Most recent 40 articles: PHYS.ORG - Technology
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'Side job, self-employed, high-paid': Behind the AI slop flooding TikTok and Facebook - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Sep 19) |
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Sep 19 · Given its outlandish nature and tenuous relationship with reality, you might think this so-called "AI slop" would quickly disappear. However, it shows no sign of abating.
In fact, our research suggests this kind of low-quality AI-generated content is becoming a lucrative venture for the people who make it, the platforms that host it, and even a growing industry of middlemen teaching others how to get in on the AI gold rush.
The short explanation for the prevalence of these baffling videos and images is that savvy creators on social media platforms have worked out how to use generative AI tools to earn a quick buck.
But the full story is more complex. Platforms have ... Read more ...
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Low-carbon ammonia offers green alternative for agriculture and hydrogen transport - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Sep 19) |
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Sep 19 · A new way of making ammonia, by harnessing the unique power of liquid metal, could lead to significant cuts in carbon emissions caused by production of the widely-used chemical.
Ammonia is used in fertilizer to grow much of our food, but also plays a role in clean energy as a carrier to safely transport hydrogen.
The global production of ammonia, however, comes at a high environmental cost: It consumes over 2% of global energy and produces up to 2% of global carbon emissions.
The work appears in Nature Catalysis .
"Ammonia production worldwide is currently responsible for twice the emissions of Australia. If we can improve this process and make it less energy ... Read more ...
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Production of solar fuels: Storing the sun's heat at 1,200°C - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Sep 19) |
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Sep 19 · Closing the CO2 cycle by converting climate-damaging carbon dioxide back into kerosene, gasoline and diesel: That is the idea behind Synhelion. The ETH spin-off uses the heat of the sun to produce synthetic fuels (Synfuels) from CO2 and water.
In June 2024, in the German city of Jülich, Synhelion inaugurated DAWN: the world's first industrial plant for the production of solar fuels. Thanks to a collaboration with the Empa Laboratory for High-Performance Ceramics, DAWN can produce renewable fuels around the clock, even at night.
To turn CO2 and water back into fuels, DAWN needs one thing above all - energy. A large mirror field focuses the sunlight onto a single point on ... Read more ...
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Researchers create tiny nuclear-powered battery thousands of times more efficient than predecessors - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Sep 19) |
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Sep 19 · A team of physicists and engineers affiliated with several institutions in China has developed an extremely small nuclear battery that they claim is up to 8,000 times more efficient than its predecessors. Their paper is published in the journal Nature.
Scientists have been looking for a way to create tiny nuclear power packs for decades. These could power virtually any device, from phones to robots and cars, for many years. Unfortunately, the development of such power packs has been stymied by the dangerous nature of nuclear power plants, regardless of size.
One approach is the development of devices powered by batteries that are charged by nuclear material. Such devices ... Read more ...
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Supply chain report tackles hydropower's missing links - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Sep 19) |
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Sep 19 · Solar panels and wind turbines get a lot of attention in the current conversation about renewable energy. Meanwhile, hydropower is quietly, consistently producing large amounts of clean energy - and has been for more than a century. In fact, nearly 27% of all current renewable energy generation in the United States comes from hydroelectric operations.
But in order for hydropower to continue contributing to the nation's clean energy goals, a strong domestic supply chain must be put in place to enable new construction, plant upgrades, and refurbishments to aging systems.
Shoring up that supply chain is the focus of a recently released report, titled "Hydropower Supply ... Read more ...
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UK campaigners in green energy standoff reject 'nimby' label - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Sep 19) |
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Sep 19 · With its medieval church and picturesque village green, the tranquil hamlet of Friston in eastern England should be an unlikely place for a showdown with the UK government and an energy giant.
But Friston, population 341, is on the frontline of a bitter green energy battle between locals in the rural county of Suffolk and those who want to locate a vast energy hub there.
If the plans by National Grid - backed by both the new Labour government and its Conservative predecessor - go ahead, it will see the area transformed by steel and concrete for onshore substations.
Undersea cables from offshore windfarms would make landfall somewhere on the nearby coastline before ... Read more ...
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'End of an era': UK to shut last coal-fired power plant - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Sep 18) |
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Sep 18 · Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station has dominated the landscape of the English East Midlands for nearly 60 years, looming over the small town of the same name and a landmark on the M1 motorway bisecting Derby and Nottingham.
