Advances in batteries/energy thread

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Eyes inspire more efficient solar cell architecture
By Richard Moss
February 28, 2015
2 Pictures

Solar cells don't at first glance have any relation to a tiny structure in the eye that makes our central vision sharp, but that tiny structure – called the fovea centralis – may be the key to a huge boost in solar cell efficiency. A team of scientists at Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin and the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light took the underlying mechanisms that guide the fovea and adapted them to silicon as a surface for collecting light in solar cells.

 

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A ‘breakthrough’ in rechargeable batteries for electronic devices and electric vehicles

Researchers from Singapore’s Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) of A*STAR and Quebec’s IREQ (Hydro-Québec’s research institute) have synthesized a new material that they say could more than double the energy capacity of lithium-ion batteries, allowing for longer-lasting rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles and mobile devices.

The new material for battery cathodes (the + battery pole) in based on a “lithium orthosilicate-related” compound, Li2MnSiO4, combining lithium, manganese, silicon and oxygen, which the researchers found superior to conventional phosphate-based cathodes. They report an high initial charging capacity of 335 mAh/g (milliAmpere-hours per gram) in the journal Nano Energy.

 

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Researchers enable solar cells to use more sunlight

Scientists of the University of Luxembourg and of the Japanese electronics company TDK have extended sensitivity of a conductive oxide film used in solar cells in the near-infrared region to use more energy of the sun and thus create higher current.
Similar attempts have been made before, but this is the first time that these films were prepared by a one-step process and, at the same time, stable in air, the researchers say.
“The films made at the University of Luxembourg have been exposed to air for one and half years and are still as conductive as when they were fresh prepared,” says Prof. Susanne Siebentritt, head of the laboratory for photovoltaics at the University of Luxembourg.

 

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StoreDot rapid-charging battery heads to smartphones this year

6 March 2015

Smartphones are amazing things, but one gripe felt almost universally is the problem of dreadful battery life. StoreDot hopes to ease our worries, showing off the latest iteration of its charge-in-seconds tech at Mobile World Congress. What's more, it says we'll see this technology in a real smartphone before the end of this year.
StoreDot's system, which you can see in action in the video above, uses a different chemical makeup to traditional batteries. We saw a modified Samsung Galaxy S5 go from 15 percent battery to 100 percent in a little under two minutes, but StoreDot says it hopes to get a 1,500mAh battery to charge in one minute by the end of the year.
While mobile makers like Samsung and Apple have focused on trying to make batteries last longer, StoreDot's approach is different. Instead, it wants to build batteries that charge up very quickly, making topping up your phone's charge a trivial matter. There's a trade-off involved however -- StoreDot's current battery will only last you around 4-5 hours. But if charging is the work of a moment, having to charge a few times through the day might not be such a terrible compromise.

http://www.cnet.com/...ones-this-year/

 

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One step closer to artificial photosynthesis and 'solar fuels'
5 hours ago

Caltech scientists, inspired by a chemical process found in leaves, have developed an electrically conductive film that could help pave the way for devices capable of harnessing sunlight to split water into hydrogen fuel.

Read more at: One step closer to artificial photosynthesis and solar fuels

 

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New kind of ‘tandem’ solar cell developed
Researchers combine two types of photovoltaic material to make a cell that harnesses more sunlight
March 26, 2015
[+]

Researchers at MIT and Stanford University have developed a new kind of solar cell that combines two different layers of sunlight-absorbing material to harvest a broader range of the sun’s energy. The development could lead to photovoltaic cells that are more efficient than those currently used in solar-power installations, the researchers say.

 

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Can perovskites and silicon team up to boost industrial solar cell efficiencies?

27 March 2015

Silicon solar cells dominate 90 percent of the global photovoltaic market today, yet the record power conversion efficiency of silicon photovoltaics has progressed merely from 25 percent to 25.6 percent during the past 15 years -- meaning the industry is keen to explore alternatives.

