Energy

How Carbon Fibers Can Help Manufacture Li-ion Batteries

Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers have overcome a barrier to using a more affordable, dry process for manufacturing the Li-ion batteries used in vehicles and electronic devices. The resulting batteries provide greater electricity flow and reduced risk of overheating. Read on to learn more.

Breakthrough Advances Sodium-Based Battery Design

Read on to learn about research that raises the benchmark for sodium-based all-solid-state batteries and demonstrates thick cathodes that retain performance at room temperature down to subzero conditions.

Breaking the Rules to Build a Better Battery

By flipping a foundational belief in battery design, Hailong Chen and his team found that charging zinc-ion batteries at higher currents can make them last longer. Read on to learn more about this surprising result.

Programming Robots with Rubber Bands

Mechanical engineering researchers in the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences think there’s another way to design robots: Programming intended functions directly into a robot’s physical structure, allowing the robot to react to its surroundings without the need for extensive on-board electronics. Read on to learn more.

Shoreline Model Predicts Storm Protection, Sea-Level Rise

Researchers have created a simulation model to analyze how coastal management activities meant to protect barrier islands from sea-level rise can disrupt the natural processes that are keeping barrier islands above water. Read on to learn more about it.

Integrating Photovoltaics with Crop Production

As countries race to expand renewable energy infrastructure, balancing clean electricity production with land use for food remains a pressing challenge — especially in Japan, where mountainous terrain limits space. A recent study led by researchers from the University of Tokyo explores a promising solution: integrating solar panels with traditional rice farming in a practice known as agrivoltaics. Read on to learn more.

Building a Good Indoor Climate with Sustainable Building Components

A team of researchers from ETH Zurich investigated a new approach to passive dehumidification of indoor spaces. Read on to learn more about it.

Lighter and More Flexible Solar Cells Achieve the Highest Efficiency

The Korea Institute of Energy Research has successfully developed ultra-lightweight flexible perovskite/ CIGS (copper indium gallium selenide) tandem solar cells and achieved a power conversion efficiency of 23.64 percent, which is the world’s highest efficiency for flexible perovskite/CIGS tandem solar cells reported to date. Read on to learn more.

New Triple-Junction Tandem Solar Cells with Increased Power Efficiency

Researchers from the National University of Singapore have developed a novel triple-junction perovskite/Si tandem solar cell that can achieve a certified world-record power conversion efficiency of 27.1 percent across a solar energy absorption area of 1 sq cm, representing the best-performing triple-junction perovskite/Si tandem solar cell thus far. Read on to learn more.

Upper Body Robotic Exoskeleton

This lightweight, portable garment is designed for active shoulder and elbow positioning.

Built-In Smart Sensors Can Prevent Lithium-Ion Battery Fires Before They Start

New smart sensors can help detect dangerous internal failures in lithium-ion batteries before they escalate into fires or explosions, say researchers from the University of Surrey. Read on to learn more.

A Cleaner, Scalable Process to Recycle Lithium-Ion Batteries

In a major step forward for sustainable energy technology, researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, led by Professor Yan Wang, William B. Smith Professor of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, have developed a new, scalable method to recycle lithium-ion batteries in a way that is both efficient and environmentally friendly. Read on to learn more.

New AI Tool Predicts Lithium Metal Anode Failures from Just Two Early Cycles

In a groundbreaking study, researchers at Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School and the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, have developed a predictive model that uses electrochemical data from the initial cycles of LMBs to forecast potential failures. Read on to learn more.

Developing High-Energy, Stable All-Solid-State Lithium Batteries Using Aluminum-Based Anodes and High-Nickel Cathodes

Researchers from Nanjing University, led by Professor Ping He and Professor Shaochun Tang, have published a comprehensive study in Nano-Micro Letters on the development of high-energy, stable all-solid-state lithium batteries using aluminum-based anodes and high-nickel cathodes. Read on to learn more about it.

Thick Electrodes’ Chemistry Matters More Than Structure for Battery Performance

A team of Rice University researchers led by materials scientist Ming Tang showed that even if the materials used in thick battery electrodes have nearly identical structures, their internal chemistry impacts energy flow — and, hence, performance — differently. This finding goes against conventional wisdom in the field. Read on to learn more.

