According to engineers at MIT, we can recycle them to make long-lasting, low-cost solar panels. Credit: Christine Daniloff

The old lead-acid battery in your car may not be as useless or environmentally dangerous as was once thought. In fact, these batteries may be the answer to creating a cheap source of green energy.

According to engineers at MIT, old lead-acid batteries can be recycled and easily converted into long-lasting, low-cost solar panels. So far, the solar cells in the panels have yielded promising results – achieving over 19 percent efficiency in converting sunlight to useable electricity.

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We all know the health risks that cigarette smoking can lead to, but with over one billion smokers internationally – according to the researchers at the World Health Organization (WHO) – smoking cigarettes has also become an environmental issue. However, a group of scientists in South Korea have discovered a way to transform this waste into a positive by converting the cigarette butts into green energy in a one-step process.

This from Smithsonian:

In a recent paper in the journal Nanotechnology, the researchers demonstrated a one-step process for turning used cigarette filters (the main component of butts) into a material that can be used to store energy in supercapacitors—components that can be used alongside batteries in the electrical grid, consumer electronics and electric vehicles.

Read the full article here.

While it is unlikely that the supercapacitors will match the storage abilities of chemical-based batteries any time soon, the scientists are optimistic about the potential of this process. With trillions of cigarette butts being tossed out each year, there is no shortage of materials to build billions of supercapacitors.

Find out more about the evolving science of supercapacitors in ECS’s Digital Library.

Published over 60 peer-refereed research papers (mainly as the principal/corresponding author) including Nature and Science articles and more than 15 papers in Nature Materials, Nature Physics, Nature Nanotechnology, Reviews of Modern Physics, Physical Review Letters, PNAS.

We’ve been having lots of talks around the home office about how people don’t realize the impact of electrochemistry and solid state science have on their world.

Being new here, I’m still playing catch up with the science. I ask a lot of questions. My colleagues patiently try to do what Miss Lemke could never accomplish in 11th grade chemistry.

Here’s one result that can benefit me and the rest of our less aware readers of this blog. I got this video link explaining graphene from John Lewis, our Associate Director of Publications. The video is from The One Show, BBC1 last year.

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The biobattery tattoo that can create power through perspiration. Credit: Joseph Wang

Power through perspiration. That is the idea behind the new temporary tattoo that can store and generate electrical energy from your own sweat.

This new method was announced at the American Chemical Society meeting by Dr. Wenzhao Jia of the University of California, San Diego.

According to Jia’s explanation of the device in the journal Angewante Chemie, the temporary tattoo essentially acts as a sensor that measures the body’s lactate levels, which are the chemicals naturally present in sweat. From there, an enzyme in the sensor strips electrons from, which generates an electrical current. The current is then stored in a battery that is also built into the sensor.

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“People ask me: why hemp? I say, why not?”

That is what Dr. David Mitlin said about the new discovery in bio-waste that has been published in the journal ACS Nano, according to BBC.

Mitlin and his team presented their findings at the American Chemical Society meeting in San Francisco, where it was explained how waste fibres from hemp can be transformed into high performance energy storage devices.

The hemp – which is legal to grow due to the absence of THC – is producing supercapacitors that are at least on par with the graphene, which is known to be the industry’s gold standard.

Dr. Mitlin and his researchers primary focusing on taking produces that are considered waste and evolving them into something applicable and with high value.

This from BBC:

But the leftover bast fibre – the inner bark – typically ends up as landfill. Dr Mitlin’s team took these fibres and recycled them into supercapacitors – energy storage devices which are transforming the way electronics are powered.

Read the full article here.

If you’re interested in Dr. Mitlin’s research, take a look at this article that he published with ECS.

From the Energy Storage World Forum in London 2014.

Energy Storage World Forum – Rome 2015
Rome, Italy
May 19-21, 2015

The 8th Energy Storage World Forum in 2015 will take place in Rome and will include The 3rd Microgrid Forum and The 2nd Residential Energy Storage Forum.

