Category Chemistry/Nanotechnology

Assembling a cell to test sodium-ion (Na-ion), battery materials in a glove box. Credit: ©Cyril FRESILLON/CSE/CNRS Photothèque

An alternative technology to Li-ion has been designed for application in specific sectors. The researchers have developed the first battery using sodium ions in the usual “18650” format, an industry standard. The main advantage of the prototype is that it relies on sodium, an element far more abundant and less costly than lithium. The batteries have displayed performance levels comparable to their lithium counterparts, and this new technology is already attracting industrial interest. It could be used to store renewable energies in the future, say researchers.

The 1st step was to find the ideal “recipe” for the cathode of the battery...

Quick and easy coating process makes surfaces omniphobic. (© Wiley) Read more: Totally repellent – Quick and easy coating process makes surfaces omniphobic

Surfaces that repel all dirt and graffiti, are easy to clean, and cause liquids to bead up and slide off (like the frequently mentioned lotus blossom), are high on the wish lists of engineers and scientists. However, none of the technologies developed in the past has been a sweeping success. Scientists have now introduced a new method for making transparent, dirt-repellant coatings that can be applied very quickly and easily. The coatings repel both water and oily liquids and are stable at higher pressures and temperatures.

Prior approaches involved fluoropolymers (e.g. Teflon) and silicones...

Schematic of a laser beam energizing a monolayer semiconductor made up of molybdenum disulfide (MoS2). The red glowing dots are particles excited by the laser. Credit: Der-Hsien Lien Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2015-11-defect-free-molecule-thick.html#jCp

An emerging class of atomically thin materials, monolayer semiconductors has generated a great deal of buzz in the world of materials science. Monolayers hold promise in the development of transparent LED displays, ultra-high efficiency solar cells, photo detectors and nanoscale transistors. Their downside? The films are notoriously riddled with defects, killing their performance.

But a UCLA, Berkeley, and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab team, has found a simple way to fix these defects via an organic superacid...

Figure shows the way that copies of the toxin pack together to form pores in cells. Credit: University of Leicester

It gives hope for developing Rx for pneumococcal diseases such as bacterial pneumonia, meningitis and septicaemia. The 3 yr study involving 4 research groups from across the University has been described as an exciting advance because it points to the possibility of creating therapeutics that block assembly of pneumolysin pores to treat people with pneumococcal disease.

Using X-ray crystallography at Diamond Light Source, UK’s national synchrotron science facility, the Leicester team was able to see the individual atoms of the toxin. The structure not only reveals what the toxin looks like, but also shows how it assembles on the surface of cells to form lethal pores...