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Category: energy

Maximizing direct methanol fuel cell performance: Reinforcement learning enables real-time voltage control

Fuel cells are energy solutions that can convert the chemical energy in fuels into electricity via specific chemical reactions, instead of relying on combustion. Promising types of fuel cells are direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs), devices specifically designed to convert the energy in methyl alcohol (i.e., methanol) into electrical energy.

Despite their potential for powering large electronics, vehicles and other systems requiring portable power, these methanol-based fuel cells still have significant limitations. Most notably, studies found that their performance tends to significantly degrade over time, because the materials used to catalyze reactions in the cells (i.e., electrocatalytic surfaces) gradually become less effective.

One approach to cleaning these surfaces and preventing the accumulation of poisoning products produced during chemical reactions entails the modulation of the voltage applied to the fuel cells. However, manually adjusting the voltage applied to the surfaces in effective ways, while also accounting for physical and chemical processes in the fuel cells, is impractical for .

Programmable soft material bends, bounces and absorbs energy on demand

Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and their collaborators have created a new class of programmable soft materials that can absorb impacts like never before, while also changing shape when heated.

The research—which includes collaborators from Harvard University, the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Sandia National Laboratories and Oregon State University—opens the door to smarter, lighter and more resilient materials that respond to the world around them. The research is published in the journal Advanced Materials.

Built from liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs)—rubbery polymers that shift in response to heat, light or stress—the team 3D-printed the materials into carefully engineered lattice structures. These lattices can be designed to absorb energy, stiffen, soften or even change shape, depending on their architecture and environmental conditions.

Vibration energy harvesting by ferrofluids in external magnetic fields

The development of wearable electronics and the current era of big data requires the sustainable power supply of numerous distributed sensors. In this paper, we designed and experimentally studied an energy harvester based on ferrofluid sloshing. The harvester contains a horizontally positioned cylindrical vial, half-filled with a ferrofluid exposed to a magnetic field. The vial is excited by a laboratory shaker and the induced voltage in a nearby coil is measured under increasing and decreasing shaking rates. Five ferrofluid samples are involved in the study, yielding the dependence of the electromotive force on the ferrofluid magnetization of saturation. The energy harvesting by ferrofluid sloshing is investigated in various magnetic field configurations. It is found that the most effective magnetic field configuration for the energy harvesting is characterized by the field intensity perpendicular to the axis of the vial motion and gravity. The harvested electric power linearly increases with the ferrofluid magnetization of saturation. The electromotive force generated by each ferrofluid is found identical for measurements in acceleration and deceleration mode. A significant reduction in the induced voltage is observed in a stronger magnetic field. The magneto-viscous effect and partial immobilization of the ferrofluid in the stronger magnetic field is considered. The magneto-viscous effect is documented by a supplementing experiment. The results extend knowledge on energy harvesting by ferrofluid sloshing and may pave the way to applications of ferrofluid energy harvesters for mechanical excitations with changing directions in regard to the magnetic field induction.

Rajnak, M., Kurimsky, J., Paulovicova, K. et al. Vibration energy harvesting by ferrofluids in external magnetic fields. Sci Rep 15, 26,701 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-12490-w.

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Ultrathin metallic films show tunable, directional charge flow using light at room temperature

In a major step toward next-generation electronics, researchers at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities have discovered a way to manipulate the direction of charge flow in ultrathin metallic films at room temperature using light. This discovery opens the door to more energy-efficient optical sensors, detectors, and quantum information devices.

The research is published in Science Advances.

The team showed that ultra-thin layers of ruthenium dioxide (RuO2), grown on (TiO2), can be made to behave differently depending on direction—both in how they respond to light and how electricity moves through them.

China boosts lithium battery life, efficiency using boron additives

Lithium batteries get extended efficiency, life using electrolytes with boron additives.

Scientists from China have confirmed that electrolytes with boron additives can tackle the major challenges of lithium metal batteries.

Energy storage devices that use lithium metal as an anode have exhibited an energy density of over 500 Wh/kg. However, a research team from China’s Nankai University claimed that the practical application of lithium metal batteries (LMBs) is still severely limited by issues such as lithium dendrite formation, short cycle life, and low Coulombic efficiency of Li plating/stripping.

Additive Manufacturing Enables Advanced Thermal Control Systems for Next-Generation Space Missions

3D Systems is collaborating with researchers from Penn State University and Arizona State University on two projects sponsored by NASA intended to enable groundbreaking alternatives to current thermal management solutions.

Severe temperature fluctuations in space can damage sensitive spacecraft components, resulting in mission failure. By combining deep applications expertise with 3D Systems’ leading additive manufacturing solutions comprising Direct Metal Printing (DMP) technology and tailored materials and Oqton’s 3DXpert® software, the teams are engineering sophisticated thermal management solutions for the demands of next-generation satellites and space exploration.

The project led by researchers with Penn State University, Arizona State University, and the NASA Glenn Research Center in collaboration with 3D Systems’ Application Innovation Group (AIG) has resulted in processes to build embedded high-temperature passive heat pipes in heat rejection radiators that are additively manufactured in titanium. These heat pipe radiators are 50 percent lighter per area with increased operating temperatures compared with current state-of-the-art radiators, allowing them to radiate heat more efficiently for high-power systems.

By combining deep applications expertise with 3D Systems’ leading additive manufacturing solutions, research teams are engineering sophisticated thermal management solutions for the demands of next-generation satellites and space exploration.

Researchers develop flexible fiber material for self-powered health-monitoring sensors

Could clothing monitor a person’s health in real time, because the clothing itself would be a self-powered sensor? A new material created through electrospinning, which is a process that draws out fibers using electricity, brings this possibility one step closer.

A team led by researchers at Penn State has developed a new fabrication approach that optimizes the internal structure of electrospun fibers to improve their performance in electronic applications. The team has published its findings in the Journal of Applied Physics.

This novel electrospinning approach could open the door to more efficient, flexible and scalable electronics for wearable sensors, health monitoring and sustainable energy harvesting, according to Guanchun Rui, a visiting postdoctoral student in the Department of Electrical Engineering and the Materials Research Institute and co-lead author of the study.

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