Category Chemistry/Nanotechnology

Transparent Graphene Electrodes might lead to New Generation of Solar Cells

A new manufacturing process for graphene is based on using an intermediate carrier layer of material after the graphene is laid down through a vapor deposition process. The carrier allows the ultrathin graphene sheet, less than a nanometer (billionth of a meter) thick, to be easily lifted off from a substrate, allowing for rapid roll-to-roll manufacturing. These figures show this process for making graphene sheets, along with a photo of the proof-of-concept device used (b).
Courtesy of the researchers

Engineers have synthesized a tiny structure with high surface area and discovered how its unique architecture drives ions across interfaces to transport energy or information...

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Breaking the mold: An unusual choice of Material yields incredibly Long-Lasting Batteries

This work has conducted an evaluation on the role of polarity over conductivity by using a polar but nonconductive platelet ordered mesoporous silica (pOMS) and its replica platelet ordered mesoporous carbon (pOMC), which is conductive but nonpolar. It is found that the polar pOMS/S cathode with a sulfur mass fraction of 80 wt% demonstrates outstanding long‐term cycle stability for 2000 cycles even at a high current density of 2C.

Non-conductive silica could be key to realizing next-generation lithium-sulfur batteries. Scientists have developed a novel silica-based cathode for lithium-sulfur batteries, thereby enabling the realization of batteries that can last for over 2000 charge/discharge cycles...

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Solar Hydrogen production: Splitting Water with UV is now at almost 100% Quantum Efficiency

Photocatalytic water splitting with a quantum efficiency of almost unity
Authors:Tsuyoshi Takata, Junzhe Jiang, Yoshihisa Sakata, Mamiko Nakabayashi, Naoya Shibata, Vikas Nandal, Kazuhiko Seki, Takashi Hisatomi, Kazunari Domen
Journal:Nature, 581, 411-414 (2020)
DOI10.1038/s41586-020-2278-9

Scientists have successfully split water into hydrogen and oxygen using light and meticulously designed catalysts, and they did so at the maximum efficiency meaning there was almost no loss and undesired side reactions. This latest breakthrough in solar hydrogen production makes the likelihood of scalable, economically viable hydrogen production more than likely, paving the way for humanity to make the switch to clean energy.

Pour yourself a glass of water and take a look at it...

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New 5G Switches mean Battery life Improvements, higher Bandwidth and Speeds

With US Army funding, researchers at The University of Texas at Austin and the University of Lille in France develop a radio-frequency switch that is more than 50 times more energy efficient that what is used today. Credit: University of Texas

The 5G revolution has begun, and the first lines of phones that can access the next generation of wireless speeds have already hit the shelves. Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin and the University of Lille in France have built a new component that will more efficiently allow access to the highest 5G frequencies in a way that increases devices’ battery life and speeds up how quickly we can do things like stream high-definition media.

Smartphones are loaded with switches that perform a number of duties...

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