Apr
27
Why Your Lithium Battery Goes Bad
April 27, 2017 | Leave a Comment
An Argonne National Laboratory team of researchers has identified one of the major culprits in capacity fade of high-energy lithium-ion batteries. Scientists refer to a battery becoming old is its diminished performance as “capacity fade,” as the amount of charge a battery can supply decreases with repeated use. Capacity fade is the reason why a […]
Apr
26
New Method Uses Methanol to Store Hydrogen
April 26, 2017 | 2 Comments
University of Southern California researchers have devised a way to produce and store hydrogen from methanol, without concurrent production of either carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide, by trapping it in organic derivatives of ammonia called amines. 1994 Nobel Prize in Chemistry winner the late George Olah in his last major paper, G. K. Surya Prakash, […]
Apr
25
From Glass Bottles to New a Lithium Ion Battery
April 25, 2017 | 2 Comments
University of California – Riverside researchers have used waste glass bottles and a low-cost chemical process to create nanosilicon anodes for high-performance lithium-ion batteries. The batteries will extend the range of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and provide more power with fewer charges to personal electronics like cell phones and laptops. The group’s […]
Apr
20
Research Shows A New Understanding of Algae Oil Production
April 20, 2017 | 2 Comments
Kobe University researchers have found the mechanism behind oil synthesis within microalgae cells. The team believes the discovery could contribute to the development of biofuels. It has been a very long time since we’ve seen any news on the algae front. The improvement the team shows looks like an addition to algae competitiveness. The team’s […]
Apr
19
More Energy From Light Found to Make Hydrogen
April 19, 2017 | Leave a Comment
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) scientists have developed a proof-of-principle photoelectrochemical cell capable of capturing excess photon energy normally lost to generating heat. Using quantum dots (QD) and a process called Multiple Exciton Generation (MEG), the NREL researchers were able to push the peak external quantum efficiency for hydrogen generation to 114 percent. The advancement […]