By: Bob Marcotte, University of Rochester  In order to power entire communities with clean energy, such as solar and wind power, a reliable backup storage system is needed to provide energy when the sun isn’t shining and the wind doesn’t blow. One possibility is to use any excess solar- and wind-based energy to charge solutions of chemicals that can subsequently be stored for use when sunshine and wind are scarce. At that time, the chemical solutions of opposite charge can…
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Using advanced computational methods, University of Wisconsin–Madison materials scientists have discovered new materials that could bring widespread commercial use of solid oxide fuel cells closer to reality. A solid oxide fuel cell is essentially an engine that provides an alternative way to burn fossil fuels or hydrogen to generate power. These fuel cells burn their fuel electrochemically instead of by combustion, and are more efficient than any practical combustion engine. As an alternative energy technology, solid oxide fuel cells are…
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A collaborative team of researchers from Shinshu University in Japan have found a new way to curb some of the potential dangers posed by lithium ion batteries. The team was led by Susumu Arai, a professor of the department of materials chemistry and head of Division for Application of Carbon Materials at the Institute of Carbon Science and Technology at Shinshu University. These batteries, typically used in electric vehicles and smart grids, could help society realize a low-carbon future, according…
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Engineers are developing a new method of processing nanomaterials that could lead to faster and cheaper manufacturing of flexible, thin film devices, such as touch screens and window coatings. The “intense pulsed light sintering” method uses high-energy light over an area nearly 7,000 times larger than a laser to fuse nanomaterials in seconds. The existing method of pulsed light fusion uses temperatures of around 250 degrees Celsius (482 degrees Fahrenheit) to fuse silver nanospheres into structures that conduct electricity. But…
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Dates and time subject to change. For a full listing of both social and technical events: Click Here Abbreviation Key WSCC = Washington State Convention Center SS = Seattle Sheraton Registration 6th Floor Lobby (WSCC) Sunday.................................................................... Monday................................................................... Tuesday................................................................... Wednesday.............................................................. Thursday................................................................. Note: Registration will not be open on Saturday. . . 0700-1900h 0700-1900h 0700-1730h 0700-1600h 0700-1200h Opening Reception (new & improved) Sunday 1900-2100h 4th Floor Atrium Lobby (WSCC) Come get a taste for Seattle and help kick-off an exciting week! All...
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Fuel cells play a major role in creating a clean energy future, with a broad set of applications ranging from powering buildings to electrifying transportation. But, as with all emerging technologies, researchers have faced many barriers in developing affordable, efficient fuel cells and creating a way to cleanly produce the hydrogen that powers them. In a new Perspective article, published in the Journal of The Electrochemical Society, researchers are aiming to tackle a fundamental debate in key reactions behind fuel…
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Engineers used tissue paper—similar to toilet tissue—to make a new kind of wearable sensor that can detect a pulse or a blink of an eye. The sensor, which is light, flexible, and inexpensive, could be used for health care, entertainment, and robotics, researchers say. Tearing tissue paper that’s loaded with nanocomposites and breaking the paper’s fibers makes the paper acts like a sensor. It can detect a heartbeat, finger force, finger movement, eyeball movement, and more, says Jae-Hyun Chung, an…
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Take the time to honor and support your friends and colleagues, be sure to add the division award winners’ talks to your calendar, they are scheduled in various symposia throughout the week. Electronics and Photonics Division Award Monday, May 14 | 0800h Washington State Convention Center, Room 213 Technological Issues and Design Rules of Electrodes for High-Efficiency GaN-Based Light-Emitting Diodes By Tae-Yeon Seong Tae-Yeon Seong received his PhD degree in materials science from the University of Oxford in 1992. After...
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The ECS Society Awards will be presented during this meeting at the Plenary Session. The Vittorio de Nora Award will be presented to Hariklia (Lili) Deligianni, IBM's Thomas J. Watson Research Center and the Henry B. Linford Award for Distinguished Teaching will go to Ralph White, University of South Carolina. Vittorio de Nora Award Wednesday, May 16 | 1400h Washington State Convention Center, Room 303 New Tools for Brain Research By Hariklia Deligianni Hariklia (Lili) Deligianni is a research scientist in IBM’s...
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While tracking electrons moving through exotic materials, researchers have discovered intriguing properties not found in conventional, silicon-based semiconductors. Unlike current silicon-based electronics, which shed most of the energy they consume as waste heat, the future is all about low-power computing. Known as spintronics, this technology relies on a quantum physical property of electrons—up or down spin—to process and store information, rather than moving them around with electricity as conventional computing does. On the quest to making spintronic devices a reality,…
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