AI Breakthrough Unlocks ‘New’ Materials to Replace Lithium-Ion Batteries

In research published in Cell Reports Physical Science, an NJIT team successfully applied generative AI techniques to rapidly discover new porous materials capable of revolutionizing multivalent-ion batteries. Read on to learn more.

Eco-Friendly Upcycling: Turning Spent Batteries into High-Voltage Energy Storage Systems

A research team led by Dr. Yosep Han at the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources has successfully developed an eco-friendly electrochemical process to upcycle lithium manganese oxide, a common cathode material in spent lithium-ion batteries. Read on to learn more.

Low-Power Hydrogen Sensor Detects Leaks in an Instant

KAUST researchers have invented a robust, highly sensitive, low-cost hydrogen sensor that outperforms available commercial detectors, offering a vital safeguard for the burgeoning hydrogen economy. Read on to learn more.

Meet SMSPDs: Superconducting Microwire Single-Photon Detectors

Plans are underway to create more powerful particle accelerators, whose collisions will unleash large subatomic storms. How will researchers sift through the chaos? Read on to find out.

Ultra-Thin Cooling Solution for Mobile Devices Unlocks Slimmer, High-Performance Technology

Scientists from Nagoya University in Japan have developed an innovative cooling device — an ultra-thin loop heat pipe — that significantly improves heat control for electronic components in smartphones and tablets. Read on to learn more.

Finding the Length ‘Sweet Spot’ for Yarn-Shaped Supercapacitors

Researchers at North Carolina State University have now identified a “sweet spot” at which the length of a threadlike energy storage technology called a “yarn-shaped supercapacitor” yields the highest and most efficient flow of energy per unit length. Read on to learn more.

How a Startup Is Reducing Carbon from Building Operations with Drones

Buildings are big energy consumers, emitting wasteful carbon, contributing to a warming planet, and accounting for more than 40 percent of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions. Fortunately, a new startup is paving the way for dramatic reductions in carbon from building operations. Lamarr. AI has perfected the process of using drones, thermal imaging, and artificial intelligence (AI) to diagnose the health of building exteriors and roofs. Read on to learn more.

A Technological Breakthrough for Ultra-Fast and Greener AI

AI systems like ChatGPT are notorious for being power-hungry. To tackle this challenge, a team from the Centre for Optics, Photonics and Lasers has come up with an optical chip that can transfer massive amounts of data at ultra-high speed. As thin as a strand of hair, this technology offers unrivaled energy efficiency. Read on to learn more.

How ISS Will Be Evaluating Photovoltaic Materials

Solar cells account for approximately six percent of the electricity used on Earth; however, in space, they play a significantly larger role, with nearly all satellites relying on advanced solar cells for their power. That’s why Georgia Tech researchers will soon be sending 18 photovoltaic cells to the International Space Station (ISS) for a study of how space conditions affect the devices’ operation over time. Read on to learn more.

New Physics-Based Simulation Tool Accelerates Battery Development

For years, researchers have been developing tools to accelerate the materials discovery and development of new energy storage technologies, including those that can predict the performance of the batteries systems for long-term grid services. With a new physics-based simulation tool, EZBattery Model, it now takes less than a second to predict the performance of redox flow batteries and its variants. Read on to learn more.

Spray Drying Tech Used in Instant Coffee Applied to High-Capacity Battery Production

The Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute (KERI) and the Korea Institute of Materials Science have jointly developed spray drying technology-based high-performance dry electrode manufacturing technology for the realization of high-capacity secondary batteries. Read on to learn more.

How Can We Optimize Solid-State Batteries? Try Asking AI

Researchers at Tohoku University developed a data-driven AI framework that points out potential solid-state electrolyte candidates that could be “the one” to create an ideal sustainable energy solution. Read on to learn more.

Diagnosing a Dud May Lead to a Better Battery

A team of chemists led by Feng Lin and Louis Madsen found a way to see into battery interfaces, which are tight, tricky spots buried deep inside the cell. Read on to learn what this means.