Looking to save on electricity? Why not use bioluminescent bacteria to light the way?
Innovative start-up Glowee is looking to do just that to illuminate the streets of Paris. By using bacteria found in squid, Glowee is producing lights that consist of transparent gases filled with a gel containing the bioluminescent bacteria alongside the sugars and oxygen they need to survive.
Currently, the company is looking to increase lifespan and efficiency before implementing the technology.
A new issue of ECS Transactions has just been published: Fuel Cell Seminar & Energy Exposition 2015.
The papers in this issue of ECST were presented in Los Angeles, CA on Nov. 11-16, 2015. ECST Volume 71, Issue 1 can be found here.
This is the first ECST publication to be made available via download in the ECS Online Store. You may purchase this issue as a full text PDF download here.
MIT researcher have developed the first steps to creating the thinnest, lightest solar cell ever made.
Through a unique fabrication method, the researchers are moving toward the development of a solar cell so thin it could blow away. Instead of a solar cell’s typical makeup, the MIT researchers have opted for a unique fabrication of creating each layer at the same time.
This from Popular Science:
Solar cells are typically made up of layers of photovoltaic materials and a substrate, such as glass or plastic. Instead of the usual method of fabricating each layer separately, and then depositing the layers onto the substrate, the MIT researchers made all three parts of their solar cell (the cell, the supportive substrate, and the protective coating) at the same time, a method that cuts down on performance-harming contaminants. In the demonstration, the substrate and coating are made from parylene, which is a flexible polymer, and the component that absorbs light was made from dibutyl phthalate (DBP). The researchers note that the solar cell could be made from a number of material combinations, including perovskite, and it could be added to a variety of surfaces such as fabric or paper.
To put the thinness of the solar cell in perspective, it is approximately 1/50th the thickness of a strand of hair. The light weight means that its power-to-weight ratio is particularly high, with an efficiency output of about 6 watts per gram (400 times higher than silicon-based solar cells).
The final trial for the researcher will be to translate the lab work to the real world, making it scalable and practical for commercial use.
Researchers have found a way to use rust to build a solar-powered battery.
Image: Diego Torres Silvestre
What happens when corrosion meets energy? For researchers at Stanford University, the marriage of those two uniquely electrochemical topics could yield an answer to large-scale solar power storage.
The question of how to store solar power when the sun goes down has been on the forefront of scientific discussion. While electrochemical energy storage devices exist, they are typically either too expensive to work on a large-scale or not efficient enough.
New research shows that metal oxides, such as rust, can be fashioned into solar cells capable of splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen. The research could be looked at revelatory, especially when considering large-scale storage solutions, because of its novel heat attributes.
While we knew the promising solar power potential of metal oxides before, we believed that the efficiency of cells crafted from these materials would be very low. The new study, however, disproves that theory.
The team showed that as the cells grow hotter, efficiency levels increase. This is a huge benefit when it comes to large-scale, solar energy conversion and it the polar opposite of the traditional silicon solar cell.
“We’ve shown that inexpensive, abundant, and readily processed metal oxides could become better producers of electricity than was previously supposed,” says William Chueh, an assistant professor of materials science and engineering.
ECS is excited to announce a volunteer program for ECS student members at the 229th ECS Meeting in San Diego, CA, May 29-June 2, 2016. This program was first piloted in the fall at the ECS meeting in Phoenix, AZ.
As a student aide, you will work closely with the ECS staff and gain first-hand experience in what it takes to execute an ECS biannual meeting. Take advantage of the opportunity to network and engage with meeting attendees, symposium organizers and ECS staff while learning how registration operates, technical sessions run and how major meeting programs are facilitated.
Interested in participating within this program? Click here to fill out your application today!
Please note, the deadline to apply is March 11th. The selected candidates will be notified the week of March 14th.
Benefits include a unique behind the scenes experience, networking opportunities, a FREE San Diego meeting registration, an ECS shirt, and a certificate of participation! For more information or questions regarding the application process, please contact membership services intern, Abby Hosonitz, at abigail.hosonitz@electrochem.org.
We look forward to seeing you in San Diego!
Globally, carbon dioxide is the number one contributor to harmful greenhouse gas emissions. These emissions accelerate climate change, leading to such devastating effects as rising sea levels that can dislocate families and radical local climates that hurt food production levels.
But what if we could turn those harmful emissions into useable fuels through a simple, one-step process?
Researchers have proven that through a process combining concentrated light, heat, and high pressure, carbon dioxide and water could be directly converted into usable liquid hydrocarbon fuels.
Not only would this effort offer some relief in the energy infrastructure, it would also aid efforts against climate change by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
“Our process also has an important advantage over battery or gaseous-hydrogen powered vehicle technologies as many of the hydrocarbon products from our reaction are exactly what we use in cars, trucks and planes, so there would be no need to change the current fuel distribution system,“ said Frederick MacDonnell, co-principal investigator of the project.
