Tuesday was the first full day of symposia at the MCARE 2012 meeting going on Clearwater Beach, Fla. Credit: ACerS.

The first full day of symposia and tutorials took place today. With four or five concurrent sessions, a comprehensive (or even semi-comprehensive) report on today’s events at the Materials Challenges in Alternative and Renewable Energy would be impossible. Those that want one will have to wait for the proceedings to be published.

But here are of few examples of what I learned today as I hopped from talk to talk.

  • Toyota sees promise in future magnesium-based batteries that appear to be capable of delivering high volumetric capacity, plus are less costly and safer;
  • Sion Power, in collaboration with BASF, is making progress on lithium-sulfur batteries for electric vehicles;
  • Researchers are optimistic about their work in “third-generation” PV devices that incorporate semiconductor–transparent conductive oxide nanocomposite thin films;
  • Alane (aluminum hydride) is a promising hydrogen-storage material that is being studied in several federal labs and by other groups because its superior volumetric and gravimetric densities far exceed that of liquid hydrogen, and significant advancements have been made with tuning decomposition kinetics and efficiently regenerating the material; and
  • Versa Power is making progress in developing durable reversible solid oxide fuel cell stacks.

Again, this just scratches the surface of all of today’s presentations.

And, here are some more pictures from today’s talks and evening poster session.

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