Cathode particles treated with the carbon dioxide-based mixture show oxygen vacancies on the surface.
Image: Laboratory for Energy Storage and Conversion, UC San Diego

An international team of researchers has recently demonstrated a 30 to 40 percent increase in the energy storage capabilities of cathode materials.

The team, led by ECS member and 2016 Charles W. Tobias Young Investigator Award winner, Shirley Meng, has successfully treated lithium-rich cathode particles with a carbon dioxide-based gas mixture. This process introduced oxygen vacancies on the surface of the material, allowing for a huge boost to the amount of energy stored per unit mass and proving that oxygen plays a significant role in battery performance.

This greater understanding and improvement in the science behind the battery materials could accelerate developments in battery performance, specifically in applications such as electric vehicles.

(READ: “Gas-solid interfacial modification of oxygen activity in layered oxide cathodes for lithium-ion batteries“)

“We’ve uncovered a new mechanism at play in this class of lithium-rich cathode materials,” says Meng, past guest editor of JES Focus Issue on Intercalation Compounds for Rechargeable Batteries. “With this study, we want to open a new pathway to explore more battery materials in which we can control oxygen activity.”

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With atmospheric greenhouse gas levels at their highest in history, many researchers have been contemplating one question: How can we reutilize carbon dioxide?

One new study reports a new catalyst with the ability to execute highly selective conversion of carbon dioxide into ethylene, producing an important source material for the chemical industry.

The push to convert carbon dioxide into useful chemicals is not a completely novel concept among the scientific community. For this study, researchers opted to make the process more efficient by implementing a new catalyst with higher selectivity to produce more useful chemicals and less unwanted byproducts.

Ruhr-Universitӓt Bochum PhD student and ECS student member, Hemma Mistry, veered away from the traditional catalyst used in this process and instead opted for copper films treated with oxygen or hydrogen plasmas. By doing this, Mistry was able to alter surface properties for optimal performance.

(MORE: Read Mistry’s past ECS Meeting Abstract entitled, “Selectivity Control in the Electroreduction of CO₂ over Nanostructured Catalysts.”)

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Reutilizing carbon dioxide to produce clean burning fuels

David Go has always seen himself as something of a black sheep when it comes to his scientific research approach, and his recent work in developing clean alternative fuels from carbon dioxide is no exception.

In 2015, Go and his research team at the University of Notre Dame were awarded a $50,000 grant to purse innovative electrochemical research in green energy technology through the ECS Toyota Young Investigator Fellowship. With a goal of aiding scientists in advancing alternative energies, the fellowship aims to empower young researchers in creating next-generation vehicles capable of utilizing alternative fuels that can lead to climate change action in transportation.

The road less traveled

While advancing research in electric vehicles and fuel cells tend to be the top research areas in sustainable transportation, Go and his team is opting to go down the road less traveled through a new approach to green chemistry: plasma electrochemistry.

(MORE: Read Go’s Meeting Abstract on this topic, entitled “Electrochemical Reduction of CO_2(aq) By Solvated Electrons at a Plasma-Liquid Interface.”)

“Our approach to electrochemistry is completely a-typical,” Go, associate professor at the University of Notre Dame, says. “We use a technique called plasma electrochemistry with the aim of processing carbon dioxide – a pollutant – back into more useful products, such as clean-burning fuels.”

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Former ECS President and U.S. Naval Research Laboratory scientist, Paul Natishan, has recently been awarded the Department of the Navy Meritorious Civilian Service Award for “his outstanding performance and record of scientific achievements and contributions made to the Navy in the field of corrosion science and technology.”

Among his most notable accomplishments with NRL, Natishan developed significant advances for the understanding of materials in marine environments. By gaining a greater understanding of the breakdown of metals, Natishan’s work has made great impact on the Navy’s use of aluminum and stainless steel materials.