At the mainline railway station serving the nearby East Midlands Airport, its giant cooling towers rise up seemingly within touching distance of the track and platform.
But at the end of this month, the site in central England will close its doors, signaling the end to polluting coal-powered electricity in the UK, in a landmark first for any G7 nation.
"It'll seem very strange because it has always been there," said David Reynolds, a 74-year-old ... Read more ...
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Benchmarking the reproducibility of all-solid-state lithium battery performance - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Sep 18) |
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Sep 18 · To date, there are no uniform standards for research into solid-state batteries, which are also to be used in e-mobility in the long term - even though billions are being invested in this area worldwide. Researchers at the University of Bayreuth have identified the reasons for this and report on them in the journal Nature Energy.
Solid-state or all-solid-state batteries (ASSB) promise a significant increase in energy density compared to conventional lithium-ion batteries. This is why they are considered the future energy storage system for electromobility. However, there is no standardized protocol for the validation of solid-state battery cells in battery research.
When ... Read more ...
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GM offering adapters to help electric vehicle owners access Tesla chargers - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Sep 18) |
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Sep 18 · General Motors is now offering adapters to help its electric vehicle owners access Tesla chargers.
The Detroit automaker said Wednesday that it is opening up access to more than 17,800 Tesla Superchargers for its customers, with the use of a GM approved NACS DC adapter. Customers in the United States will be able to buy the adapter for $225 through GM vehicle brand mobile apps.
By using the Tesla Supercharger network, GM EV vehicle owners will have access to more than 231,800 public Level 2 and DC fast chargers in North America.
"Enabling access to even more publicly available fast chargers represents yet another way GM is focused on further improving the customer ... Read more ...
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How Ukraine can rebuild its energy system - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Sep 18) |
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Sep 18 · One of the main targets of Russia's ongoing attacks on Ukraine is the energy infrastructure. The extent of the destruction is enormous.
"One year after the start of the war in February 2022, 76% of thermal power plants had been destroyed; now the figure is 95%," says Ukrainian scientist Iryna Doronina. "And all the large hydroelectric power plants have also failed."
The breaching of the Kakhovka dam proved to be particularly devastating. The huge outflow of water - the reservoir covered an area 1.5 times bigger than the canton of Zurich - destroyed thousands of homes and left the reservoir a desert.
Before the war, Doronina was a lecturer at the Kyiv National ... Read more ...
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Scientists find new use for spent lithium-ion batteries in hydrogen peroxide production - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Sep 18) |
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Sep 18 · The global use of lithium-ion batteries has doubled in just the past four years, generating alarming amounts of battery waste containing many hazardous substances. The need for effective recycling methods for spent lithium-ion batteries is becoming increasingly critical. In the journal ChemElectroChem, scientists from various Polish research institutions have presented a promising solution to this issue.
"Hydrogen peroxide is one of the fundamental chemical molecules, essential to numerous industries. Large-scale production of this substance typically demands high pressures and temperatures, costly catalysts, and various toxic electrolytes. Our focus was on developing a more ... Read more ...
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Study outlines cost-effective paths to eliminating greenhouse gas production - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Sep 18) |
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Sep 18 · A new study lays out a wide range of options available to cost-effectively eliminate greenhouse gas production from the energy system in the United States by 2050. The findings give policymakers and industry leaders valuable insights on how to chart a path forward to address climate change.
The paper, "Diverse Decarbonization Pathways Under Near Cost-Optimal Futures," is published in the open-access journal Nature Communications.
"There isn't just one way to cost-effectively decarbonize our energy system," says Jeremiah Johnson, co-author of the study and a professor of civil, construction and environmental engineering at North Carolina State University.
"In fact, ... Read more ...
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Unlocking the future of energy storage: The dendrite-free potassium anode - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Sep 18) |
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Sep 18 · Potassium metal batteries (PMBs) are gaining attention as a cost-effective alternative to lithium-ion batteries, thanks to potassium's abundance and similar chemical properties. However, issues like uncontrolled dendrite growth and interfacial instability undermine the performance and safety of PMBs, posing a major challenge that demands new solutions to stabilize the anode interface and prevent dendrite formation.
This interface enhances ion and electron transport dynamics, resulting in an anode with improved electrochemical performance and prolonged stability over 2,000 hours of cycling.
The team developed a KF/Zn hybrid interface layer on potassium metal anodes using ... Read more ...
