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    Category Physics

    New World Record for Solar Hydrogen Production

    April 18, 2017, Categories  Physics, Chemistry/Nanotechnology, Environment/Geology

    Structure of tandem devices and photoelectrochemical characterization.

    Structure of tandem devices and photoelectrochemical characterization.

    Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) recaptured the record for highest efficiency in solar hydrogen production via a photoelectrochemical (PEC) water-splitting process. The new solar-to-hydrogen (STH) efficiency record is 16.2%, topping a reported 14% efficiency in 2015 by an international team from Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, TU Ilmenau, Fraunhofer ISE and the California Institute of Technology. The record-setting PEC cell represents a significant change from the concept device Turner developed at NREL in the 1990s.

    Both the old and new PEC processes employ stacks of light-absorbing tandem semiconductors that are immersed in an acid/water solution (electrolyte) w...

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    SAVI Camera ditches Long Lens for Distant Images

    April 17, 2017, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics

    A schematic shows the single-beam SAVI system developed at Rice and Northwestern universities. The system employs a single beam, multiple images and sophisticated software to capture detailed images from a distance.

    A schematic shows the single-beam SAVI system developed at Rice and Northwestern universities. The system employs a single beam, multiple images and sophisticated software to capture detailed images from a distance. Click on the image for a larger version. Courtesy of Jason Holloway

    Imaging array proves adept at capturing details as small as a fingerprint. A unique camera that can capture a detailed micron-resolution image from a distance uses a laser and techniques that borrow from holography, microscopy and “Matrix”-style bullet time. A prototype built and tested by engineers at Rice and Northwestern universities reads a spot illuminated by a laser and captures the “speckle” pattern with a camera sensor...

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    Computers Create Recipe for 2 new Magnetic Materials

    April 16, 2017, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics

    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

    April 14, 2017, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics, Chemistry/Nanotechnology

    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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