“Dr. Natishan’s breakthroughs in corrosion science have been an immeasurable contribution to the Navy as well as to the world in establishing a more thorough scientific understanding of corrosion phenomena and mitigation measures,” Capt. Mark Bruington, Commanding Officer, NRL said in a release. “As an internationally recognized expert in corrosion science, his contributions and achievements have allowed for conventional materials used in many applications for the Navy — operating continuously in a chlorine-laden environment — to be made more resistant to localized corrosion and degradation.”

Learn more about Paul Natishan.

A recent survey shows the scholarly publication model is changing, and researchers are embracing that change.

A survey of over 6,500 academics commissioned by Jisc and Research Libraries UK found that two-thirds of the scientific community support abolishing the traditional subscription-based publishing model in favor of open access.

In addition to the well-over 50 percent of researchers in favor of a more open access model, 40 percent of respondents stated that a journal’s openness is a very important factor in choosing where to publish. Compare that to a study done just three years ago where less than 20 percent put major emphasis on access, and the shift in the world of publishing becomes even more prevalent.

“The ability to disseminate research material online to anyone with internet access,” Paul Even, founder for the Open Library of the Humanities, told Time Higher Education, “without the reader bearing the cost, is becoming more and more important to researchers from across a broad set of disciplines.”

ECS is also embracing the changing publishing industry through our Free the Science initiative. Free the science seeks to remove all fees, providing complete open access to the ECS Digital Library for authors, readers, and libraries.

Learn more about Free the Science.

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Researchers at MIT have developed wireless, wearable toxic-gas sensors made from altered nanotubes with the capacity to detect extremely small amounts of toxic gas and send alerts to your smartphone.

The goal of this technology is to be applied to safety and security devices, such as badges worn by solider to detect the presence of chemical weapons or devices for those who frequently work around hazardous materials.

“Soldiers have all this extra equipment that ends up weighing way too much and they can’t sustain it,” says Timothy Swager, lead author of the paper. “We have something that would weigh less than a credit card. And [soldiers] already have wireless technologies with them, so it’s something that can be readily integrated into a soldier’s uniform that can give them a protective capacity.”

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The technique of producing hydrogen from water has been discussed by researchers for the better part of the last 40 years, but there has yet to be a breakthrough to make these processes commercially viable.

In an effort to move towards a hydrogen-fuel economy, researchers from KTH Royal Institute of Technology are looking to begin to overcome one of the major hurdles by developing an affordable, stable way to get hydrogen from water.

The main concept behind the study is to move way from traditionally used catalysts made from expensive precious metals toward ones of common materials. The researchers believe that the new development derived from earth-abundant materials could also be used as a catalyst, possible overcoming the cost obstacle.

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When lithium-ion pioneers M. Stanley Whittingham, Adam Heller, Michael Thackeray, and of course, John Goodenough were in the initial stages of the technology’s development in the 1970s through the late 1980s, there was no clear idea of just how monumental the lithium-based battery would come to be. Even up to a few years ago, the idea of an electric vehicle or renewable grid dependent on lithium-ion technology seemed like a pipe dream. But now, electric vehicles are making their way to the mainstream and with them comes the commercially-driven race to acquire lithium.

Just look at the rise of Tesla and success of the Nissan LEAF. Not only are these cars speaking to a real concern for environmental protection, they’re also becoming the more affordable option in transportation. For example, the LEAF goes for less than $25,000 and gets more than 80 miles per charge. Plus, electric vehicles can currently run on electricity that’s costing around $0.11 per kWh, which is roughly equivalent to $0.99 per gallon. The last year alone saw a 60 percent spike in the sale of electric vehicles.

“Electric cars are just plain better,” says James Fenton, director of the Florida Solar Energy Center and newly appointed ECS Secretary. “They’re cheaper to buy up front and they’re cheaper to operate, which years ago, was not the case.”

All things considered, lithium may just be the number one commodity of our time.

But this movement is not specific to the U.S. alone. In Germany – a country dedicated to a renewable future – there is a mandate that all new cars in the country will have to be emission-free by 2030. Similarly in Norway, the government is looking to ban gasoline-powered cars by 2025.

So with the transportation sector heading away from gasoline-powered cars and toward lithium battery-based vehicles globally, what will that do to lithium supplies?

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