Nanotechnology Spotlight – Latest Articles

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Showing Spotlights 25 - 32 of 190 in category All (newest first):

 

Machine learning models accelerate the search for critical electrocatalysts

catalysisOxygen reduction reaction (ORR), oxygen evolution reaction (OER), and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) are among the core electrochemical processes in clean energy conversion and storage devices, such as metal-air batteries, water electrolyzers, and fuel cells. Single-atom catalysts have emerged as a new frontier of heterogeneous catalysts for these reactions due to their highly increased coverage of active sites, enhanced catalytic performance, and maximal metal utilization. By using machine learning algorithms, researchers provide a new paradigm for directly predicting the catalytic performance from physical properties of catalyst candidates.

Feb 13th, 2020

3D printing batteries - an overview

microbatteryAs an advanced fabrication technique, 3D printing has been increasingly utilized to fabricate complex 3D objects via digitally controlled deposition of phase change and reactive materials and solvent-based inks. When it comes to batteries, 3D printing has several significant advantages compared with conventional battery fabrication technologies and it opens new avenues for the rapid fabrication of 3D-structured batteries with complex architectures and high performance. In next generation futuristic 3D printed energy architectures batteries and supercapacitors could be printed in virtually any shape.

Nov 4th, 2019

Matryoshka-inspired hierarchically structured triboelectric nanogenerators for wave energy harvesting

wave-nanogeneratorOcean wave energy is an abundant resource of clean energy. However, having been explored for decades, there is still lacking efficient and economical technologies to convert water wave energy into electricity for large-scale applications Researchers have developed a new type of wave energy harvester, hierarchically structured triboelectric nanogenerator (HS-TENG), based on the triboelectric effect, targeting to harvest the huge blue energy for large-scale deployments.

Oct 7th, 2019

Weaving carbon nanotube wires into high-performance, wearable supercapacitors

textile-batteryResearchers have developed a comprehensive approach involving simple and facile steps to fabricate a wearable energy storage device based on carbon nanotube coated cotton yarn. All device components are flexible. According to the team, this is the first device that has been proven to be stable under rigorous washing conditions in the presence of hot water, detergents and high torque (spinning action of washing machine). This provides the device with comprehensive mechanical stability.

May 15th, 2019

Self-powered system instantaneously harvests and stores energy

nanogeneratorResearchers introduced an exclusive self-charging and self-healing flexible asymmetric supercapacitor power cell proficient to sustainably power-up portable electronics by simply applying mechanical bio-mechanical stresses. This self-charging power cell/package comprises an asymmetric supercapacitor unit sandwiched in-between two parallel connected triboelectric nanogenerators and reveals exceptional output performances. Additionally, this nanogenerator cell exhibits remarkable self-healing behavior.

Apr 30th, 2019

Intercalation energy tuning improves performance of multivalent ion batteries

interlayer_spacingAqueous rechargeable batteries based on earth abundant materials are promising alternatives to lithium-ion batteries, which are plagued by safety and environmental concerns. These batteries utilize water-based electrolytes, which are safe, low-cost, and environment-friendly, but also possess a much higher ionic conductivity than that of the organic electrolytes. In new work, researchers report an effective and general strategy to transform inactive intercalation hosts into efficient zinc ion storage materials through intercalation energy tuning.

Apr 26th, 2019

Triboelectric nanogenerators for next-generation wearable health monitoring

nanogeneratorDozens of nanotechnology research groups worldwide are working on the development of triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) for harvesting energy from mechanical vibrations. The huge interest in TENGs stems from their ability to convert ambient mechanical energy into electricity for powering wearable electronics, energy generation using sound, sensor networks, removing air pollution with nanogenerator-enhanced air filters, implantable medical devices, and other small systems. A recent article comprehensively reviews the recent advances in TENG-based health monitoring.

Apr 12th, 2019

'Air chargeable' zinc-ion energy storage devices

air-gap-batteryResearchers propose a highly integrated system of an 'air charging' zinc-ion capacitor/battery. By scavenging energy from pervasive air, a zinc-ion capacitor/battery can be conveniently and easily charged without applying an additional power source. The system possesses a simply structure that consists of a flexible bifunctional U-shaped electrode (with the dual function of energy harvesting and storage), a zinc-metal electrode in middle, and two different polyelectrolytes (PAM and PANa) sandwiched between the metal zinc and the electrode.

Apr 5th, 2019