Category Chemistry/Nanotechnology

A look inside the energy density manganese dioxide-zinc battery developed at CCNY

A new generation of manganese dioxide-zinc batteries with unprecedented cycle life and energy density is the latest innovation at The City College of New York-based CUNY Energy Institute. The discovery has made the common household battery suitable for large grid Storage applications. City College Snr Research Associate Gautam G. Yadav and his team applied a new twist to the old chemistry behind batteries. The result is a battery that takes advantage of intercalation and complexation chemistry to make the cathodes rechargeable to a larger extent, greatly extending its life.

“A new layered crystal structure of manganese dioxide is used in this chemistry, which is intercalated with copper ions...

Hybrid nanoparticles as photoinitiators. a. Electron microscope image of hybrid nanocrystal. The inset shows a schematic of semiconductor nanorod with a metal tip. b. Bucky ball structure produced by rapid 3-D printing in water using HNPs as photoinitiators. c. Spiral printed with HNPs by two photon printer providing high resolution features.
Credit: Adapted with permission from Pawar et al., Nano Lett. DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.7b01870. Copyright (2017) American Chemical Society.

A new type of photoinitiator for 3D printing in water could further the development of biomedical accessories, bring advances in traditional industries such as plastics, and offer an environmentally friendly approach to additive manufacturing...

The image above depicts a new device for surface enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy. Infrared light (the white beams) is trapped by tiny gaps in the metal surface, where it can be used to detect trace amounts of matter. Credit: University at Buffalo.

Scientists searching for traces of drugs, bomb-making components and other chemicals often shine light on the materials they’re analyzing.This approach is known as spectroscopy, and it involves studying how light interacts with trace amounts of matter. One of the more effective types of spectroscopy is infrared absorption spectroscopy, which scientists use to sleuth out performance-enhancing drugs in blood samples and tiny particles of explosives in the air.

While infrared absorption spectroscopy has improved greatly in the last 100 yea...

Inverted battery design as ion generator for interfacing with biosystems. Nature Communications, 2017; 8: 15609 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms15609

Engineers at the University of Maryland have invented an entirely new kind of battery. It is bio-compatible because it produces the same kind of ion-based electrical energy used by humans and other living things. In our bodies, flowing ions (sodium, potassium and other electrolytes) are the electrical signals that power the brain and control the rhythm of the heart, the movement of muscles, and much more.

In traditional batteries the current of electrons out of the battery is generated within the battery by moving positive ions from one end (electrode) of a battery to the other. The new UMD battery does the opposite...