentally friendly, because renewable and other forms of sustainable energy generation are,”

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Biofuel waste product used to generate power through microbial fuel cell

Researchers at the University of Surrey are using a waste product from biofuel production to produce clean energy with a microbial fuel cell. Distillers Dried Grain with Solubles or DDGS is a waste product from bioethanol production. DDGS is often used as a low-cost animal feed, but the University of Surrey researchers used it as a growth culture for the bacteria in their fuel cell. In a microbial fuel cell,...

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