Category Chemistry/Nanotechnology

New electrolytes made from liquefied gas enable lithium batteries and electrochemical capacitors to run at extremely cold temperatures. Credit: David Baillot/UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering Enginee

UCSD engineers have developed a breakthrough in electrolyte chemistry that enables lithium batteries to run at temperatures as low as -60C with excellent performance—in comparison, today’s lithium-ion batteries stop working at -20 degrees Celsius. The new electrolytes also enable electrochemical capacitors to run as low as -80C—their current low temperature limit is -40 degrees Celsius. While the technology enables extreme low temperature operation, high performance at room temperature is still maintained...

Glaucio Paulino, a professor in Georgia Tech’s School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Jerry Qi, a professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech, hold objects 3-D printed that use tensegrity, a structural system of floating rods in compression and cables in continuous tension. (Credit: Rob Felt)

A team from Georgia Institute of Technology has developed a way to use 3D printers to create objects capable of expanding dramatically that could someday be used in applications ranging from space missions to biomedical devices. The new objects use tensegrity, a structural system of floating rods in compression and cables in continuous tension. The researchers fabricated the struts from shape memory polymers that unfold when heated.

“Tensegrity st...

Sulfur-Rich Molybdenum Sulfides has been found to be useful for Electrolyteless Water Vapor Splitting

Compound catalyses splitting of water atoms. Researchers have developed a solar paint that can absorb water vapour and split it to generate hydrogen – the cleanest source of energy. The paint contains a newly developed compound that acts like silica gel, which is used in sachets to absorb moisture and keep food, medicines and electronics fresh and dry. But unlike silica gel, the new material, synthetic molybdenum-sulphide, also acts as a semi-conductor and catalyses the splitting of water atoms into hydrogen and oxygen.

Lead researcher Dr Torben Daeneke, from RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, said: “We found that mixing the compound with titanium oxide particles leads to a sunlight-...

The new process converts sugar to plastic using carbon dioxide gas. Credit: Georgina Gregory

Some biodegradable plastics could in the future be made using sugar and carbon dioxide, replacing unsustainable plastics made from crude oil, following research by scientists from the Centre for Sustainable Chemical Technologies (CSCT) at the University of Bath. Polycarbonate is used to make drinks bottles, lenses for glasses and in scratch-resistant coatings for phones, CDs and DVDs.

Current manufacture processes for polycarbonate use BPA (banned from use in baby bottles) and highly toxic phosgene, used as a chemical weapon in World War One...