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Electric cars overtake petrol models in Norway - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Sep 17) |
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Sep 17 · Hot on the heels of still-dominant diesel cars, electric vehicles now outnumber petrol models for the first time in oil-rich Norway, a world first that puts the country on track to taking fossil fuel vehicles off the road.
Of the 2.8 million private cars registered in Norway, 754,303 are all-electric, compared to 753,905 that run on petrol, the Norwegian Road Federation (OFV), an industry organization, said in a statement on Tuesday.
Diesel models remain most numerous at just under one million, but their sales are falling sharply.
"This is historic. A milestone few saw coming 10 years ago," OFV director Oyvind Solberg Thorsen said in a statement.
"The ... Read more ...
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Google says it will rethink its plans for a big data center in Chile over water worries - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Sep 17) |
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Sep 17 · Google on Tuesday said it would halt plans to develop a major $200 million data center in Chile to address environmental concerns, a decision reflecting growing worries about the impact of power-thirsty projects around the world.
The U.S. technology company first obtained permits in 2020 to construct the vast project in Chile's capital, Santiago, as demand for the server farms skyrocketed across the globe, fueled by a surge in cloud-based technologies and a craze for generative AI.
But months after a Chilean court partially reversed the center's authorization over water usage concerns, Google announced Tuesday that it would revise the project to comply with more ... Read more ...
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In a step toward solar fuels, durable artificial photosynthesis setup chains two carbons together - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Sep 17) |
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Sep 17 · A key step toward reusing CO2 to make sustainable fuels is chaining carbon atoms together, and an artificial photosynthesis system developed at the University of Michigan can bind two of them into hydrocarbons with field-leading performance.
The system produces ethylene with efficiency, yield and longevity well above other artificial photosynthesis systems. Ethylene is a hydrocarbon typically used in plastics, so one direct application of the system would be to harvest carbon dioxide that would otherwise be vented into the atmosphere for making plastics.
"The performance, or the activity and stability, is about five to six times better than what is typically reported for ... Read more ...
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Intel stock surges on plans to make AI chips for Amazon and to turn foundry into subsidiary - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Sep 17) |
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Sep 17 · CEO Pat Gelsinger said in a message to employees late Monday that Intel will create an AI fabric chip for Amazon's cloud services division at its foundry business, a struggling division that he said would become a subsidiary of Intel.
"A subsidiary structure will unlock important benefits," Gelsinger said. "It provides our external foundry customers and suppliers with clearer separation and independence from the rest of Intel. Importantly, it also gives us future flexibility to evaluate independent sources of funding and optimize the capital structure of each business to maximize growth and shareholder value creation."
Harlan Sur of JP Morgan believes that making the ... Read more ...
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NASA, GE aerospace advancing hybrid-electric airliners with HyTEC - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Sep 17) |
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Sep 17 · Hybrid-electric cars have been a staple of the road for many years now.
Soon that same idea of a part-electric-, part-gas-powered engine may find its way into the skies propelling a future jet airliner.
NASA is working in tandem with industry partner GE Aerospace on designing and building just such an engine, one that burns much less fuel by including new components to help electrically power the engine.
In this hybrid jet engine, a fuel-burning core powers the engine and is assisted by electric motors. The motors produce electric power, which is fed back into the engine itself - therefore reducing how much fuel is needed to power the engine in the first ... Read more ...
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Research shows that auto plants grew their workforces after transitioning to electric vehicle production - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Sep 17) |
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Sep 17 · U.S. auto plants producing battery electric vehicles have required a larger workforce than traditional internal combustion engine plants - a finding that runs counter to early predictions about how EVs would impact the industry.
"There is a shortage of information out there about how the transition is shaping up," said Anna Stefanopoulou, the William Clay Ford Professor of Technology and senior author of the study published in Nature Communications. "What we're seeing, with the data that's available, is that the loss of employment predicted for EVs is not happening."
Previous estimates of what EV manufacturing would mean for autoworkers depicted a 30% to 40% reduction - ... Read more ...
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Scientists design high-performance polymer-based electrode binder for lithium and sodium-ion batteries - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Sep 17) |
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Sep 17 · Global demand for electronic devices and electric vehicles is set to continue growing and diversifying in the coming years. This rise in demand calls for powerful batteries with enhanced efficiency, performance, and safe storage technologies.
Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have been ruling this secondary ion battery sector for over three decades now. However, the supply of lithium is gradually declining due to concerns about unsustainable extraction practices, high costs, and uneven geographic distribution.
