Category Chemistry/Nanotechnology

The new carbon-based material for sodium-ion batteries can be extracted from apples. Credit: KIT/HIU

A carbon-based active material produced from apple leftovers and a material of layered oxides might help reduce the costs of future energy storage systems. Both were found to have excellent electrochemical properties and stand for the environmentally compatible and sustainable use of resources. Sodium-ion batteries are not only far more powerful than nickel-metal hydride or lead acid accumulators, but also represent an alternative to lithium-ion technology, as the initial materials needed are highly abundant, accessible, and low cost. Hence, sodium-ion batteries are a very promising technology for stationary energy storage systems.

Schematic structure of the layered oxides produced...

Doped lithium titanate (LTO) nanoparticles could be incorporated into Li-ion batteries used in, for example, electric or hybrid automotive applications. Credit: Image courtesy of University of Eastern Finland

Lithium-ion batteries are a rapidly growing energy storage method due to their high energy density, especially in mobile applications such as personal electronics and electric cars. However, the materials currently used in Li-ion batteries are expensive, many of them, like lithium cobalt oxide (belonging to the EU Critical Raw Materials, CRMs), are difficult to handle and dispose of. Additionally, batteries using these materials have relatively short lifetimes.

New novel materials are being developed for next generation Li-ion batteries...

Two-dimensional metastructured film with Titanium Oxide is fabricated as a photo-catalytic photoanode with exceptional visible light absorption. Credit: Copyright UNIST

A new multilayered (Au NPs/TiO2/Au) photoelectrode boosts ability of solar water-splitting to produce hydrogen. According to the research team, this special photoelectrode, inspired by the way plants convert sunlight into energy is capable of absorbing visible light from the sun, and then using it to split water molecules (H2O) into H2, O2.

This multilayered photoelectrode takes the form of 2D hybrid metal-dielectric structure, which mainly consists of 3 layers of gold (Au) film, ultrathin TiO2 layer (20 nm), and gold nanoparticles (Au NPs)...

An illustration of the ice’s molecular configuration.

Uni of Nebraska-Lincoln-led research team has predicted a new molecular form of the slippery stuff that even Mother Nature has never borne. The proposed ice would be 25% less dense than a record-low form synthesized by a European team in 2014. If synthesized, it would become the 18th known crystalline form of water—and the 1st discovered in the US since before World War II, lowest-density ice to date.

This newest finding represents the latest in a long line of ice-related research from Zeng, who previously discovered a 2D “Nebraska Ice” that contracts rather than expands when frozen under certain conditions.
This new study used a computational algorithm and molecular simulation to determine the ranges of extreme pressure and temperatu...