Oct
30
New Material Converts 90% of Light to Heat
October 30, 2014 | Leave a Comment
A multidisciplinary engineering team at University of California San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering (UCSD) has developed a new nanoparticle-based material designed to absorb and convert to heat more than 90% of the sunlight it captures. The new material can also withstand temperatures greater than 700º C (1292º F) and survive many years outdoors in […]
Oct
29
A New Type of Catalyst For Fuel Cells
October 29, 2014 | Leave a Comment
Umeå University reports Swedish and Chinese researchers are showing how a unique nano-alloy composed of palladium nano-islands embedded in tungsten nanoparticles creates a new type of catalyst for fuel cells. The new type of catalyst is highly efficient at oxygen reduction, the most important reaction in hydrogen fuel cells. The team’s paper has been published […]
Oct
28
New Ultra Thin 3-D Display Technology Cuts Power Needed
October 28, 2014 | Leave a Comment
Researchers from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, China (HKST) have devised an ultra-thin liquid crystal displays (LCDs) screen that operates without a power source. The compact, energy-efficient display technology of visual information may one day have applications in products such as e-book readers, flexible displays or as a security measure on credit […]
Oct
22
Cleaning Up The Water From Hydraulic Fracturing
October 22, 2014 | Leave a Comment
Researchers at MIT and in Saudi Arabia say they have found an economical solution to cleaning out the biggest pollutant from hydraulic fracturing oil and gas wells. The pollutant is salt in the water used to fracture the rock, that’s much saltier than seawater, after leaching salts from deep below the surface. The boom in […]
Oct
21
Kelp to Bio Oil at High Efficiency
October 21, 2014 | Leave a Comment
Khanh-Quang Tran, an associate professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology’s (NTNU) Department of Energy and Process Engineering turns 79% of kelp into bio-oil. Kelp, also known as seaweed, offers all of the advantages of a biofuel feedstock with the additional benefit of growing, not surprisingly, in the ocean. Tran conducted preliminary studies […]