A collaboration between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Stanford University may be poised to shake things up in the solar energy world. By exploring ways to create solar cells using low-cost manufacturing methods, the team has developed a novel prototype device that combines perovskite with traditional silicon solar cells into a two-terminal "tandem" device.
As the team reports in the journal Applied Physics Letters, from AIP Publishing, their new tandem cells have the potential to achieve significantly higher energy conversion efficiencies than standard single-junction silicon solar cells.
Perovskite is an inexpensive crystalline material that can easily be produced in labs and, as it turns out, stacking it atop a conventional silicon solar cell forms a tandem that has the potential to improve the cell's overall efficiency, a measure of the amount of sunlight the cell can convert into electricity.
The team focused on tandem solar cells because there was big room for improvement in their cost and market penetration. Tandem solar cells have only garnered a worldwide market share of 0.25 percent compared to silicon solar cells' 90 percent. "Despite having higher efficiency, tandems are traditionally made using expensive processes -- making it difficult for them to compete economically," said Colin Bailie, a Ph.D. student at Stanford and an author on the new paper.

http://www.solardail...encies_999.html

 

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New discovery may be breakthrough for hydrogen cars
4 hours ago

Enlarge
Virginia Tech professor Percival Zhang (right) and recent doctoral graduate Joe Rollin. Credit: Virginia Tech

A team of Virginia Tech researchers has discovered a way to create hydrogen fuel using a biological method that greatly reduces the time and money it takes to produce the zero-emissions fuel. This method uses abundantly available corn stover - the stalks, cobs, and husks - to produce the hydrogen.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2015-04-discovery-breakthrough-hydrogen-cars.html#jCp

 

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Stanford develops flexible, fast-charging aluminum battery
Stanford develops flexible fast-charging aluminum battery - The Washington Post

April 6, 2015 6:43 PM EDT - Stanford University professor Hongjie Dai and colleagues developed a flexible, non-flammable aluminum battery that produces two volts of electricity, and recharges completely in just over a minute. The research team was also able to generate five volts, which is enough to power a smartphone when using two aluminum batteries and a converter. (Mark Shwartz, Precourt Institute for Energy, Stanford University)

 

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Researchers Enhance Ionic Conductivity Of Solid Electrolyte By 3 Orders Of Magnitude — Potential For High-Energy Li-Ion Batteries
April 7th, 2015 by James Ayre
Researchers Enhance Ionic Conductivity Of Solid Electrolyte By 3 Orders Of Magnitude -- Potential For High-Energy Li-Ion Batteries CleanTechnica

The ionic conductivity of polymer-based solid electrolyte has been enhanced by more than 3 full orders of magnitude by researchers at Stanford University, through the use of ceramic nanowire fillers, according to a recent press release from the university. The new ceramic-nanowire-filled composite polymer electrolyte also possesses a better (enlarged) electrochemical window of stability. (It might be obvious to some here, but just to be clear, an improvement of 3 orders of magnitude is a considerably greater one than when something is increased 3 times over — it’s actually an increase of ~1,000 times.)

This improvement opens the way toward the design of solid ion electrolytes with superior performance as compared against conventional electrolytes, according to the researchers involved.

Stuff like this is why I support tax payer funded research grants! Well, worth it!

 

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Company developing commercial tech to convert heat to electricity

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, has licensed patents on high-temperature thermoelectric materials to Evident Technologies, Troy, New York, which provides these kinds of materials and related power systems.
Thermoelectric materials convert heat into electricity. For example, by using this technology, waste-heat from a car could potentially be fed back into the vehicle and used to generate electricity. This would increase efficiency and deliver low-cost solutions for harvesting waste heat.

"The licensed technology could be applied to convert heat into electricity in a number of waste heat recovery applications, including automobile exhaust and high-temperature industrial processes such as ceramic and glass processing plants," said Thierry Caillat, task leader for the thermoelectrics team at JPL.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2015-04-company-commercial-tech-electricity.html#jCp

Who says we don't get innovation from the government? LOL

 

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Graphene device makes ultrafast light to energy conversion possible
By Colin Jeffrey
April 15, 2015

Converting light to electricity is one of the pillars of modern electronics, with the process essential for the operation of everything from solar cells and TV remote control receivers through to laser communications and astronomical telescopes. These devices rely on the swift and effective operation of this technology, especially in scientific equipment, to ensure the most efficient conversion rates possible. In this vein, researchers from the Institute of Photonic Sciences (Institut de Ciències Fotòniques/ICFO) in Barcelona have demonstrated a graphene-based photodetector they claim converts light into electricity in less than 50 quadrillionths of a second.

 

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http://www.scienceda...50416132638.htm

A potentially game-changing breakthrough in artificial photosynthesis has been achieved with the development of a system that can capture carbon dioxide emissions before they are vented into the atmosphere and then, powered by solar energy, convert that carbon dioxide into valuable chemical products, including biodegradable plastics, pharmaceutical drugs and even liquid fuels.

