Hot Topics at PRiME

Deadline for Submitting Abstracts
April 15, 2016
Submit today!

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SYMPOSIUM H04: Low-Dimensional Nanoscale Electronic and Photonic Devices 9

FOCUSED ON the most recent developments in nanoscale transparent electronic, photonic materials, and devices. The symposium will encompass low dimensional and transparent novel materials and devices, processing, device fabrication, reliability, and other related topics.

NOTING THAT the symposium includes materials preparation, growth, processing, devices, chemistry, physics, theory and applications, it also provides a forum for researchers, scientists and engineers from different countries worldwide, who are actively involved in all forms of research on low dimensional nanomaterials related to electronic and photonic devices and properties. Learn about all the topics!

Did You Know?

Students can be eligible for the General Student Poster Session awards by submitting an abstract to Z01 – General Society Student Poster Session.

Important Dates

Full papers presented at ECS meetings will be published in ECS Transactions.

Submit today!

Deadline Approaching for IMLB Abstracts

IMLB_2016_4CDo not forget that the IMLB 2016 abstract submission site is scheduled to close this Friday, January 15!

In order to make things easier for you, we will keep the submission system open through the day of Monday, January 18. Please make sure to get your abstract in as soon as possible so you can present your latest work to lithium-ion battery researchers from around the world.

Don’t miss your chance to participate in IMLB 2016, make sure to submit your abstract before January 18, 2016!

Submit today!

 

Posted in Meetings
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Call for Papers: ECS Focus Issues

focus_issues_coversThomas Fuller, JES Technical Editor, and guest editors
Bryan Pivovar, Kathy Ayers, Marcelo Carmo, Jim O’Brien, and
Xiaoyu Zhang, invite you to submit to the:

JES Focus Issue:

Electrolysis for Increased Renewable Energy Penetration

Submission Deadline | April 7, 2016

This special issue of the Journal of The Electrochemical Society focuses on electrolysis. Interest in this area has increased significantly with focus on several different technological approaches, each with their own unique challenges. Examples include, cost challenges for PEM water electrolysis, and thermal and durability challenges for high-temperature, solid-oxide electrolysis.

Topics of interest to this special issue of JES include, but are not limited to:

  • Novel approaches for electrocatalysts including nanostructures with enhanced activities, durability, and cost reduction
  • Fundamental studies of the chemical processes on solid surfaces and triple-phase-boundaries
  • Polymers, ion conducting ceramics, membranes, and electrodes for electrolysis applications
  • New approaches on the design and characterization of membrane/separator components
  • New architectures for porous transport medias and bipolar plates

Read more topics of interest.

Submission Deadline | April 7, 2016

We invite original contributions from both fundamental and applied work that falls in the technical areas of interest of JES readership.

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

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 September 2016.

Acheson-Medal_transThe deadline for nominations for the Edward Goodrich Acheson Award has been extended to March 1, 2016.

The Edward Goodrich Acheson Award, one of the oldest and most prestigious ECS honors, was established in 1928 for distinguished contributions to the advancement of any of the objects, purposes or activities of The Electrochemical Society. Read the nomination rules.

The recipient shall be a longstanding member of and established volunteer leader within ECS.  He or she will also be distinguished for contributions consisting of:  (a) discovery pertaining to electrochemical and/or solid state science and technology, (b) invention of a plan, process or device or research evidenced by a paper embodying information useful, valuable, or significant in the theory or practice of electrochemical and/or solid state science and technology.

Did you know that since 1929, ECS has presented the Acheson Award 43 times? Of that number, 33 award winners have also served the organization as President. The most recent recipient of this award was Ralph Brodd in 2014, the 79th ECS President who was esteemed for over 40 years of experience in the battery industry. Perhaps you know an ECS Past President worthy of the 2016 Acheson award. Start the nomination process today.

Edward Goodrich Acheson (1856 – 1931) was an American chemist and the 6th President of The Electrochemical Society who invented the Acheson process, which is still used to make silicon carbide (carborundum) and later a manufacturer of carborundum and graphite. Acheson worked with Thomas Edison and experimented on making a conducting carbon to be used in the electric light bulb.

Posted in Awards

Harnessing Energy from Small Bending Motions

When we think of energy, often large-scale grid storage or sleek, highly-efficient lithium ion batteries that power most of our electronics are the first things that come to mind. However, for applications such as biomedical or environmental monitoring devices, there could be an alternative way to harness energy without the use of pricy technology.

Researchers have discovered the through harnessing the energy crated by small motions, a small but unlimited power supply could be generated. With electrochemical principals as the backbone of the study, MIT researchers have developed a new way to harvest energy from natural motions and activates, including something as simple as walking.

The system is based on the slight bending of a sandwich of metal and polymer sheets.

This from MIT:

Most previously designed devices for harnessing small motions have been based on the triboelectric effect (essentially friction, like rubbing a balloon against a wool sweater) or piezoelectrics (crystals that produce a small voltage when bent or compressed). These work well for high-frequency sources of motion such as those produced by the vibrations of machinery. But for typical human-scale motions such as walking or exercising, such systems have limits.