This has led researchers and the industry to find an alternative to LIBs. A promising contender is sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) because sodium is abundant in nature, is ... Read more ...
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Amazon is requiring workers to be in the office five days a week starting next year - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Sep 16) |
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Sep 16 · Amazon is reverting to its pre-pandemic policy and will require corporate employees to be in the office five days a week starting next year, CEO Andy Jassy said Monday.
Jassy said in a message shared with employees that the company's leadership had been thinking in recent months about how to better "invent, collaborate and be connected enough to each other" to deliver the best results for customers and the business.
The company decided that bringing employees back into Amazon offices five days a week instead of the three currently required was a way to address that issue, the CEO said.
"When we look back over the last five years, we continue to believe that the ... Read more ...
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Europe's EV troubles bubble up at Brussels Audi factory - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Sep 16) |
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Sep 16 · Outside an Audi factory in Brussels described by the German carmaker as the "cradle" of its electric drive, around 200 picketing workers huddled around a bonfire in the morning drizzle.
The firm is considering closing the plant, a move that analysts say is symptomatic of the troubles afflicting Europe's wider electric car industry, amid low demand and competition from China.
Audi is a subsidiary of Volkswagen, which earlier this month made the bombshell announcement that it was considering the unprecedented step of closing production sites in Germany.
With 3,000 jobs on the line, the Brussels workers have launched a prolonged strike, with a large demonstration ... Read more ...
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More rooftop solar in cities would help solve NZ's energy crisis - and build disaster resilience - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Sep 16) |
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Sep 16 · New Zealand's current electricity supply crisis requires immediate solutions.
But we argue the government's emphasis on importing natural gas and construction of centralized solar farms is a missed opportunity.
The case against gas has been highly publicized because of its greenhouse gas emissions and substantial costs.
But the government's focus on large solar infrastructure in rural areas, away from our main centers, misses a chance to address two urgent issues at once - the need to cut emissions and to adapt to climate impacts.
Instead, we should plan local renewable energy generation, integrated into communities, to improve New Zealand's energy security ... Read more ...
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New world record in perovskite solar cell efficiency - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Sep 16) |
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Sep 16 · The Solar Cell Efficiency Tables, published jointly by the Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics alongside scientists from the United States, Japan, Italy, and other countries, has a nearly 30-year history. Its objective assessment of solar cell efficiencies is widely recognized in the international photovoltaic academic and industrial communities.
This marks the third consecutive year that Prof. Xu's team has updated the world record for perovskite solar cell efficiency, following their achievements in 2022 and 2023. In 2023, the team set a groundbreaking certified efficiency of 26.1% for their inverted perovskite solar cell, surpassing the 26% efficiency milestone and ... Read more ...
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Newly developed electrolyte could boost renewable energy storage - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Sep 16) |
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Sep 16 · Renewable energy sources like wind and solar are critical to sustaining our planet, but they come with a big challenge: They don't always generate power when it's needed. To make the most of them, we need efficient and affordable ways to store the energy they produce, so we have power even when the wind isn't blowing or the sun isn't shining.
Columbia Engineering materials scientists have been focused on developing new kinds of batteries to transform how we store renewable energy. In a new study published in Nature Communications, the team used K-Na/S batteries that combine inexpensive, readily-found elements - potassium (K) and sodium (Na), together with sulfur (S) - to ... Read more ...
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Optics-based battery diagnostics: Decoding of chemo-mechanical evolution - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Sep 16) |
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Sep 16 · NCM811 materials have been considered as the main cathode materials for high energy density Li-ion batteries. However, cracks of poly-crystalline NCM materials caused by stress accelerate the loss of active materials, limiting the life cycle. Hence, monitoring and understanding the chemo-mechanical evolution of NCM materials is of importance.
To address this challenge, the research team led by Prof. Yunhui Huang and Prof. Zhen Li introduced an optical fiber to in operando detect the stress evolution of the NCM811 cathode. Through designing the integration of optical fiber and battery, the stress evolution at material level has been successfully monitored. Meanwhile, due to the ... Read more ...
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Report: Transmission and renewables would reduce carbon emissions, generation costs in western United States - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Sep 16) |
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Sep 16 · If all the high-voltage transmission currently under construction and in advanced stages of permitting is built by 2030 in the Western United States - enabling the construction of new renewable energy projects - carbon dioxide emissions in the Western United States would drop by 73% compared to 2005.
