batteries tagged posts

Drexel University researchers have developed two new electrode designs, using MXene material, that will allow batteries to charge much faster. The key is a microporous design that allows ions to quickly make their way to redox active sites. Credit: Drexel University

Researchers use mxene to push charging rate limits in energy storage. Can you imagine fully charging your cell phone in just a few seconds? Researchers in Drexel University’s College of Engineering can, and they took a big step toward making it a reality with their recent work unveiling of a new battery electrode design...

When chemistry graduate student Demetrius A. Vazquez-Molina took COF-5, a nano sponge-like, non-flammable manmade material and pressed it into pellets the size of a pinkie nail, he noticed something odd when he looked at its X-ray diffraction pattern. Professor Fernando Uribe-Romo suggested he turn the pellets on their side and run the X-ray analysis again. The result: The crystal structures within the material fell into precise patterns that allow for lithium ions to flow easily — like in a liquid. Credit: Nick Russett

2 University of Central Florida scientists have discovered how to get a solid material to act like a liquid without actually turning it into liquid, potentially opening a new world of possibilities for the electronic, optics and computing industries. When Demetrius A...

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...

Vanderbilt graduate student Anna Douglas holding one of the batteries that she has modified by adding millions of quantum dots made from iron pyrite, fool’s gold. Credit: John Russell, Vanderbilt University

If you add quantum dots – nanocrystals 10,000X smaller than the width of a human hair – to a smartphone battery it will charge in 30 seconds, but the effect only lasts for a few recharge cycles. However some Vanderbilt University researtchers have found a way to overcome this problem: Making the quantum dots out of iron pyrite ie as fool’s gold, can produce batteries that charge quickly and work for dozens of cycles.

Iron pyrite is one of the most abundant materials in the earth’s surface...