Energy

Ultrafast deposition reveals true shape of lithium

By Lisa McDonald / August 15, 2023

The complex feedback loop between solid electrolyte interphase formation and lithium deposition means researchers have struggled to develop a general framework for understanding and predicting lithium morphology. Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, modified the electrodeposition process to decouple lithium deposition from interface growth and thus reveal the intrinsic deposition morphology of lithium.

Read More

Perovskite solar cells charge ahead to record-breaking efficiencies

By Guest Contributor / July 21, 2023

The potential of perovskites as a photovoltaic material, both in combination with silicon and alone, is gaining steam. This CTT overviews some of the biggest advancements in this field in recent months.

Read More

Video: Proposed ban threatens budding agrivoltaic industry in the Netherlands

By Lisa McDonald / July 12, 2023

Despite the recorded benefits of co-locating solar panels and crops, the erroneous belief that photovoltaics and agriculture are an either/or situation remains a common perspective in governing bodies around the world. In the past month, two media announcements out of the Netherlands reveal how a proposed ban on solar deployments on agricultural land could severely hamper the country’s budding agrivoltaic industry.

Read More

Video: Cadmium telluride solar technology gains momentum

By Lisa McDonald / July 5, 2023

Cadmium telluride solar cells are the second most common photovoltaic technology globally after crystalline silicon. Today’s CTT looks at recent funding initiatives and commercial expansions to accelerate the impact of this maturing technology.

Read More

Honoring John B. Goodenough, a charged life that lit up the world

By Lisa McDonald / June 28, 2023

On June 25, 2023, University of Texas at Austin professor John B. Goodenough died at the age of 100. Goodenough was known for developing the metal oxide cathodes that are still used in lithium-ion batteries today, but his innovations greatly influenced many other research areas as well. His contributions to science will continue to light up the imagination of researchers in the future.

Read More

Video: Caltech announces first-ever wireless power transfer of space-based solar energy back to Earth

By Lisa McDonald / June 7, 2023

The idea of harvesting solar energy in outer space and beaming it back to Earth is a science-fiction concept that in recent decades gained real-world legs. Now, the California Institute of Technology announced that an experiment through its ongoing Space Solar Power Project beamed solar energy collected in space back to Earth for the first time.

Read More

Video: Solid acid fuel cells—a 20-year journey to advancing the hydrogen economy

By Lisa McDonald / May 17, 2023

There are many challenges to realizing a hydrogen economy that occur all along the supply chain. One challenge—converting the carrier molecule ammonia back into hydrogen—could be solved using solid acid fuel cells. ACerS Fellow Sossina Haile first developed this type of fuel cell in the late 1990s. Today’s CTT looks at Haile’s 20-year journey with her first Ph.D. student, Calum R. I. Chisholm, to realize the potential of this technology.

Read More

Video: Australia announces National Electric Vehicle Strategy

By Lisa McDonald / May 3, 2023

Traditionally, Australia has lagged far behind other developed countries in electric vehicle adoption. The government has now released a National Electric Vehicle Strategy to speed up adoption and support the transition to clean transportation.

Read More

A solid contender—new oxygen-ion battery may be ‘excellent’ solution for large energy storage systems

By Lisa McDonald / May 2, 2023

Solid-state batteries are an emerging energy storage technology that are safer than conventional lithium-ion batteries. In an open-access paper, researchers at TU Wien demonstrated a novel solid-state battery composition that may offer certain advantages over other battery technologies—oxygen-ion batteries.

Read More

Video: Swiss startup cracks the 1-kW ceiling for production of solar hydrogen

By Lisa McDonald / April 12, 2023

Producing hydrogen through water electrolysis is not yet financially viable due to challenges with scaling up the process. A concentrated solar power system developed by Swiss startup SoHHytec succeeded in cracking the 1-kW ceiling for the production of solar hydrogen.

Read More