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Category: energy

A U of A engineering researcher is using sunlight and semiconductor catalysts to produce hydrogen by splitting apart water molecules into their constituent elements.

“The process to form the semiconductor, called thermal condensation polymerization, uses cheap and Earth-abundant materials, and could eventually lead to a more efficient, economical path to clean energy than existing ,” says project lead Karthik Shankar of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, an expert in the field of photocatalysis.

In a collaboration between the U of A and the Technical University of Munich, results of the research were published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

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Japan has taken a significant step forward in renewable energy with the successful deployment of its first megawatt-scale tidal turbine, the AR1100. Installed in the Naru Strait, this 1.1 MW tidal turbine represents a major breakthrough in marine energy technology. As Japan moves towards a sustainable, fossil-fuel-free future, tidal energy is poised to play a crucial role in the country’s energy transition.

This latest achievement builds upon the success of the AR500 pilot project, which demonstrated the viability of tidal energy with a 97% availability rate. With the AR1100 now operational, Japan has entered the global race to harness ocean power on a large scale.

This article will explore how tidal energy works, the advantages of this technology, Japan’s commitment to renewable energy, and the impact of the AR1100 project on the future of clean power generation.

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A research team has developed an innovative single-step laser printing technique to accelerate the manufacturing of lithium-sulfur batteries. Integrating the commonly time-consuming active materials synthesis and cathode preparation in a nanosecond-scale laser-induced conversion process, this technique is set to revolutionize the future industrial production of printable electrochemical energy storage devices. The team was led by Prof. Mitch Li Guijun, Assistant Professor from the Division of Integrative Systems and Design at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST).

The findings of this study are published in the journal Nature Communications.

Lithium-sulfur batteries are expected to supersede existing due to sulfur cathodes’ high theoretical energy density. To ensure the rapid conversion of sulfur species, these cathodes are typically composed of active materials, host materials (or catalysts), and conductive materials.

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A technology for hydrogen (H2) production has been developed by a team of researchers led by Professors Seungho Cho and Kwanyong Seo from the School of Energy and Chemical Engineering at UNIST, in collaboration with Professor Ji-Wook Jang’s team from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at UNIST.

Their research is published in the journal Nature Communications.

This innovative method utilizes biomass derived from sugarcane waste and silicon photoelectrodes to generate H2 exclusively using sunlight, achieving a production rate four times higher than the commercialization benchmark set by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

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Thermoelectric materials enable the direct conversion of heat into electrical energy. This makes them particularly attractive for the emerging Internet of Things. For example, for the autonomous energy supply of microsensors and other tiny electronic components.

In order to make the materials more efficient, at the same time, heat transport via the must be suppressed and the mobility of the electrons increased—a hurdle that has often hindered research until now.

An international team led by Fabian Garmroudi has now succeeded in using a new method to develop hybrid materials that achieve both goals—reduced coherence of the lattice vibrations and increased mobility of the charge carriers. The key: a mixture of two materials with fundamentally different mechanical but similar electronic properties.

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A recent study found that the Hubbard model failed to accurately predict the behavior of a simplified one-dimensional cuprate system. According to scientists at SLAC, this suggests the model is unlikely to fully account for high-temperature superconductivity in two-dimensional cuprates.

Superconductivity, the phenomenon where certain materials can conduct electricity without any energy loss, holds great potential for revolutionary technologies, from ultra-efficient power grids to cutting-edge quantum devices.

A recent study published in Physical Review Letters.

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POSTECH scientists developed a high-entropy alloy that stays strong and flexible from −196 °C to 600 °C, opening new possibilities for aerospace, automotive, and energy applications. A research team at POSTECH (Pohang University of Science and Technology), led by Professor Hyoung Seop Kim from th

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Condensation is critical for applications like power generation, water harvesting, and cooling systems. However, traditional surfaces suffer from a drop in performance under high subcooling, when the surface temperature is much lower than the surrounding vapor. This leads to water flooding and reduced heat transfer.

To tackle this long-standing challenge, researchers at National Taiwan University and National Chung Hsing University have developed a novel three-dimensional (3D) hybrid surface that significantly enhances performance and avoids flooding, even at high subcooling. The paper is published in Small Structures.

The new surface integrates short hydrophobic nanowires and hydrophilic microchannels in a structured pattern. This combination helps guide water droplets efficiently off the surface, preventing the accumulation of water that typically hampers heat transfer.

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