This 3 events in one location will save you time and money and will feature over 25 Utilities/TSOs/DSOs and End Users such as TERNA, E.ON, UK POWER NETWORKS, EDF etc.

Find out more.

For speaking, sponsorship inquiries contact: emily@energystorageforum.com

Don’t forget the 2014 ECS and SMEQ (Sociedad Mexicana de Electroquímica)
Joint International Meeting October 5-9, 2014. Learn more.

“We’re now looking for higher and higher energy density batteries, and graphite [anodes] can’t do that anymore,” said Yi Cui, a professor of material science and engineering and leader of the research team.

A team of Stanford University researchers, including former Energy Secretary Steven Chu, believes it has achieved the “holy grail” of lithium battery design: an anode of pure lithium that could boost the range of an electric car to 300 miles.

Lithium-ion batteries are one of the most common types of rechargeable batteries on the market today. But most of the batteries—found in technologies like smartphones and electric cars—use an anode made of graphite or silicon.

Read the article.

Here’s the paper, Interconnected Hollow Carbon Nanospheres for Stable Lithium Metal Anodes, in Nature.

The Stanford researchers are using nanospheres, a protective layer of tiny carbon domes that protect the anode. Read research about nanospheres in the ECS Digital Library.

ECS members are now eligible for a special discounted rate on EL-CELL’s seminar programs. The first, a hands-on seminar on basic battery research will be offered November 6 & 7, 2014 at the EL-CELL facility in Hamburg, Germany. The second, a hands-on seminar on advanced battery research will be offered March 12 & 13, 2015, also in Hamburg, Germany.

Johannes Hinckeldeyn, Director of Sales and Marketing at EL-CELL, explains the strong collaboration with ECS, “EL-CELL wants to become the standard toolbox for all battery researchers. ECS is the global organization of Electrochemists and therefore our main partner to support electrochemists who want to achieve better research results. Beside our equipment, we offer special seminars for beginners and experienced researchers to learn how to conduct successful battery tests with our equipment. ECS members are cordially invited to participate and they will get special conditions for our seminars.” Please visit www.el-cell.com/service for registration and further information.

Multi-Scale Renewable Energy Storage (MRES) 2014

The 2nd Annual “Multi-Scale Renewable Energy Storage – MRES 2014″Conference
Northeastern University in Boston, August 19-21, 2014

The meeting will focus on the science, technology, policy and entrepreneurial challenges for enabling new novel energy storage solutions for the future sustainable green energy initiatives.

Conference highlights:
• Aqueous and non-aqueous flow batteries
• Next generation battery technologies and materials challenges
• Graphene, sodium and other new energy storage technologies
• Fuel cells and hydrogen storage development and infrastructure
• Safety, reliability and reproducibility across technologies and applications
• System integration, implementation and industrial application
• Government perspective and funding opportunities

Find out more.

This was posted in the ECS group on LinkedIn. Join us!

The 8th Energy World Forum
Rome, May 19-21, 2015

Each year more than 30 of the world’s leading Utilities/TSOs/DSOs gather at this exclusive Annual Forum to shape the future of Energy Storage. Find out more.

PS: Speaking of meetings in general, the 2014 ECS SMEQ Joint International Meeting in Cancun Mexico is Oct. 5-9. Early-bird registration is now open.

Below is a question raised in a discussion going on in our LinkedIn group. Consider joining.

I am looking for pressure sensor monitoring in a battery pack so that I can track the volume expansion of polymer or prismatic cells in a battery pack. Is anyone aware of any vendors that can provide samples of such sensors in consumer applications?

We have over 3,600 members in the group, ready to discuss.

If you have the answer to the above question, feel free to enter in the comments here. I’ll get it to the right place.

Find out more about our divisions, including the Batteries, Fuel Cells, and Energy Conversion Division.