Category Chemistry/Nanotechnology

The global shift to electric vehicles is gaining momentum, yet the extraction of battery materials has a significant environmental footprint that comes with high costs.

Now, two studies led by McGill University researchers offer hope in the search to manufacture cheaper and greener lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles (EVs).

Their findings unlock the potential to produce batteries using more sustainable and less costly metals, known as disordered rock-salt-type (DRX) cathode materials.

In the first study, engineering researchers including lead author Richie Fong, a Ph.D. student in Materials Engineering, focused on cathodes...

Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory used additive manufacturing to produce the first defect-free complex tungsten parts for use in extreme environments. The accomplishment could have positive implications for clean-energy technologies such as fusion energy.

Tungsten has the highest melting po...

Imagine if your dead laptop or phone could charge in a minute or if an electric car could be fully powered in 10 minutes. While not possible yet, new research by a team of CU Boulder scientists could potentially lead to such advances.

Published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers in Ankur Gupta’s lab discovered how ions, move within a complex network of minuscule pores. The breakthrough could lead to the development of more efficient energy storage devices, such as supercapacitors, said Gupta, an assistant professor of chemical and biological engineering.

“Given the critical role of energy in the future of the planet, I felt inspired to apply my chemical engineering knowledge to advancing energy storage devices,” Gupta said...

Closing in on the theoretical maximum efficiency, devices for turning heat into electricity are edging closer to being practical for use on the grid, according to University of Michigan research.

Heat batteries could store intermittent renewable energy during peak production hours, relying on a thermal version of solar cells to convert it into electricity later.

“As we include higher fractions of renewables on the grid to reach ...