Sustainable Battery

The new carbon-based material for sodium-ion batteries can be extracted from apples.
Image: KIT

The saying goes: an apple a day keeps the doctor away; but in this case, an apple may be the answer to the next generation of energy storage technology.

ECS member Stefano Passerini of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology is leading a study to extract carbon-based materials for sodium-ion batteries from organic apple waste.

Developing batteries from waste

This new development could help reduce the costs of future energy storage systems by applying a cheap material with excellent electrochemical properties to the already promising field of sodium-ion batteries.

(MORE: Read more research by Passerini.)

Many researchers are currently looking to sodium-ion batteries as the next generation of energy storage, with the ability to outpace the conventional lithium-ion battery.

The future of sodium-ion batteries

Interest in sodium-ion batteries dates back to the 1980s, but discoveries haven’t taken off until recently. Researchers are now finding way to combat low energy densities and short life cycles through using novel materials such as apples.

(MORE: Read the full paper in ChemElectroChem.)

Sodium-ion batteries could prove to be the next big thing in large scale energy storage due to the high abundance of materials used in development and the relatively low costs involved.

(more…)

Krishnan Rajeshwar

Krishnan Rajeshwar, ECS senior vice president and co-founder of UTA’s Center for Renewable Energy, Science and Technology

New research headed by ECS senior vice president Krishnan Rajeshwar has developed “green fuels” to power cars, home appliances, and even impact critical energy storage devices.

Solar fuels addressing global issues

Rajeshwar’s research works to address critical global and environmental issue by creating an inexpensive way to generate fuel from harmful emissions such as carbon dioxide.

(MORE: Read additional publications by Rajeshwar.)

The University of Texas at Arlington professor and 35 year ECS member has developed a novel high-performing material for cells that harness sunlight to split carbon dioxide and water into usable fuels like methanol and hydrogen gas.

From harmful to helpful

“Technologies that simultaneously permit us to remove greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide while harnessing and storing the energy of sunlight as fuel are at the forefront of current research,” Rajeshwar said. “Our new material could improve the safety, efficiency and cost-effectiveness of solar fuel generation, which is not yet economically viable.”

(MORE: Read the full study as published in ChemElectroChem Europe.)

This from University of Texas at Arlington:

The new hybrid platform uses ultra-long carbon nanotube networks with a homogeneous coating of copper oxide nanocrystals. It demonstrates both the high electrical conductivity of carbon nanotubes and the photocathode qualities of copper oxide, efficiently converting light into the photocurrents needed for the photoelectrochemical reduction process.

(more…)

Tesla for Kids

Tesla is most commonly known for its novel innovations in automobile technology, research into battery technology, and even the company’s dedication to open source knowledge. Now, the company is shifting gears to create a product for all the tiny Elon Musk fans out there.

Tesla, in collaboration with Radio Flyer, has recently produced line of electric vehicles for kids.

True to Tesla vehicles, the kid car is essentially a scale model of Tesla’s popular electric sedan.

Tagged

Call for Papers: 2D Materials

Focus IssuesJSS Technical Editors: Fan Ren and Stefan De Gendt
and
Guest Editors: Lain-Jong (Lance) Li and Daniel S. P. Lau

invite you to submit to the:
JSS Focus Issue:
Properties, Devices, and Applications Based on 2D Layered Materials

Submission Deadline | May 18, 2016

This special issue of the ECS Journal of Solid State Science and Technology focuses on properties, devices, and applications of two-dimensional (2D) based materials including boron nitrides, black phosphorous, transition metal dichalcogenides/oxides, and other layered materials beyond graphene.

Review and contributed papers are welcome in the following domains:

  • Materials preparation
  • Novel growth technology
  • Growth chemistry
  • Metal contacts
  • Surface cleaning and passivation
  • Wet and dry etching
  • Device design and processing integration
  • Device Physics
  • Device and growth simulation
  • Applications of 2D material based devices and systems
  • Heterostructures based on 2D materials

Submission Deadline | May 18, 2016

Please submit manuscripts at http://ecsjournals.msubmit.net

(Be sure to specify your submission is for the JSS Focus Issue on Properties, Devices, and Applications Based on 2D Layered Materials.)

Papers accepted into this focus issue are published online within 10 days of acceptance. The issue is created online an article at a time with the final article published in October 2016.

Submit Your Abstract for PRiME 2016!

Prepping for PRiME

Our meetings team was just in Hawaii prepping for PRiME!
See more here.

Now is the time to make your plans for October; submit an abstract today and join us at PRiME, from October 2-7, 2016 in Honolulu, HI at the Hawaii Convention Center and the Hilton Hawaiian Village!

Submit your abstract today!

As the Joint International Meeting of The Electrochemical Society, The Electrochemical Society of Japan, and The Korean Electrochemical Society, PRiME 2016 will be one of the largest meetings on electrochemical and solid-state science, featuring over 50 symposia in the following areas:

  • Batteries and Energy Storage
  • Carbon Nanostructures and Devices
  • Corrosion Science and Technology
  • Dielectric Science and Materials
  • Electrochemical/Electroless Deposition
  • Electrochemical Engineering
  • Electronic Materials and Processing
  • Electronic and Photonic Devices and Systems
  • Fuel Cells, Electrolyzers, and Energy Conversion
  • Luminescence and Display Materials, Devices, and Processing
  • Organic and Bioelectrochemistry
  • Physical and Analytical Electrochemistry, Electrocatalysis, and Photoelectrochemistry
  • Sensors
  • General Topics

Some of these symposia will honor the work of Zempachi Ogumi, Masahiro Seo, Milan Paunovic, Mordechay Schlesinger, and Bernard Tribollet, while others are long running standards in the areas of PEFC, Li-ion batteries, molten salts, photovoltaics, SiGe, MEMS/NEMS, magnetic materials, thin film transistors, atomic layer deposition, and semiconductors.

