Category Chemistry/Nanotechnology

This is a ball-and-stick model of the molecular structure of the solar-fuel catalyst developed at Caltech. Blue represents iron atoms; green is nickel; red is oxygen; white is hydrogen. Credit: Caltech

Research uncovers mechanism behind water-splitting catalyst. Caltech researchers have made a discovery that they say could lead to the economically viable production of solar fuels in the next few years. For years, solar-fuel research has focused on developing catalysts that can split water into hydrogen and oxygen using only sunlight. The resulting hydrogen fuel could be used to power motor vehicles, electrical plants, and fuel cells. Since the only thing produced by burning hydrogen is water, no carbon pollution is added to the atmosphere.

In 2014, researchers in the lab of Harry Gray, Cal...

A redesigned metastable phase of vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) shows extraordinary performance as a cathode material for magnesium batteries. The graphic compares the conventional (right) and metastable structures of V2O5. (Credit: Justin Andrews.)

Move over, lithium-ion; now, there’s a better battery on the horizon. A multi-institution team has discovered an exceptional metal-oxide magnesium battery cathode material, moving researchers one step closer to delivering batteries that promise higher density of energy storage on top of transformative advances in safety, cost and performance in comparison to their ubiquitous lithium-ion (Li-ion) counterparts.

“The worldwide push to advance renewable energy is limited by the availability of energy storage vectors,” says Banerjee in the team’s paper, ...

This diagram maps out atomic motion in separate phonon modes. At left (“LO” represents a longitudinal optical mode), selenium atoms exhibit a clockwise rotation while tungsten atoms stand still. At right (“LA” represents a longitudinal acoustic mode), tungsten atoms exhibit a clockwise rotation while selenium atoms rotate in a counterclockwise direction. Credit: Hanyu Zhu, et al.

Experiments confirm the first chiral phonon that could enable exotic forms of electronics. Berkeley Lab has found the first evidence that a shaking motion in the structure of an atomically thin (2D) material possesses a naturally occurring circular rotation...

Schematic of the structure and the fabrication process of a spine-like battery. (a) Schematic illustration of bio-inspired design, the vertebrae correspond to thick stacks of electrodes and soft marrow corresponds to unwound part that interconnects all the stacks. (b) the process to fabricate the spine-like battery, multilayers of electrodes were first cut into designed shape, then strips extending out were wound around the backbone to form spine-like structure. Credit: Yuan Yang/Columbia Engineering

Shaped like a spine, new design enables remarkable flexibility, high energy density, and stable voltage no matter how it is flexed or twisted...