Energy generation costs would also decrease 32% by 2030, compared to a reference case where most of these projects are not built.
These are the results of a new report by the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory that looks at how new transmission and renewable energy projects in the Western United States could bring economic benefits and reduce carbon ... Read more ...
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Research explores potential of smart grid energy optimization - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Sep 16) |
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Sep 16 · SUNY Poly Assistant Professor Dr. Mahmoud Badr and peers recently published research titled "Reinforcement Learning for Fair and Efficient Charging Coordination for Smart Grid," in the journal Energies. The research investigates the use of reinforcement learning (RL) to improve the coordination of home battery system charging in a smart grid.
The primary objective of the study was to enhance both grid efficiency and fairness among users. The system utilizes an actor-critic RL algorithm to adjust charging schedules dynamically, balancing grid constraints, individual battery capacities, and consumer needs. The study reports significant gains in total rewards, fairness in energy ... Read more ...
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Scientists reveal new electrochemical cell design for turning carbon dioxide into a green fuel - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Sep 16) |
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Sep 16 · Their new electrochemical cell, with a porous membrane layer in between the electrodes, overcomes major issues suffered in reactive carbon capture (RCC) and achieves performances rivaling energy-hungry gas-fed methods. Processes like theirs directly add value to waste streams and are key to realizing net zero emissions.
Carbon capture technology is a big part of the global strategy to reduce emissions and fight climate change. But the important question of what we do with the captured carbon dioxide remains an open challenge. Do we simply push it underground, or is there more to it? Scientists certainly think so. Using state-of-the-art catalysts and chemical processes, work is ... Read more ...
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Shared carbon capture networks would cut costs, reduce disruptions to local communities - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Sep 16) |
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Sep 16 · Sharing infrastructure for transporting and storing captured carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions across multiple industrial facilities could cut costs by more than 60% and reduce pipeline buildout by more than 75% in Louisiana, according to new research led by engineers at the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment.
The team published their findings in an article titled "Design Insights for Industrial CO2 Capture, Transport, and Storage Systems," on August 6 in Environmental Science & Technology.
Technologies for capturing and storing industrial CO2 emissions have been around for decades. Still, only a handful of industrial carbon capture facilities around the world ... Read more ...
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AI is 'accelerating the climate crisis,' expert warns - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Sep 15) |
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Sep 15 · If you care about the environment, think twice about using AI. Generative artificial intelligence uses 30 times more energy than a traditional search engine, warns researcher Sasha Luccioni, on a mission to raise awareness about the environmental impact of the hot new technology.
Recognized as one of the 100 most influential people in the world of AI by the American magazine Time in 2024, the Canadian computer scientist of Russian origin has sought for several years to quantify the emissions of programs like ChatGPT or Midjourney.
"I find it particularly disappointing that generative AI is used to search the Internet," laments the researcher, who spoke with AFP on the ... Read more ...
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New plan shows Australia's hydrogen dream is still alive - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Sep 15) |
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Sep 15 · Producing hydrogen remains vital to Australia's prosperity through the net-zero transition, according to a major strategy that lays a national pathway to becoming a global leader in low-emissions technology.
The new National Hydrogen Strategy, released today by Federal Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen, aims to ensure Australia produces green hydrogen at a competitive cost. It's also designed to guide investment and signal Australia's bold ambitions for the world.
The document updates the first national hydrogen strategy, released in 2019 by then Chief Scientist Alan Finkel. I helped devise that strategy in my previous job as a federal public servant. I was ... Read more ...
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Tesla truck fire took 190,000 liters of water to extinguish - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Sep 14) |
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Sep 14 · US firefighters used some 190,000 liters of water to extinguish a blaze involving an electric Tesla Semi truck this month following a crash, a government agency said.
Besides water to cool the vehicle's batteries, California firefighters also "used an aircraft to apply fire retardant to the immediate area as a precautionary measure," said the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in a statement released Thursday.
The crash involving the Tesla Semi took place in the wee hours of August 19 as the vehicle was traveling near Emigrant Gap in California, the NTSB said.
The semi-truck operated by a Tesla employee was headed from Livermore, California, to a Tesla ... Read more ...
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Producing future low-cost, aqueous zinc-ion batteries for sustainable, large-scale energy storage - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Sep 13) |
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Sep 13 · With global demand for lithium-ion batteries fast depleting reserves of raw materials, experts are seeking safe, affordable and reliable alternatives for rechargeable batteries.
Aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) could be the answer to producing low-cost alternatives from abundant feedstocks, and Flinders University scientists are paving the way for the production of simple and practical polymer AZIBs using organic cathodes for more sustainable energy storage technology.
"Aqueous zinc-ion batteries could have real-world applications," says Associate Professor of Chemistry Zhongfan Jia, a nanotech researcher at the College of Science and Engineering at Flinders ... Read more ...
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Dielectric protocol leads to high energy density in Li-metal pouch cells - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Sep 13) |
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Sep 13 · The interface between electrodes and electrolytes largely contributes to the efficiency with which batteries convert energy. In recent years, many efforts aimed at developing better performing batteries have focused on tailoring the electrode/electrolyte interface to boost the energy density of rechargeable batteries, particularly lithium-metal batteries (LMBs).
LMBs are promising battery solutions that integrate Li metal anodes, instead of the graphite-based anodes typically employed by lithium-ion batteries (LiBs). Compared to LiBs, these batteries could exhibit significantly higher energy densities and faster charging speeds.
Nonetheless, many LMBs developed so far ... Read more ...
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Enhancing AI model U-Net for ocean remote sensing - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Sep 13) |
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Sep 13 · U-Net, a convolutional neural network (CNN) originally intended for medical use, can potentially make waves in the ocean remote sensing field
There is seldom an issue in our modern world that cannot be solved or helped by technology and artificial intelligence (AI). In this instance, U-Net, a tool used to extract a desired "object" from a medical image, is looked at as a potential means of oceanographic research. Although it's promising, U-Net is not perfect. A few key improvements in the model can make a huge difference when it comes to the field of ocean remote sensing.
The U-Net model appears to have a good enough structure to be a fine candidate for oceanographic ... Read more ...
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Folded or cut, researchers design a lithium-sulfur battery that keeps going - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Sep 13) |
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Sep 13 · Most rechargeable batteries that power portable devices, such as toys, handheld vacuums and e-bikes, use lithium-ion technology. But these batteries can have short lifetimes and may catch fire when damaged.
To address stability and safety issues, researchers reporting in ACS Energy Letters have designed a lithium-sulfur (Li-S) battery that features an improved iron sulfide cathode. One prototype remains highly stable over 300 charge-discharge cycles, and another provides power even after being folded or cut.
Sulfur has been suggested as a material for lithium-ion batteries because of its low cost and potential to hold more energy than lithium-metal oxides and other ... Read more ...
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Harnessing the power of porosity: Advancing aqueous zinc-ion batteries and large-scale energy storage - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Sep 13) |
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Sep 13 · As the global demand for energy storage solutions grows, the limitations of current lithium-ion batteries, such as safety concerns and high costs, have driven the exploration of alternative technologies. Aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) have emerged as a promising candidate due to their inherent safety, cost-effectiveness, and environmental sustainability. However, challenges like zinc dendrite growth continue to hinder their widespread adoption. Due to these challenges, there is a pressing need to delve deeper into innovative solutions to improve AZIB performance.
The study, conducted by researchers from Tsinghua University and the University of Technology Sydney, was ... Read more ...
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Housing could help us improve our well-being and reach net zero by 2040, scientist says - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Sep 13) |
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Sep 13 · EPFL scientist Sascha Nick has outlined a completely new scenario for what housing and neighborhoods might look like in Switzerland in the coming decades. His recommendations would put the country on track to meet its net-zero target while supporting the well-being of residents and communities.
In Nick's scenario, by 2040 we'll be living in neighborhoods where all buildings have been renovated to provide optimal temperature, lighting and noise conditions and to offer a variety of shared spaces. All the services and amenities we need will be within walking distance, and there will be more vegetation and biodiversity. All this will help to drastically reduce urban ... Read more ...
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New 'PVDF alternative battery binder' surpasses EU environmental regulations - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Sep 13) |
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Sep 13 · The electrode, which has the greatest impact on the performance of secondary batteries, is manufactured by mixing an 'active material' that generates electricity, a 'conductive material' that facilitates the flow of electricity, and a 'binder' with a solvent. The role of the binder is to help the active material and conductive material adhere well to the metal plate (current collector) and to physically stabilize the electrode.
The binder has a relatively small proportion in the electrode, which has led to slower research progress in the past. However, with the increasing demand for high-capacity and high-performance batteries, interest in binders is growing.
Currently, ... Read more ...
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