Energy

A New Electrolyte Points to Stronger, Safer Batteries

Researchers at Columbia Engineering have developed a new gel electrolyte that both improves the lifetime and safety of anode-free lithium batteries, an emerging battery architecture that could dramatically boost energy density while simplifying manufacturing. Read on to learn more.

Monitoring Hydrogen Fuel Quality in Real Time

The Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science has developed equipment that monitors the quality of hydrogen fuel supplied to vehicles through hydrogen refueling stations in real-time. This equipment is expected to prevent hydrogen vehicle accidents caused by impurities in the hydrogen fuel and improve the quality of hydrogen production. Read on to learn more.

A Flexible and Efficient DC-DC Power Converter

A new DC-DC power converter is superior to previous designs and paves the way for more efficient, reliable, and sustainable energy storage and conversion solutions. The Kobe University development can efficiently interface with a wide range of energy sources while enhancing system stability and simplicity at an unprecedented efficiency. Read on to learn more.

Resilient Nylon Device Creates Electricity Under Tons of Pressure

Researchers have developed a flexible nylon-film device that generates electricity from compression and keeps working even after being run over by a car multiple times, opening the door to self-powered sensors on our roads and for other electronic devices. Read on to learn more.

Humidity-Resistant Hydrogen Sensor Can Improve Safety for Large-Scale Clean Energy

It's a challenge that today’s sensors do not work optimally in humid environments. Now, researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, are presenting a new sensor that is well suited to humid environments — and actually performs better the more humid it gets. Read on to learn more about it.

Porous Radical Organic Framework Improves Lithium-Sulfur Batteries

A team led by Professor Yan Lu, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, and Professor Arne Thomas, Technical University of Berlin, has developed a material that enhances the capacity and stability of lithium-sulfur batteries. Read on to learn more.

A Fully Autonomous Robotic System Measures Key Properties of New Materials

Scientists are striving to discover new semiconductor materials that could boost the efficiency of solar cells and other electronics. But the pace of innovation is bottlenecked by the speed at which researchers can manually measure important material properties. A fully autonomous robotic system developed by MIT researchers could speed things up. Read on to learn more.

Magnetocaloric Heat Pumps: The Future of Sustainable Cooling and Heating

A team of researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy Ames National Laboratory developed a magnetocaloric heat pump that matches current vapor-compression heat pumps for weight, cost, and performance. Read on to learn more about it.

The Rise of the Integrated Battery Large Model

A research team innovatively proposed the “Integrated Battery Large Model,” establishing the first AI-driven paradigm covering the entire lifecycle of the Li-ion battery industry, providing a novel technological path for the industry’s intelligent upgrade. Read on to learn more about the Battery Large Model system.

Ultrasound as a New Wireless Power Transfer Technology

A research team led by Dr. Sunghoon Hur of the Electronic and Hybrid Materials Research Center at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology and Professor Hyun-Cheol Song of Korea University has developed a biocompatible ultrasonic receiver that maintains its performance even when bent. Read on to learn more.

Electric Eel Biology Inspires Powerful Gel Battery

Power sources used in devices found in or around biological tissue must be flexible and non-toxic, while still powerful enough to support demanding technologies such as medical devices or soft robotics. To achieve this balance, researchers at Penn State are taking inspiration from electric eels. Read on to learn more.

Breakthrough in Carbon-Based Battery Materials Improves Safety, Durability, and Power

This research demonstrates a new way to make carbon-based battery materials much safer, longer lasting, and more powerful by fundamentally redesigning how fullerene molecules are connected. Read on to learn more.

Supercapacitors That Rival Batteries

In a study published in Nature Communications, a team reveals a new kind of carbon-based material that allows supercapacitors to store as much energy as traditional lead-acid batteries, while delivering power far faster than conventional batteries can manage. Read on to learn more.

Research Upturns Assumptions About Battery Failure

New research from Argonne National Laboratory and the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering has solved a major battery mystery that has led to capacity degradation, shortened lifespan and, in some cases, fire. Read on to learn more.

