Category Chemistry/Nanotechnology

Researchers at The University of Texas at El Paso have developed a way to 3D-print an essential battery component in nearly any shape. Their innovation could free engineers from the constraints of standard rechargeable battery sizes and allow energy storage to be built directly into the devices the batteries power.

The work, detailed in a study published in Communications Engineering, centers on gel polymer electrolytes, the material inside a battery that carries the ions (the particles that carry the electrical charge) between the electrodes—the two terminals where chemical reactions occur and electric...

While biomethane is flowing into homes across the U.S., Asia and Europe, a renewable replacement for natural gas has yet to reach its full potential in Australia.

New research by University of Melbourne scientists has made it easier for biomethane to be used in heating, cooking and transport.

The team, led by Professor Mohsen Talei, studied key contaminants in biomethane to determine safe concentrations for use in home appliances.

Their findings establish guidelines for how much purification biomethane needs before it can reach the market and provide a clearer pathway for scaling up production and making it available for use.

Gas who?
Biomethane is chemically identical to natural gas...

The critical minerals that power lithium-ion batteries are in high demand and short supply, especially for the U.S., which must rely on importing resources such as nickel and cobalt to manufacture the technology.

Cornell researchers have now developed a more efficient and cost-effective way to recover almost the full life of these batteries after they are spent. By using an electrochemical solution to regenerate their electrodes, the recycled batteries can regain up to 95% of their original power and last longer when reused, the researchers demonstrated.

The process could also slash current recycling costs by 56% and would be more environmentally friendly than current methods.

The findings were published in Energy & Environmental Science...

Eating foods that contain common preservative food additives may increase the risks of high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease, according to research published in the European Heart Journal.

The research was led by Dr. Mathilde Touvier, a research director at INSERM (the French National Institute for Health and Medical Research), and Anaïs Hasenböhler, Ph.D. student, both from the Nutritional Epidemiology Research Team at the Université Sorbonne Paris Nord and Université Paris Cité, France.

Ms. Hasenböhler said, “Food preservatives are used in hundreds of thousands of industrially processed foods...