Energy: Alternative Fuels Energy: Batteries Energy: Fossil Fuels Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

How plants are inspiring new ways to extract value from wastewater      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Scientists are drawing inspiration from plants to develop new techniques to separate and extract valuable minerals, metals and nutrients from resource-rich wastewater.

Computer Science: General Energy: Technology Engineering: Nanotechnology
Published

Spin transport measured through molecular films now long enough to develop spintronic devices      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A research group has succeeded in measuring spin transport in a thin film of specific molecules -- a material well-known in organic light emitting diodes -- at room temperature. They found that this thin molecular film has a spin diffusion length of approximately 62 nm, a length that could have practical applications in developing spintronics technology. In addition, while electricity has been used to control spin transport in the past, the thin molecular film used in this study is photoconductive, allowing spin transport control using visible light.

Engineering: Nanotechnology
Published

Incorporation of water molecules into layered materials impacts ion storage capability      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have experimentally detected the structural change of hydration water confined in the tiny nano-scale pores of layered materials such as clays. Their findings potentially open the door to new options for ion separation and energy storage.

Biology: Microbiology Engineering: Nanotechnology
Published

New nanoparticles deliver therapy brain-wide, edit Alzheimer's gene in mice      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers describe a new family of nano-scale capsules made of silica that can carry genome-editing tools into many organs around the body and then harmlessly dissolve.

Engineering: Nanotechnology
Published

Nanoparticles make it easier to turn light into solvated electrons      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Solutions containing solvated electrons are inherently clean chemical reactants, and they could become easier and cheaper to make now that chemists have uncovered the long-sought mechanism of a light-driven process that creates them.

Engineering: Nanotechnology
Published

Engineers grow 'perfect' atom-thin materials on industrial silicon wafers      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Engineers fabricated 2D materials that could lead to next-generation transistors and electronic films.

Energy: Alternative Fuels
Published

Harnessing solar energy: New method improves readings of double-sided panels      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A laboratory in photonics and renewable energy has developed a new method for measuring the solar energy produced by bifacial solar panels, the double-sided solar technology which is expected to meet increased global energy demands moving forward.

Energy: Nuclear Engineering: Nanotechnology
Published

Researchers gain deeper understanding of mechanism behind superconductors      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Physicists have once again gained a deeper understanding of the mechanism behind superconductors. This brings researchers one step closer to their goal of developing the foundations for a theory for superconductors that would allow current to flow without resistance and without energy loss. The researchers found that in superconducting copper-oxygen bonds, called cuprates, there must be a very specific charge distribution between the copper and the oxygen, even under pressure.

Energy: Alternative Fuels
Published

Hydrogen's place in an increasingly connected energy web shows need for regulatory change      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Capturing the potential profits and jobs offered by a growing hydrogen industry may need as much innovation in regulatory agencies as it does in the research laboratories, according to new research.

Engineering: Nanotechnology
Published

Preventing vehicle crashes by learning from insects      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Despite only about 25% of car travel happening after dark, almost half of fatal accidents occur at night. As our vehicles become more advanced and even autonomous, the ways of detecting and avoiding these collisions must evolve too. Current systems are often complicated, resource-intensive or work poorly in the dark. But now, researchers have designed a simple, power-saving collision detector inspired by the way insects avoid bumping into one another.

Engineering: Nanotechnology
Published

AI discovers new nanostructures      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Scientists have successfully demonstrated that autonomous methods can discover new materials. The artificial intelligence (AI)-driven technique led to the discovery of three new nanostructures, including a first-of-its-kind nanoscale 'ladder.'

Energy: Alternative Fuels Engineering: Nanotechnology Space: Astrophysics Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

The world in grains of interstellar dust      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Understanding how dust grains form in interstellar gas could offer significant insights to astronomers and help materials scientists develop useful nanoparticles.

Energy: Alternative Fuels
Published

Interfacial interactions of the lead-free perovskite for efficient hydrogen production      (via sciencedaily.com) 

The conversion of solar energy into hydrogen energy represents a promising and green technique for addressing the energy shortage and reducing fossil fuel emissions. A research team recently developed a lead-free perovskite photocatalyst that delivers highly efficient solar energy-to-hydrogen conversion.

Energy: Alternative Fuels
Published

Theoretical computations identify a solid-state hydrogen storage material's key bottleneck      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Magnesium hydride has long been touted for its potential to store large amounts of hydrogen, something essential if hydrogen is to play a role in powering a sustainable future. Yet, sluggish dehydrogenation kinetics and the high temperature required to decompose and produce hydrogen from the material have stymied its use. Now, researchers have identified why this is so, paving the way for future design guidelines and widespread commercial use.

Chemistry: Thermodynamics Energy: Alternative Fuels
Published

Improving perovskite solar cell resistance to degradation      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Despite their huge potential, the way perovskite solar cells respond to external stimuli -- such as heat or moisture -- has a considerable impact on their stability. Researchers have identified the cause of degradation and developed a technique to improve stability, bringing us closer to widespread adoption of these cost-effective and efficient solar cells.

Energy: Batteries Engineering: Nanotechnology
Published

Novel design helps develop powerful microbatteries      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Translating electrochemical performance of large format batteries to microscale power sources has been a long-standing technological challenge, limiting the ability of batteries to power microdevices, microrobots and implantable medical devices. Researchers have created a high-voltage microbattery (> 9 V), with high-energy and -power density, unparalleled by any existing battery design.

Engineering: Nanotechnology
Published

Optical coating approach prevents fogging and unwanted reflections      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers combine a polymer coating with silicon dioxide nanostructures to create a coating to prevent fogging and unwanted reflections. The technique solves a common problem for sensors such as lidar used in autonomous cars.

Engineering: Nanotechnology
Published

Now on the molecular scale: Electric motors      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Electric vehicles, powered by macroscopic electric motors, are increasingly prevalent on our streets and highways. Now a multidisciplinary team has made an electric motor you can't see with the naked eye: an electric motor on the molecular scale. This early work -- a motor that can convert electrical energy into unidirectional motion at the molecular level -- has implications for materials science and particularly medicine, where the electric molecular motor could team up with biomolecular motors in the human body.

Engineering: Nanotechnology
Published

Researchers uncover mechanisms to easily dry, redisperse cellulose nanocrystals      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A team of chemical engineering researchers studied the mechanisms of drying the nanocrystals and proposed nanotechnology to render the nanocrystals highly redispersible in aqueous mediums, while retaining their full functionality, to make them easier to store and transport.

Engineering: Graphene Engineering: Nanotechnology
Published

Discovery of a new form of carbon called Long-range Ordered Porous Carbon (LOPC)      (via sciencedaily.com) 

The most well-known forms of carbon include graphite and diamond, but there are other more exotic nanoscale allotropes of carbon as well. These include graphene and fullerenes, which are sp2 hybridized carbon with zero (flat-shaped) or positive (sphere-shaped) curvatures. Researchers now report the discovery of a new form of carbon formed by heating fullerenes with lithium nitride.