Building an Affordable Grid-Scale Alternative to Batteries

Researchers at Rice University have found a new way to improve a key element of thermophotovoltaic systems, which convert heat into electricity via light. Read on to learn more about it.

Anode-Free Battery Doubles Electric Vehicle Driving Range

A joint research team led by Professor Soojin Park and Dr. Dong-Yeob Han of the Department of Chemistry at POSTECH, together with Professor Nam-Soon Choi and Dr. Saehun Kim of KAIST, and Professor Tae Kyung Lee and researcher Junsu Son of Gyeongsang National University, has successfully achieved a volumetric energy density of 1270 Wh/L in an anode-free lithium metal battery. This value is nearly twice that of lithium-ion batteries currently used in electric vehicles, which typically deliver around 650 Wh/L. Read on to learn more.

New Protective Layer Boosts Lithium Metal Battery Performance

The coating toughens the surface of the electrolyte fivefold against fracturing from mechanical pressure. It also makes existing imperfections much less vulnerable to lithium burrowing inside, especially during fast recharging. Read on to learn more.

Harvesting Water from Air

Even in arid parts of the world, there is usually moisture in the air. This moisture could provide much-needed water for drinking and irrigation, but extracting water out of air is difficult. A new technology developed by KAUST researchers can consistently extract liters of water out of thin air each day without needing regular manual maintenance. Read on to learn more.

Quantum Eyes on Energy Loss: Diamond Quantum Imaging for Next-Gen Power Electronics

Improving energy conversion efficiency in power electronics is vital for a sustainable society. Wide-bandgap semiconductors like GaN and SiC power devices offer advantages due to their high-frequency capabilities. However, energy losses in passive components at high frequencies hinder efficiency and miniaturization. Find out what a research team from the School of Engineering, Institute of Science Tokyo, Japan, developed to help.

New Fuel Cell Could Enable Electric Aviation

Batteries are nearing their limits in terms of how much power they can store for a given weight. That’s a serious obstacle for energy innovation and the search for new ways to power airplanes, trains, and ships. Now, researchers at MIT and elsewhere have come up with a solution that could help electrify these transportation systems. Read on to learn more.

New Evaporative Cooling Technology Aims to Thwart Rising Energy Demands

Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a new cooling technology that could significantly improve the energy efficiency of data centers and high-powered electronics. The technology features a specially engineered fiber membrane that passively removes heat through evaporation. It offers a promising alternative to traditional cooling systems like fans, heat sinks and liquid pumps. Read on to learn more.

Advancing Computational Combustion Tools for Next-Gen Detonation Engine

In a new collaboration, the Argonne National Laboratory and National Energy Technology Laboratory are leveraging their expertise in RDEs to develop advanced computational fluid dynamics tools that can give scientists a deeper understanding of the combustion process to unlock more of the engine's potential. Read on to learn more.

All-Solid-State Lithium Battery Breakthrough

Researchers at McGill University have made a major breakthrough in advancing all-solid-state lithium batteries, a promising next-generation technology for electric vehicle (EV) batteries. By addressing a long-standing issue with battery performance, this innovation could pave the way for safer, longer-lasting EVs. Read on to learn more.

Ultrasound Waves Move Objects Hands-Free

University of Minnesota Twin Cities researchers have discovered a new method to move objects using ultrasound waves, which opens the door for using contactless manipulation in industries in which devices wouldn’t need a built-in power source to move. Read on to learn more.

A Smart Sensor for Better Monitoring

A major challenge in self-powered wearable sensors for health care monitoring is distinguishing different signals when they occur at the same time. Researchers from Penn State and China’s Hebei University of Technology addressed this issue by uncovering a new property of a sensor material, enabling the team to develop a new type of flexible sensor that can accurately measure both temperature and physical strain simultaneously but separately to more precisely pinpoint various signals.

New Self-Assembling Material Could Be the Key to Recyclable EV Batteries

Today’s electric vehicle boom is tomorrow’s mountain of electronic waste. And while myriad efforts are underway to improve battery recycling, many EV batteries still end up in landfills. A research team from MIT wants to help change that with a new kind of self-assembling battery material that quickly breaks apart when submerged in a simple organic liquid. Read on to learn more.

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.