With all of these technical talks taking place in gorgeous Honolulu, Hawaii, you might never want to go home; check out the Call for Papers and see what symposia you will be presenting in!

Submit abstract!

PRiME 2016 abstract deadline: April 15, 2016.

See you in Hawaii!

Posted in Meetings
New Semiconductor Material for Faster Electronics

The newly developed semiconductor material could eventually lead to electronic devices that are 100 percent faster.
Image: Dan Hixson/University of Utah College of Engineering

Thanks to a new development in semiconducting materials, our electronics may soon be faster all while consuming a lot less power.

The semiconductor is comprised of tin and oxygen and is only one atom thick, which allows electrical charges to move very quickly – much faster than comparable materials, such as silicon. This material also differs from conventional 3D materials, as it is 2D. The benefit of this material being 2D lies in the reduction of layers and thickness, thus allowing electronics to move faster.

This material has the ability to be applied to transistors, which are central to the majority of electronic devices.

This from the University of Utah:

While researchers in this field have recently discovered new types of 2D material such as graphene, molybdenun disulfide and borophene, they have been materials that only allow the movement of N-type, or negative, electrons. In order to create an electronic device, however, you need semiconductor material that allows the movement of both negative electrons and positive charges known as “holes.” The tin monoxide material discovered by Tiwari and his team is the first stable P-type 2D semiconductor material ever in existence.

(more…)

Microchip Energy

ECS members have found a way to embed a supercapacitor energy storage device in a silicon wafer of a microchip.
Image: Drexel University.

More than half a decade of research has revealed that carbon films can give microchips energy storage capabilities.

An international team, led by ECS members Yury Gogotsi and Patrice Simon, has confirmed their process for making carbon films and micro-supercapacitors that will allow microchips and their power sources to become one and the same.

(MORE: Read additional publications by Gogotsi.)

“This has taken us quite some time, but we set a lofty goal of not just making an energy storage device as small as a microchip—but actually making an energy storage device that is part of the microchip and to do it in a way that is easily integrated into current silicon chip manufacturing processes,” Simon said. “With this achievement, the future is now wide open for chip and personal electronics manufacturers.”

(MORE: Read additional publications by Simon.)

This research proves that the versatile films can be seamlessly integrated into systems that power silicon-based microchips, providing the ability to power items from laptops to smart watches.

“The place where most people will eventually notice the impact of this development is in the size of their personal electronic devices, their smart phones, fitbits89 and watches,” Gogotsi said. “Even more importantly, on-chip energy storage is needed to create the Internet of Things – the network of all kinds of physical objects ranging from vehicles and buildings to our clothes embedded with electronics, sensors, and network connectivity, which enables these objects to collect and exchange data. This work is an important step toward that future.”

This from Drexel University:

The researchers’ method for depositing carbon onto a silicon wafer is consistent with microchip fabrication procedures currently in use, thus easing the challenges of integration of energy storage devices into electronic device architecture. As part of the research, the group showed how it could deposit the carbon films on silicon wafers in a variety of shapes and configurations to create dozens of supercapacitors on a single silicon wafer.

Read the full article.

The carbon films also have the potential to have applications in dynamic seals, gas filtration, and water desalination or purification.

Lock in Your Location at IMLB

imlb-cover-resizedLithium batteries are everywhere!

IMLB 2016 will be the premier international conference on the state of lithium battery science and technology. Convening from June 19-24 in the heart of downtown Chicago, the conference is expected to draw 2,000 experts, researchers, and company representatives involved in the lithium battery field. This meeting is one of the leading resources for industry experts from around the world and attendees represent an extremely well-targeted and responsive audience.

Join industry leaders like, Samsung, Toyota and more as an exhibitor at the 2016 IMLB. As an exhibitor, you will have the unique opportunity to present your products and services to key constituents from industry, government and academia.

Exhibit space is filling up quickly!

As always, exhibit booths and sponsorship options will be allotted on a first come, first served basis. As the exhibit lineup continues to grow we highly recommend you lock in your exhibit location and sponsorship options today. To reserve a booth, or browse our sponsorship options, please complete pages 7-8 of our online exhibit and sponsorship brochure and return them by no later than Friday, March 11.

If you have any questions, or would like to work on a custom package, please feel free to contact Casey Emilius, ECS Meetings Coordinator.

Posted in Meetings

Battery Division Awards

Nominations Deadline: March 15, 2016

Battery IconECS recognizes outstanding technical achievements in electrochemistry and solid-state science and technology through its Honors & Awards program. There are many deserving members of the Battery Division among us and this is an opportunity to highlight their contributions.

We are currently accepting nominations for:

Battery Division Research Award: established in 1958 to encourage excellence in battery and fuel cell research, and to encourage publication in ECS journals.

Battery Division Technology Award: established in 1993 to encourage the development of battery and fuel cell technology, and to recognize significant achievements in this area.

Battery Division Student Research Award: established in 1979 to recognize promising young engineers and scientists in the field of electrochemical power sources.

Please review the full award criteria for distinct application requirements before making the nomination.

Take a look at the 2015 winners of Battery Division Awards:

  • Dr. Martin Winter – Research
  • Dr. Ashok Shukla – Technology
  • Matteo Bianchini – Student Research

Nominate a colleague today!

Happy Valentine’s Day

 

2016-valentine-card-text-06

We all know electrochemistry and solid state scientists are solving some of the biggest challenges today, but did you know their innovations are also improving traditional Valentine’s Day gifts around the world?

Share your love for science. Donate to ECS today!