Panasonic signs a deal with Sila Nanotechnologies that will see EVs of the future use better-performing and longer-lasting lithium-ion batteries that swap graphite for silicon.
On every count, nanoelectrofuel flow batteries appear to beat lithium-ion batteries for use in EVs and larger systems. Influit expects that its current generation of nanoelectrofuel, together with the entire ecosystem needed to produce, distribute, and recycle the fuel that the company is building around it, should cost $130/kWh when used in an EV. In comparison, lithium-ion batteries cost around $138/kWh. True, lithium-ion’s costs should drop below $100/kWh in a few years, but Influit expects its next-generation nanoelectrofuel to fall even further, to around $50 to $80/kWh. That next-gen system should have 5 times the energy density of present Li-ion systems.
Here’s what that means for an EV.
Continue reading “Can Flow Batteries Finally Beat Lithium?” »
An interview with J. Storrs Hall, author of the epic book “Where is My Flying Car — A Memoir of Future Past”: “The book starts as an examination of the technical limitations of building flying cars and evolves into an investigation of the scientific, technological, and social roots of the economic…
J. Storrs Hall or Josh is an independent researcher and author.
Scientists have discovered a new way to destroy cancer cells. Stimulating aminocyanine molecules with near-infrared light caused them to vibrate in sync, enough to break apart the membranes of cancer cells.
Aminocyanine molecules are already used in bioimaging as synthetic dyes. Commonly used in low doses to detect cancer, they stay stable in water and are very good at attaching themselves to the outside of cells.
The research team from Rice University, Texas A&M University, and the University of Texas, says the new approach is a marked improvement over another kind of cancer-killing molecular machine previously developed, called Feringa-type motors, which could also break the structures of problematic cells.
Carbon nanotubes have long tantalized researchers with their extraordinary mechanical and electronic properties. As one-dimensional nanostructures with remarkable mechanical strength and electrical conductivity, CNTs have been eyed for next-generation composites, energy storage devices, sensors and more. Yet realizing their promise has proven an enduring challenge.
CNTs have ultra-high surface energy and readily form large bundles rather than remaining as individualized tubes, severely compromising resultant material properties. Exfoliating these bundles, particularly in solution, has remained an immense difficulty despite intense R&D efforts over 30+ years employing covalent and noncovalent functionalization strategies.
Covalent approaches disrupt the CNTs’ pristine sp2 carbon networks, damaging their intrinsic properties. Noncovalent methods like surfactants and polymers have had limited success in debundling smaller diameter single-wall CNTs (SWCNTs), especially longer high aspect ratio tubes preferred for optimal conductivity and strength. And virtually all tactics have struggled to exfoliate specific SWCNT types, hindering enrichment in metallic SWCNTs boasting far higher conductance than their semiconducting counterparts.
Learn about the LVEM5 benchtop electron microscope with TEM, SEM and STEM modes. Nanoscale from your benchtop.
Computer-generated holography (CGH) represents a cutting-edge technology that employs computer algorithms to dynamically reconstruct virtual objects. This technology has found extensive applications across diverse fields such as three-dimensional display, optical information storage and processing, entertainment, and encryption.
Despite the broad application spectrum of CGH, contemporary techniques predominantly rely on projection devices like spatial light modulators (SLMs) and digital micromirror devices (DMDs). These devices inherently face limitations in display capabilities, often resulting in narrow field-of-view and multilevel diffraction in projected images.
In recent developments, metasurfaces composed of an array of subwavelength nanostructures have demonstrated exceptional capabilities in modulating electromagnetic waves. By introducing abrupt changes to fundamental wave properties like amplitude and phase through nanostructuring at subwavelength scales, metasurfaces enable modulation effects that are challenging to achieve with traditional devices.
Emerging technologies such as nanotechnology can provide efficient approaches by which new materials with broad functions, such as durable and fire-retardant properties, can be developed and subsequently used for the treatment of wood materials.
In a study published in the Journal of Bioresources and Bioproducts, an international team from New Zealand (Scion) and China (Northeast Forestry University) report a review that nanotechnology-based methods can be employed to mitigate these weaknesses and create durable, sustainable wood materials.
These wood nanotechnologies also can be employed to develop wood products with antimicrobial surfaces for various applications. Furthermore, analytical tools used in nanoscience and nanotechnology enable the precise study of wood structure and its components on a nanometer scale, particularly those aspects that can affect wood products’ biodeterioration resistance properties.
Scientists have developed a new material from a mineral abundant on Mars that they claim could open the door to sustainable habitation on the red planet.
Researchers assessed the potential of a type of nanomaterials – ultrasmall components thousands of times smaller than a human hair – for clean energy production and building materials on Mars.
The study, published in the journal Advanced Functional Materials, found that a material typically considered a waste product by NASA can be altered to provide clean energy and sustainable electronics.
A team of researchers, led by Professor Hyong-Ryeol Park from the Department of Physics at UNIST has introduced a technology capable of amplifying terahertz (THz) electromagnetic waves by over 30,000 times. This breakthrough, combined with artificial intelligence (AI) based on physical models, is set to revolutionize the commercialization of 6G communication frequencies.
Collaborating with Professor Joon Sue Lee from the University of Tennessee and Professor Mina Yoon from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the research team successfully optimized the THz nano-resonator specifically for 6G communication using advanced optimization technology.
The research findings have been published in the online version of Nano Letters.
