Category Chemistry/Nanotechnology

Composition of the solid sodium battery. © Empa

Initial prototype of a solid sodium battery with the potential to store extra energy created. Phones, laptops, electric cars – batteries are everywhere. And to meet the expectations of today’s consumers, these batteries are increasingly light, more powerful and designed to last longer. Researchers from Empa, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, and the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, have devised a new battery prototype: known as “all-solid-state,” this battery has the potential to store more energy while maintaining high safety and reliability levels. Furthermore, the battery is based on sodium, a cheap alternative to lithium.

For a battery to work, it must have the following 3 key components: an a...

Tim Potteiger, a Ph.D. student in electrical engineering, tests his battery-switching device on a levitating electric vehicle in the School of Engineering. Credit: Joe Howell/Vanderbilt University

Nissan Leafs, which go about 107 miles on a charge, sometimes end up relegated to commuter cars due to battery-range worries. The mass-market, standard Tesla Model 3 can go double that but still can be disconcerting on long road trips. Both batteries could work up to 50% longer with a device provisionally patented by Vanderbilt University’s Ken Pence, professor of the practice of engineering management, and Tim Potteiger, a Ph.D. student in electrical engineering...

An integrated dual-function energy device for both electrochemical energy storage and catalytic oxygen evolution has been proposed. The integrated device, based on the earth-abundant Ni-Co-Fe layered double hydroxide, provides a novel platform for the development of low-cost and highly efficient dual-functional standalone energy materials.

2-in-1 device also uses supercapacitor to store energy that could power computers and smartphones. UCLA researchers have designed a device that can use solar energy to inexpensively and efficiently create and store energy, which could be used to power electronic devices, and to create hydrogen fuel for eco-friendly cars...

“What we are doing technically,” Han explains, “is installing a new energy barrier, so the stored heat cannot be released immediately.” In its chemically stored form, the energy can remain for long periods until the optical trigger is activated

A new phase-change material stores heat in a stable chemical form, then releases it later on demand using light as a trigger. In large parts of the developing world, people have abundant heat from the sun during the day, but most cooking takes place later in the evening when the sun is down, using fuel – such as wood, brush or dung – that is collected with significant time and effort.

Now, a new chemical composite developed by researchers at MIT could provide an alternative...