Scientists with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California (UC) Berkeley have created a hybrid system of semiconducting nanowires and bacteria that mimics the natural photosynthetic process by which plants use the energy in sunlight to synthesize carbohydrates from carbon dioxide and water. However, this new artificial photosynthetic system synthesizes the combination of carbon dioxide and water into acetate, the most common building block today for biosynthesis.

 

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New device combines the advantages of batteries and supercapacitors
By Dario Borghino
April 19, 2015
2 Pictures

Scientists at UCLA's California NanoSystems Institute have developed a new device that combines the high energy densities of batteries and the quick charge and discharge rates of supercapacitors. The hybrid supercapacitor is reportedly six times as energy-dense as a commercially available supercapacitor and packs nearly as much energy per unit volume as a lead-acid battery.

 

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Lithium-Sulfur Batteries With High Capacity + Rate Performance Via Vertically Aligned Sulfur-Graphene Nanowall Cathodes

Published on April 18th, 2015 | by James Ayre


New cathode materials for lithium-sulfur batteries constructed out of vertically aligned sulfur–graphene (S-G) nanowalls on electrically conductive substrates — delivering high capacity + rate performance — have been developed by researchers at Beihang University in China. ...

 

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Nano ‘sandwich’ improves rechargeable lithium batteries
April 20, 2015
[+]

The key to better cellphones and other rechargeable electronics may be tiny “sandwiches” made of nanosheets of molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), according to Kansas State University assistant professor of mechanical and nuclear engineering Gurpreet Singh and his research team.

 

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3-D Printed Graphene “Liquid Smoke” Energy Storage Breakthrough
April 24th, 2015 by Tina Casey

We already know that graphene is the nanomaterial of the new millennium, and that graphene is beginning to play a big role in next-generation energy storage, including electrical vehicle batteries. We also know that graphene is a quirky, funky little devil of a material to manufacture in bulk, which kind of puts a crimp in the dream of super-long-range but affordable EVs for everybody. However, a research team at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is on to a solution that involves 3-D printing and a graphene aerogel, aka “liquid smoke.”

 

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Audi just created diesel fuel from air and water
By Eric Mack
April 26, 2015
7 Pictures

Audi is looking to fuel the future without fossil fuels. One of the company's pilot plants in Germany has just produced the first batches of a synthetic diesel made using only water and air. The company's pilot plant, which is operated by German startup Sunfire, produced its first batches of the "e-diesel" this month. German Federal Minister of Education and Research Johanna Wanka put a few liters of the fuel in her work car, an Audi A8, to commemorate the accomplishment.

 

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Progress to Magnesium ion battery which theoretically could double lithium ion battery energy density

The race is on around the world as scientists strive to develop a new generation of batteries that can perform beyond the limits of the current lithium-ion based battery. Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have taken a significant step toward the development of a battery that could outperform the lithium-ion technology used in electric cars such as the Chevy Volt. They have shown they can replace the lithium...

Read more »

 

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3 Solar Cell Efficiency Records In Just 4 Days
May 1st, 2015 by Smiti Mittal

Improving efficiency of solar photovoltaic cells takes months, sometimes years. The last few days, however, have been very interesting as three different companies announced record-breaking efficiencies. Two of the cells even have the same technology.

Trina Solar, one of the leading solar PV modules manufacturers, announced on April 24 that it had set a new world record for high efficiency p-type multi-crystalline silicon PV modules. Trina Solar’s Honey Plus multi-crystalline silicon module reached a new module efficiency record of 19.14%. The efficiency was independently confirmed by the National Center of Supervision and Inspection on Solar Photovoltaic Product Quality (CPVT) in Wuxi, China.

On April 27, Germany-based Manz announced that it had achieved 16% efficiency in copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) solar modules. This efficiency was achieved in commercially mass-produced solar PV modules. Manz managed to transfer the 21.7% world-record efficiency it had achieved in laboratory cells in September last year. The efficiency of the modules was verified by TUV Rheinland.

On April 28, Taiwan-based TSMC Solar announced that it achieved efficiency of 16.5% in commercially produced CIGS modules, bettering the Manz’s record made the day before. TSMC also improved upon its own previous record of 15.7% efficiency, achieved in 2013. The efficiency record for TSMC modules was verified by TUV SUD.

All three efficiency records seem to be associated with mass-produced solar PV modules and there remains huge potential to further increase the efficiency. Trina Solar also holds the world record for efficiency for lab-based multi-crystalline silicon PV modules. That record currently stands at 20.8%.

3 Solar Cell Efficiency Records In Just 4 Days

Glad to see other countries making some good advancements. I just don't trust the political climate of America anymore.