Briefs: Energy
Commercial buildings in the United States account for nearly 40% of the total energy consumption. Among them, electricity is the largest energy source for buildings....
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Power electronics used for routing, control, and conversion of electrical power traditionally utilize silicon semiconductors. These systems tend to be bulky, require active cooling, and are inadequate for...
Articles: Medical
This column presents technologies that have applications in commercial areas, possibly creating the products of tomorrow. To learn more about each technology, see the contact information provided for that innovation.
Blog: Energy
Facility Focus: Photonics/Optics
This year, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) marks 75 years as a research institution. Located in Oak Ridge, TN, ORNL is the largest US Department of Energy science and energy laboratory, conducting basic and...
Briefs: Transportation
A working, rechargeable proton battery was developed that could store more energy than currently available lithium-ion batteries. Potential applications include household storage of...
Briefs: Test & Measurement
Water heaters and other thermal energy storage devices increase the temperature of a medium above an ambient or normal temperature, and store the warmer medium. Water heaters, in particular, must store...
Briefs: Green Design & Manufacturing
Researchers have created a material that consists of carefully structured molecules designed to be particularly electrochemically stable in order to prevent the battery from losing energy to unwanted reactions....
Briefs: Energy
By binding photosensitive dyes to common plastic membranes and adding water, chemists have made a new type of solar power generator. The device is similar to familiar silicon...
Briefs: Energy
High-Energy Lithium Flow Cells with Sulfur Anodes
Li-ion batteries offer considerable advantages such as high gravimetric and volumetric energy densities, and good calendar life and shelf life compared to aqueous systems such as Pb-acid, Ni-Cd, and Ni-MH. Various Li-ion chemistries with different Li-intercalating cathodes have attained...
Briefs: Green Design & Manufacturing
Cobalt Oxygen-Evolving Catalysts for Clean Solar Fuel
By splitting a water molecule into two atoms of hydrogen and one of oxygen, scientists can use the Sun’s energy to make a clean fuel. Splitting a water molecule requires a metal catalyst to get the reaction started. Recently, much scientific attention has focused on cobalt, a relatively...
Briefs: Energy
Innovators at NASA’s Glenn Research Center have developed a variable-frequency, alternating current (AC) power system to enable turbo-electric and hybrid electric...
Briefs: Propulsion
Batteries and combustion engines each have distinctive benefits and limitations. Batteries have simple construction and operate silently; however, their energy density (i.e., the energy per unit volume) is poor, and...
Briefs: Energy
Researchers have developed yarns that generate electricity when they are stretched or twisted. The “twistron” yarns are constructed from carbon nanotubes — hollow cylinders of carbon...
INSIDER: Energy
INSIDER: Electronics & Computers
Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory have designed a new lithium-air battery that works in a natural air environment and still functioned after a...
Blog: Transportation
Facility Focus: Green Design & Manufacturing
Located in Argonne, IL, Argonne National Laboratory (ARL) is a multidisciplinary science and engineering research center. Born out of the University of Chicago’s work on the Manhattan Project in...
Articles: Energy
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
It's difficult to see the details of atomic and topographical changes that lead to battery failure. However a team of researchers developed a method to see reactions leading to...
Briefs: Energy
The advent of cryocooler technology ushers in an era where a cryogenic environment is created and maintained locally. It is no longer necessary to transport cryogen from a factory where it is produced to the...
Blog: Energy
INSIDER: Photonics/Optics
If you forgot your charger today, engineers from the University of Washington have a solution for you — and it’s lasers.
Briefs: Energy
Energy harvesting is a diverse field encompassing many technologies that involve a process that captures small amounts of energy that would otherwise be lost as heat, light, sound, vibration, or...
Briefs: Energy
Superalloy Surface Treatment for Improved Performance of Power Turbines
To produce power more efficiently and cleanly, the next generation of power turbines will have to operate at extreme temperatures and pressures. Currently, single-crystal, nickel-based superalloys are used in such extreme environments. MCrAlY coatings (where M = Co, Ni, or...
Briefs: Energy
Cryo-Fluid Capacitor (CFC) for Solid-State Storage and Supply-on-Demand of Cryogenic Fluids
Storage and transfer of fluid commodities such as oxygen, hydrogen, natural gas, nitrogen, argon, etc. are absolute necessities in virtually every industry. These fluids are typically contained in one of two ways: as low-pressure cryogenic liquids, or as...
Briefs: Automotive
Wireless Charging of Moving Electric Vehicles
If electric cars could recharge while driving down a highway, it would virtually eliminate concerns about their range and lower their cost, perhaps making electricity the standard fuel for vehicles. Researchers have wirelessly transmitted electricity to a nearby moving object, which could advance...
Briefs: Energy
Supercapacitors can store and deliver energy faster than conventional batteries. But to realize advanced applications, supercapacitors need better electrodes, which connect the...
Briefs: Energy
Servo control systems require accurate control of motion parameters such as acceleration, velocity, and position. This requires a controller that can apply current (torque) to...
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Webcasts
On-Demand Webinars: Defense
From Data to Decision: How AI Enhances Warfighter Readiness
Upcoming Webinars: Aerospace
April Battery & Electrification Summit
Upcoming Webinars: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Tech Update: 3D Printing for Transportation in 2024
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Unleashing Epoxy's Potential: Ensuring Hermetic Sealing in Modern...
Upcoming Webinars: Test & Measurement
Building an Automotive EMC Test Plan