Highly conductive carbon materials are frequently investigated as host materials for sulfur in lithium-sulfur batteries, but such cathodes struggle with loss of sulfur due to the carbon surface being nonpolar. An international team of researchers explored if using polar silica instead as the host material may improve cycling stability, even though silica is nonconductive.
Read MoreWhen restoring old technology, sometimes substituting modern alternatives for original parts can improve the classic design. Researchers at Northwestern University and Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands created a clone of the 8-bit Nintendo Game Boy using an energy-aware gaming platform.
Read MoreFarmers are in the midst of an economic crisis. Production of methane fuel from biogas, a natural byproduct of organic wastes, may be a way to turn a profit, but the current processing methods are too expensive for small farmers. Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory developed a composite sorbent that may make the production process economically feasible.
Read MoreAgrivoltaics, the practice of co-locating photovoltaic infrastructure and agriculture, can lead to reduced crop yield if the solar panels block too much light. Researchers in the United Kingdom and Italy investigated using tinted semitransparent solar panels that selectively absorb certain wavelengths and found a substantial overall financial gain compared with classical agriculture.
Read MoreConstruction and refractory applications are main uses of bricks, but unusual applications show up in academic journals as well. In a recent paper, researchers at Washington University in St. Louis explain how they made ordinary bricks capable of storing energy like a battery.
Read MoreIn developing sodium-ion batteries, hard carbon is the material most often used for the anode, but unknowns concerning the charge storage mechanism in this material hinder further development. Researchers have proposed several models to explain the charge storage mechanism, and a recent study lends support for the three-stage “adsorption-intercalation-adsorption” process.
Read MoreMany electric vehicles today use lithium-ion batteries that contain cobalt, an element with high ethical and environmental costs to its production. Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin explored the potential of a cobalt-free lithium-ion battery that features a nickel-manganese-aluminum cathode and found promising results.
Read MoreThe “Women in Glass” special issue of IJAGS contains 17 top-quality works led by women researchers. Take a closer look at some of the articles in today’s CTT—and read them all for free through the end of July!
Read MoreLithium-ion batteries are abundant in many everyday devices, but the resources available to teach children how these batteries work and why they are important are limited. A team of researchers from the University of Birmingham’s School of Chemistry developed a unique and fun approach to explaining Li-ion battery operation using tower block games like Jenga.
Read MoreScientists at Chalmers University of Technology and Xi’an Jiaotong University developed a new ceramic interlayer—a butter-like mixture of glass-ceramic nanoparticles within an ionic liquid—that provides adequately high ionic conductivity, high thermal stability, and low interfacial resistance to potentially make solid-state batteries a commercial reality.
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