By: Jens Blotevogel, Colorado State University Without knowing it, most Americans rely every day on a class of chemicals called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFASs. These man-made materials have unique qualities that make them extremely useful. They repel both water and grease, so they are found in food packaging, waterproof fabric, carpets and wall paint. PFASs are also handy when things get heated. Consumers value this property in nonstick frying pans. Government agencies and industry have used them for…
Continue reading
A new mathematical model may help researchers design new materials for use in high-power batteries. According to the research team, the model could benefit chemists and materials scientists who typically rely on a trial and error method when developing new materials for batteries and capacitors. “The potential here is that you could build batteries that last much longer and make them much smaller,” says Daniel Tartakovsky, co-author of the study. “If you could engineer a material with a far superior…
Continue reading
Access to adequate water and sanitation is a major obstacle that impacts nations across the globe. Currently 1 in 10 people – or 663 million – lack access to safe water. Due to the global water crisis, more than 1.5 billion people are affected by water-related diseases every year. However, many of those disease causing organisms could be removed from water with hydrogen peroxide, but production and distribution of hydrogen peroxide is a challenge in many parts of the world…
Continue reading
A team of scientists from Oak Ridge National Laboratory is using the precision of an electron beam to instantly adhere cathode coatings for lithium-ion batteries. This new development, as reported in the Journal of The Electrochemical Society, could lead to a leap in efficiency that saves energy, reduces production cost, and eliminates the use of toxic solvents. This from ORNL: The technique uses an electron beam to cure coating material as it rolls down the production line, creating instantaneous cross-links…
Continue reading
Continue reading
Joint research from the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid and the Council for Scientific Research reports the development of a new ceramic electrode for lithium-ion batteries that can lead to cheaper, more efficient, and safer conventional batteries. “What we have patented are new ceramic electrodes that are much safer and can work in a wider temperature interval,” says Alejandro Varez, co-author of the research. To achieve this result, the researchers made ceramic sheets by way of thermoplastic extrusion molds. “This…
Continue reading
Pennington, NJ – (March 1, 2017) – The electrical grid is the central component of energy distribution and consumption, but the control of the same is currently underfunded and incapable of moving the nation toward a clean energy future. In a new study, electrochemical engineering expert Venkat Subramanian discusses the potential for implementing bottom-up renewable grid control with microgrids. Subramanian is a member of The Electrochemical Society and the Washington Research Foundation Innovation Professor of Chemical Engineering and Clean Energy…
Continue reading
Continue reading
The 2017 ECS Twin Cities Section Symposium will take place Friday, April 7 in Saint Paul, MN. Attendance is free and includes talks, lunch, and the Innovation Center Tour showing hundreds of 3M technologies, and a poster session. Register for the symposium. Confirmed speakers: Johna Leddy, University of Iowa Electrochemically Silent Films on Electrodes – Means and Methods Electrochemically inert films on electrodes alter properties of transport, selectivity, and kinetics to enable new devices and measurement methods. Examples include: density…
Continue reading
By: Joshua D. Rhodes, University of Texas at Austin The electric grid is an amazing integrated system of machines spanning an entire continent. The National Academy of Engineering has called it one of the greatest engineering achievements of the 20th century. But it is also expensive. By my analysis, the current (depreciated) value of the U.S. electric grid, comprising power plants, wires, transformers and poles, is roughly US$1.5 to $2 trillion. To replace it would cost almost $5 trillion. That…
Continue reading