Category Physics

Computers Create Recipe for 2 new Magnetic Materials

1. A microscopic look at the atomic structure of a cobalt-manganese-titanium mixture (Co2MnTi) that is one of the newly predicted and manufactured magnetic materials. Each color shows the distribution of a different element. The uniformity for each material matches the predictions for a stable three-element material. 2. A microscopic look at the atomic structure of a manganese-platinum-palladium mixture (Mn2PtPd), that is one of the newly predicted and manufactured magnetic materials. Each color shows the distribution of a different element. The uniformity for each material -- with the exception the small spots indicating a different phase state -- matches the predictions for a stable three-element material.

1. A microscopic look at the atomic structure of a cobalt-manganese-titanium mixture (Co2MnTi) that is one of the newly predicted and manufactured magnetic materials. Each color shows the distribution of a different element. The uniformity for each material matches the predictions for a stable three-element material.
2. A microscopic look at the atomic structure of a manganese-platinum-palladium mixture (Mn2PtPd), that is one of the newly predicted and manufactured magnetic materials. Each color shows the distribution of a different element. The uniformity for each material — with the exception the small spots indicating a different phase state — matches the predictions for a stable three-element material.

Magnets built atom-by-atom in first effort of its kind, using high-throughput computa...

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Battery Prototype Powered by Atmospheric Nitrogen

The Structure and Rechargeability of a Room-Temperature Li-N2 Battery (A) Structure of a Li-N2 battery with a Li-foil anode, ether-based electrolyte, and CC cathode. (B) N2 fixation (blue) and N2 evolution (red) curves of a Li-N2 battery with a CC cathode at a current density of 0.05 mA cm−2. (C) CV curves of a Li-N2 battery at a scan rate of 0.05 mV s−1 in N2-saturated (black) and Ar-saturated (red) atmospheres. (D) Cyclic performance of a Li-N2 battery at a current density of 0.05 mA cm−2.

The Structure and Rechargeability of a Room-Temperature Li-N2 Battery
(A) Structure of a Li-N2 battery with a Li-foil anode, ether-based electrolyte, and CC cathode.
(B) N2 fixation (blue) and N2 evolution (red) curves of a Li-N2 battery with a CC cathode at a current density of 0.05 mA cm−2.
(C) CV curves of a Li-N2 battery at a scan rate of 0.05 mV s−1 in N2-saturated (black) and Ar-saturated (red) atmospheres.
(D) Cyclic performance of a Li-N2 battery at a current density of 0.05 mA cm−2.

As the most abundant gas in Earth’s atmosphere, nitrogen has been an attractive option as a source of renewable energy...

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Device Pulls Water from Dry Air, powered only by the Sun

This is the water harvester built at MIT with MOFs from UC Berkeley. Using only sunlight, the harvester can pull liters of water from low-humidity air over a 12-hour period. Credit: MIT photo from laboratory of Evelyn Wang

This is the water harvester built at MIT with MOFs from UC Berkeley. Using only sunlight, the harvester can pull liters of water from low-humidity air over a 12-hour period. Credit: MIT photo from laboratory of Evelyn Wang

Metal-organic framework sucks up water from air with humidity as low as 20%. Imagine a future in which every home has a solar appliance that pulls all the water the household needs out of the air, even in desert climates. That future may be around the corner, with the demonstration this week of a water harvester that uses only ambient sunlight to pull liters of water out of the air each day with very low humidity. The solar-powered harvester was constructed at MIT using a special material – a metal-organic framework, or MOF – produced at UC, Berkeley.

Omar Yaghi, scienti...

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New Infrared-Emitting Device could allow energy Harvesting from Waste Heat

This illustration shows the room temperature MEMS metamaterial, which can achieve reconfigurable infrared intensities equivalent to a temperature change of nearly 20 degrees Celsius. Credit: Xinyu Liu, Duke University

This illustration shows the room temperature MEMS metamaterial, which can achieve reconfigurable infrared intensities equivalent to a temperature change of nearly 20 degrees Celsius. Credit: Xinyu Liu, Duke University

1st MEMS metamaterial device displays infrared patterns that can be quickly changed. A new reconfigurable device that emits patterns of thermal infrared light in a fully controllable manner could one day make it possible to collect waste heat at infrared wavelengths and turn it into usable energy. The new technology could be used to improve thermophotovoltaics, a solar cell that uses infrared light, or heat, rather than the visible light absorbed by traditional solar cells...

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