The corresponding paper was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
“We are the first to use both light and heat to synthesize liquid hydrocarbons in a single stage reactor from carbon dioxide and water,” said Brian Dennis, co-principal investigator of the project. “Concentrated light drives the photochemical reaction, which generates high-energy intermediates and heat to drive thermochemical carbon-chain-forming reactions, thus producing hydrocarbons in a single-step process.”
Up until the 1948, the lemon-lime soda 7-Up contained lithium salts, a substance most commonly known for its medical qualities used in the treatment of major depressive disorders.
While the additive has long since been removed from 7-Up, the scientists from the YouTube channel Periodic Videos thought it would be interesting to drop a piece of lithium into the current day recipe for the soda.
Initially, the results were as expected: nothing special. But after a few more seconds, the solution began transforming from its clear, bubbly state to a dark, sludgy brown. Watch as Sir Martyn Poliakoff explains the unexpected phenomena.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has been fighting the good fight on many fronts over the years, including poverty, women’s equality, and of course, energy.
In their 2016 annual letter, the private foundation looked at the issue of access to energy. According to Bill Gates, 1.3 billion people – or 18 percent of the world’s population – live without electricity to light their homes.
Many energy trouble areas exist in sub-Saharan Africa, where 7 out of 10 people live in the dark. The same problems exist in parts of Asia and India where more than 300 million people lack access to electricity.
There are still many parts of the world that have yet to reap the benefits of Thomas Edison’s incandescent light bulb.
But it’s not just about light. Energy allows better medical care through functioning hospitals, greater educational efforts through functioning schools, and even more food through the powering of agricultural devices.
Not only is the provision of energy to all people essential, but the research into finding a clean, efficient way to do so is also crucial. ECS members and scientists across the globe are currently making effort to combat climate change, which is consequentially poised to hit the world’s poor the hardest.
Do you want to be forever externalized? Then look no further than this new quartz coin that can store the history of humankind for 14 billion years.
As if the previous breakthrough of quartz glass storage that yielded a self-life of 300 million years wasn’t enough, the new research take nanotechnology to a whole new level.
To understand exactly how long 14 million years is, check out these stats via Futurism:
The research comes out of Southampton University, where the group has essentially developed a way to fit on just one sliver of nanostructured quartz 350TB of information.
This form Futurism:
The technique uses femtosecond laser pulses to write data in the 3D structure of quartz at the nanoscale. The pulses create three layers of nanostructred dots, each just microns above the other. The changes in the structure can be read by interrogating the sample with another pulse of light and recording the orientation of the waves after they’ve passed through.
At the very least, this development in 5D storage will change the way we archive historical information.
Interested in kick-starting your 229th ECS Meeting experience with an all-day lesson on a topic of your choice? Consider registering for one of five ECS short courses.
ECS short courses will be held in San Diego, CA on Sunday, May 29th, 2016 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., offering enterprising students and seasoned professionals alike the opportunity to receive intensive education from academic and industry experts within intimate learning environments.
Basic Corrosion for Electrochemists
Luis Garfias-Mesias, Instructor
This course covers the basics of corrosion science and corrosion engineering. It is targeted toward people with a physical sciences or engineering background who have not been trained as corrosionists, but who want to understand the basic concepts of corrosion, learn to select the appropriate materials an know which will be the typical techniques and methodologies to test and qualify materials (resistant to corrosion). (more…)
Fundamentals of Electrochemistry: Basic Theory and Thermodynamic Methods
Jamie Noël, Instructor
This course covers the basic theory and application of electrochemical science. It is targeted toward people with a physical sciences or engineering background who have not been trained as electrochemists, but who want to add electrochemical methods to their repertoire of research approaches. (more…)
Advanced Impedance Spectroscopy
Mark Orazem, Instructor
This course is intended for chemists, physicists, materials scientists, and engineers with an interest in applying electrochemical impedance techniques to study a broad variety of electrochemical processes. (more…)
Hydrodynamic Electrochemistry Using Rotating Electrodes
Li Sun, Instructor
This course is intended for scientists and engineers who are interested in using rotating electrodes in their projects. Examples of application include fuel cell catalyst screening, corrosion inhibitor testing, and electroplating. (more…)
Nanobiosensors
Raluca-Ioana van Staden, Instructor
This course is intended for chemists, physicists, materials scientists, and engineers with an interest in applying electrochemical sensors on fields like biomedical analysis, pharmaceutical analysis, and food analysis. (more…)
Pre-registration for short courses is required. Substantial discounts are offered for students and those who register by the early-bird deadline of April 29, 2016. Receive a $75 discount on your short course fee with the purchase of a meeting registration.
Short course registration closes on May 23, 2016.
