Sand batteries are emerging as a viable alternative to lithium-ion for thermal energy storage, capable of holding heat with minimal loss.
Category: energy
“They Made It 2,000× More Efficient!”: New Quantum Computer Crushes Supercomputers by Using Less Power and Solving Problems 200× Faster
IN A NUTSHELL 🚀 Nord Quantique introduces a revolutionary bosonic qubit design that integrates error correction directly into its structure. 🌱 The new quantum computers are significantly energy-efficient, using only a fraction of the power required by traditional systems. 🔧 Utilizing multimode encoding, Nord Quantique’s system achieves a 1:1 ratio of physical to logical qubits.
Three-layered material separates charges to boost green hydrogen production
The chemical reaction to produce hydrogen from water is several times more effective when using a combination of new materials in three layers, according to researchers at Linköping University in Sweden. Hydrogen produced from water is a promising renewable energy source—especially if the hydrogen is produced using sunlight.
Solid polymer could power safer EVs, drones, and space probes
Researchers at Florida State University have created new polymer blends that could make batteries safer and longer-lasting.
New liquid can simplify hydrogen transportation and storage
Researchers at EPFL and Kyoto University have created a stable hydrogen-rich liquid formed by mixing two simple chemicals. This breakthrough could make hydrogen storage easier, safer, and more efficient at room temperature.
Hydrogen can be the clean fuel of the future, but getting it from the lab to everyday life isn’t simple. Most hydrogen-rich materials are solids at room temperature, or they only become liquids under extreme conditions like high pressure or freezing temperatures.
Even materials such as ammonia borane, a solid, hydrogen-rich compound that can store a lot of hydrogen, are difficult because they release hydrogen only when heated, often producing unwanted byproducts.
2D materials design: Material strength and toughness simultaneously achieved through layer twisting
The mechanical strength and toughness of engineering materials are often mutually exclusive, posing challenges for material design and selection. To address this, a research team from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has uncovered an innovative strategy: by simply twisting the layers of 2D materials, they can enhance toughness without compromising material’s strength.
This breakthrough facilitates the design of strong and tough new 2D materials, promoting their broader applications in photonic and electronic devices. The findings have been published in Nature Materials.
While 2D materials often exhibit exceptional strength, they are extremely brittle. Fractures in materials are also typically irreversible. These attributes limit the use of 2D materials in devices that require repeated deformation, such as high-power devices, flexible electronics and wearables.
“It’s Like Armoring Your Home”: Breakthrough Coating Transforms Ordinary Windows Into Powerful Energy-Saving Shield for Every Household
IN A NUTSHELL 🌟 Rice University researchers developed a groundbreaking glass coating that reflects heat and reduces energy costs. 🔬 The coating is made from a tough layer of boron nitride and carbon, offering resistance to UV light and temperature swings. 💡 This innovation uses pulsed laser deposition at room temperature, making it cost-effective and.
Giga Nevada EXPLODES With Semi Progress
Tesla’s Giga Nevada factory is making significant progress in the production of its Semi trucks and batteries, and is expected to play a major role in the company’s future growth and dominance in the electric vehicle market ## ## Questions to inspire discussion.
Semi-Truck Production.
🚛 Q: What progress is Tesla making on semi-truck trailers at Giga Nevada? A: Tesla is using double drop trailers to haul oversized loads of large machinery, which is a critical step in the factory’s development for semi-truck production.
🔋 Q: How does the LFP battery production at Giga Nevada relate to semi-truck goals? A: The LFP factory is designed to produce 10 gigawatts of stationary batteries annually, which is insufficient for Tesla’s goal of producing 50,000 semi-trucks.
Battery Production.
⚡ Q: What is the current status of battery production at Giga Nevada? A: Battery production is almost ready to begin, with the LFP factory set up to manufacture stationary batteries.
Heterometallic nanosheets containing multiple metal ions achievable through new technique
Coordination nanosheets are a unique class of two-dimensional (2D) materials that are formed by coordination bonds between planar organic ligands and metal ions. These 2D nanomaterials are increasingly utilized in energy storage, electronic devices, and as electrode-based catalysts due to their excellent electronic, optical, redox properties, and catalytic activity.
Over the last decade, coordination nanosheets composed of various transition metal ions, such as nickel (Ni) ions linked to benzenehexathiol (BHT)—an organic compound—have been successfully synthesized in laboratories. However, their production has relied on a two-phase interfacial reaction that occurs between two immiscible phases of matter.
Furthermore, the selective synthesis of well-organized heterometallic nanosheets, containing two or more metal ions, has proven to be difficult. To address these two major issues limiting the production of novel coordination nanosheets, a team of researchers led by Professor Hiroshi Nishihara, from the Research Institute for Science and Technology (RIST), Tokyo University of Science (TUS), Japan, has conducted a series of innovative experiments.