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Solving the solar energy storage problem with rechargeable batteries that can convert and store energy at once
Currently, solar is converted to electricity in solar cells, which cannot store the energy long-term, and separate battery storage systems are inconvenient and expensive. To solve this problem, researchers are trying to find ways to combine the power conversion and storage capacity needs of solar energy into one device.
June 24, 2022 Read more
Cities of the future may be built with algae-grown limestone
Researchers have figured out a way to make cement production carbon neutral - and even carbon negative - by pulling carbon dioxide out of the air with the help of microalgae.
June 24, 2022 Read more
Cracking green hydrogen energy (w/video)
An electrocatalyst that has a long shelf life is a major step towards realizing terawatts from green hydrogen.
June 24, 2022 Read more
Scientists decontaminate heavy metal water using protein from plant waste
Scientists have created a membrane made from a waste by-product of vegetable oil manufacturing, which can filter out heavy metals from contaminated water.
June 23, 2022 Read more
Can robotics help us achieve sustainable development?
An international team of scientists have assessed how robotics and autonomous systems might facilitate or impede the delivery of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
June 22, 2022 Read more
Researchers harness the power of a new solid-state thermal technology
A known material used in electronic equipment can now be used as a thermal regulator, too, when it is in a very pure form. This new class of material gives engineers the ability to make thermal conductivity increase or decrease on demand, changing a thermal insulator into a conductor and vice versa.
June 22, 2022 Read more
A focus on chemistry, not electronics, could see future solar panels reach their potential
A material that has been heralded as the key to producing more efficient next-generation solar panels could soon be ready for mass production.
June 20, 2022 Read more
New model offers potential solutions for next-generation battery challenges
A new mathematical model has brought together the physics and chemistry of highly promising lithium-metal batteries, providing researchers with plausible, fresh solutions to a problem known to cause degradation and failure.
June 20, 2022 Read more
Upcycling with light: Biomass-derived crosslinked polymers
Researchers have chosen bio-based plastics for which degradation can be triggered by irradiation with light. They were able to develop crosslinked polymers that contain building blocks in their backbone based on vanillin.
June 18, 2022 Read more
New approach topples major barrier to commercialisation of organic flow batteries
Researchers have developed a method to dramatically extend the lifetime of organic aqueous flow batteries, improving the commercial viability of a technology that has the potential to safely and cheaply store energy from renewable sources such as wind and solar.
June 18, 2022 Read more
End-of-life plan needed for tens of thousands of wind turbine blades
Tens of thousands of wind turbine blades will end up in landfill by the end of the decade unless end-of-life programs are established soon.
June 17, 2022 Read more
Hydrogen peroxide from tea and coffee residue: New pathway to sustainability
Scientists use spent coffee grounds and tea leaf residue to successfully manufacture hydrogen peroxide, a chemical with much industrial utility.
June 10, 2022 Read more
Fuel-cell waste reduction goes platinum
Understanding platinum degradation could reduce waste and lower cost of a promising green technology, hydrogen fuel cells.
June 8, 2022 Read more
Sponge-like solar cells could be basis for better pacemakers
Scientists find that holes can also improve technology, including medical devices. They describe an entirely new way to make a solar cell: by etching holes in the top layer to make it porous.
June 8, 2022 Read more
Earth-abundant solar pixels found to produce hydrogen for weeks
Devices made of readily available oxide and carbon-based materials can produce clean hydrogen from water over weeks.
June 7, 2022 Read more
Insulation from nanostructured wood aerogel proves better than existing plastic-based materials
The new insulating material is an aerogel integrated wood which is made without adding additional substances.
June 7, 2022 Read more
New polymer property could give accessible solar power a boost
Scientists observe structural chirality, a biological property important to photosynthesis, emerging in achiral conjugated polymers. Their discovery could help enhance flexible solar cell design and increase access to affordable renewable energy.
June 7, 2022 Read more
Catching microplastics with spider webs
Scientists have studied microplastics in spider webs for the first time. The results provide first insights into the varying levels of microplastic contamination of urban air.
June 3, 2022 Read more