(more…)

New Elements Added to Periodic Table

Periodic TableThe seventh row of the periodic table has been completed with the addition of four new elements. The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPC) has officially filled slots 113, 115, 117, and 118 with the tentatively ununtrium, ununpentium, ununseptium, and ununoctium.

These are the first new elements to be officially added to the period table since felrovium and livermorium in 2011.

This from PBS:

Japan’s RIKEN Institute has been credited for the discovery of ununtrium (113), while ununpentium (115), ununseptium (117) and ununoctium (118) were discovered by scientists at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna, Russia; California’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee.

Read the full article.

“The chemistry community is eager to see its most cherished table finally being completed down to the seventh row,” Professor Jan Reedijk, President of the Inorganic Chemistry Division of IUPAC, said in a statement.

New Device to Capture Bio-Data

An interdisciplinary team from multiple institutions in South Korea has recently developed a novel stretchable memory device that can be applied to the skin and used to monitor heart rate, which they believe outpaces current biosensor technology in this field.

With bio-data capturing devices on the rise in popular culture, researchers are working to increase efficiency and stability in these devices. The main problem with the current technologies is that the devices do not sit close enough to the skin. To combat this issues, the researchers have developed a new array that can be applied directly to the skin and can withstand stretching.

This from TechXplore:

The memory array is nonvolatile and made from fully multiplexed silicon and nanocrystal floating gates. The resulting device architecture built by the team is approximately the size of a human thumb and consists of two main parts, an array of ECG electrodes that are used for reading the heart rate, and the memory array—the two are connected together by a bit of electronics that also serve as amplifiers. The result is a patch-like device that is able to be stretched because the membrane material between each of the tiny squares circuits that make up both of the arrays, is flexible.

Read the full article.

Teaching Bacterium a New Trick

Scientists are teaching old bacterium some new tricks in an effort to advance artificial photosynthesis.

The bacterium Moorella thermoacetica has been trained to perform photosynthesis, even though it is non-photosynthetic. All of this comes with a push to convert sunlight into valuable chemical products for a cleaner, greener energy future.

“We’ve demonstrated the first self-photosensitization of a non-photosynthetic bacterium, M. thermoacetica, with cadmium sulfide nanoparticles to produce acetic acid from carbon dioxide at efficiencies and yield that are comparable to or may even exceed the capabilities of natural photosynthesis,” says Peidong Yang, lead researcher of this work.

Previously, Yang’s work has centered around the development of the artificial “leaf,” which aims to produce natural gas from carbon dioxide. This extension of that work is still in line with the development of a clean energy future.

(MORE: Read more of Yang’s research in the ECS Digital Library.)

“In our latest study, we combined the highly efficient light harvesting of an inorganic semiconductor with the high specificity, low cost, and self-replication and self-repair of a biocatalyst,” Yang says. “By inducing the self-photosensitization of M. thermoacetica with cadmium sulfide nanoparticles, we enabled the photosynthesis of acetic acid from carbon dioxide over several days of light-dark cycles at relatively high quantum yields, demonstrating a self-replicating route toward solar-to-chemical carbon dioxide reduction.”

IMLB Abstracts Due

IMLB_2016_4CDon’t miss your chance to participate in IMLB 2016! This international meeting will provide an exciting forum to discuss recent progress in advanced lithium batteries for energy storage and conversion.

IMLB focuses on both basic and applied research findings that have led to improved Li battery materials, and to the understanding of the fundamental processes that determine and control electrochemical performance. A major (but not exclusive) theme of the meeting will address recent advances in beyond lithium-ion technologies. The meeting will cover a wide range of topics relating to lithium battery science and technology including, but not limited to:

  • General and national projects
  • Anodes and cathodes
  • Nanostructured materials for lithium batteries
  • Liquid electrolytes and ionic liquids
  • Polymer, gel, and solid electrolytes
  • Issues related to sources and availability of materials for Li batteries
  • Li battery recycling
  • Electrode/electrolyte interface phenomena
  • Safety, reliability, cell design and engineering
  • Monitoring, control and validation systems
  • Manufacturing and formation techniques
  • Primary and rechargeable Li cells
  • Industrial production and development for HEVs, PHEVs, and EVs
  • Latest developments in Li battery technology

Make sure to submit your abstract before January 15, 2016!

See you in Chicago!

Posted in Meetings

Understanding Corrosion from Nano to Macro

From oil pipeline breaks to leaks in chemical plants, corrosion is one of the most damaging and costly naturally occurring events seen today. In order to better understand and prevent to corrosion process, John Scully, ECS member since and 2016 winner of the Society’s Linford Award, has teamed up with a multidisciplinary team to understand corrosion from the nano to the macroscale.

A new Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) has emerged with the mission of preventing corrosion. Sponsored by the Office of Naval Research, the ultimate goal of the project is to understand, predict, and control the role of minor elements on the early stages of corrosion in metal alloys.

At its core, corrosion is the degradation of materials due to electrochemical reactions with the environment. In addition to yielding safety issues, corrosion costs an expected $23 billion annually, according to the Department of Defense.

Not only can corrosion cause buildings and bridges to collapse, but corrosion o electrical outlets and medical implants can cause fires and blood poisoning.

In order to address this complex problems, Scully and others are creating a team comprised of those versed in electrochemistry, microscopy, tomography, and simulations.