Category Chemistry/Nanotechnology

Electron microscopy showing one of the unique geometries observed in the nano-silicon power derived from diatomaceous earth. Credit: Image courtesy of University of California – Riverside

Engineers have developed an inexpensive, energy-efficient way to create silicon-based anodes for lithium-ion batteries from the fossilized remains of single-celled algae called diatoms. The research could lead to the development of ultra-high capacity lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and portable electronics.

Lithium-ion batteries, the most popular rechargeable batteries in electric vehicles and personal electronics, have several major components including an anode, a cathode, and an electrolyte made of lithium salt dissolved in an organic solvent...

Free-standing, flexible, superomniphobic films can readily attach them to virtually any surface. They have applications in enhanced chemical resistance and enhanced weight bearing.

Assistant Prof. Arun Kota, CSU, has made a superomniphobic tape that, when adhered to any surface, gives the surface liquid-repelling properties. Superomniphobic surfaces are extremely repellent to all liquids, made possible by an air cushion that lies between a liquid and a solid surface. With more than 10 years of research in this area, Kota has made many breakthroughs in super-repellent coatings. This latest product is similar in flexibility to Scotch Tape, but has the additional functionality of being extremely liquid-repellant.

Kota, doctoral student Hamed Vahabi, and postdoctoral fellow Wei Wang, developed...

Degrading wood with fungi — rather than burning it — could be a new way to heat indoor spaces. Credit: jirawat thawornpipatdej/Shutterstock.com

In colder weather, people have long been warming up around campfires and woodstoves. Lately, this idea of burning wood or other biomass for heat has surged in popularity as an alternative to using fossil fuels. Now, in the journal ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, scientists report a step toward a “greener” way to generate heat with biomass. Rather than burning it, which releases pollutants, they let fungi break it down to release heat.

The benefit of biomass, which consists of plant material and animal waste, is that there is no shortage...

Washington State University researchers have developed a low-cost, portable laboratory on a smartphone that can analyze several samples at once to catch a cancer biomarker, producing lab quality results. Credit: Washington State University

Researchers have developed a low-cost, portable laboratory on a smartphone that can analyze several samples at once to catch a cancer biomarker, producing lab quality results. At a time when patients and medical professionals expect always faster results, researchers are trying to translate biodetection technologies used in laboratories to the field and clinic, so patients can get nearly instant diagnoses in a physician’s office, ambulance or emergency room.

The WSU research team created an 8 channel smartphone spectrometer that can detect human interleu...