Through a nanoribbon-infused epoxy, researchers were able to remove ice through Joule heating.
Image: Rice University

Graphene, better known as the wonder material, has seemingly limitless possibilities. From fuel cells to night-vision to hearing, there aren’t many areas that graphene hasn’t touched. Now, researchers from Rice University and transforming graphene for uses in air travel safety.

James Tour, past ECS lecturer and molecular electronics pioneer, has led a team in developing a thin coating of graphene nanoribbons to act as a real-time de-icer for aircrafts, wind turbines, and other surfaces exposed to winter weather.

(MORE: Read “High-Density Storage, 100 Times Less Energy“)

Through electrothermal heat, the graphene nanoribbons melted centimeter-thick ice on a static helicopter rotor blade in a -4° Fahrenheit environment.

This from Rice University:

The nanoribbons produced commercially by unzipping nanotubes, a process also invented at Rice, are highly conductive. Rather than trying to produce large sheets of expensive graphene, the lab determined years ago that nanoribbons in composites would interconnect and conduct electricity across the material with much lower loadings than traditionally needed.

Read the full article.

“Applying this composite to wings could save time and money at airports where the glycol-based chemicals now used to de-ice aircraft are also an environmental concern,” Tour said.

The coating may also protect aircrafts from lightning strikes and provide and extra layer of electromagnetic shielding.

As electronics advances, the demand for high-performance batteries increases. The lithium-ion battery is currently leading the charge in powering portable electronic devices, but another lithium-based battery contender is on the horizon.

The lithium-air battery is one of the most promising research areas in current lithium-based battery technology. While researchers such as ECS’s K.M. Abraham have been on the Li-air beat since the late 90s, current research is looking to propel this technology with the hopes of commercializing it for practical use.

A new contender: Lithium-air batteries

Recently, Khalil Amine, IMLB chair; and Larry Curtiss, IMLB invited speaker, co-authored a paper detailing a lithium-air battery that could store up to five times more energy than today’s lithium-ion battery.

(MORE: Submit your abstract for IMLB today!)

This work brings society one step closer to the commercial use of lithium-air batteries. In previous works regarding Li-air, researchers continuously encountered the same phenomenon of the clogging of the pores of the electrode.

(more…)

New material could help SOFCs operate more efficiently and cheaply.
Image: Bloom Energy

Solid oxide fuel cells may be producing cleaner energy at a more efficient level soon, thanks to a development at the University of Cambridge.

A new thin-film electrolyte material, developed by a team including ECS member Sergei Kalinin, has the potential to propel portable power sources due to its ability to achieve high performance levels and very low temperatures.

Advancing fuel cells

With a huge scientific focus shift toward developing new energy technologies, fuel cells have emerged as a big contender. Transitioning from a simple laboratory curiosity in the 19th century to a main contender for powering electric vehicles, researchers have dedicated much energy to building an efficient, cost effective fuel cell.

(MORE: Read “Battery and Fuel Cell Technology“)

This from University of Cambridge:

By using thin-film electrolyte layers, micro solid oxide fuel cells offer a concentrated energy source, with potential applications in portable power sources for electronic consumer or medical devices, or those that need uninterruptable power supplies such as those used by the military or in recreational vehicles.

(more…)

Due to overwhelming demand the IMLB Abstract Submission deadline has been extended to February 15!

Don’t miss this chance to participate in IMLB 2016, make sure to submit your abstract so you can present your latest work to lithium-ion battery researchers from around the world.

Submit abstracts

We’ve talked about ORCID identifiers quite a bit here at ECS. From the top five reasons to sign up for ORCID to the publishing benefits of the identifiers, we’re strong believers in ORCID’s place in the ever-expanding and international nature of scientific literature.

Recently, The Royal Society announced that it would require all authors submitting to their journals to have an ORCID iD. Additionally, seven other publishers – including PLOS and the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers – join The Royal Society, requiring author to have ORCID iDs starting in 2016.

Stuart Taylor, publishing director of The Royal Society, recently sat down with The Scholarly Kitchen to discuss why ORCID is such an important and promising thing in the current climate of scholarly publications.

Read the article.

Image: Penn State

With the newly popular hoverboards bursting into flames, safety in batteries has made its way to the public spotlight. To increase lithium ion battery safety, one ECS member is working to develop batteries with built in sensors to warn users of potential problems.

Chao-Yang Wang, 19-year ECS member, is taking on the challenge of making the highly popular lithium ion battery safer in light of demands for smaller, more energy efficient devices.

“Li-ion batteries essentially provide portable power for everything,” says Wang. “Your cell phone charge can now last for a week instead of a day, but it’s still the same size. The battery has a lot more energy density, you are compressing more and more energy into a smaller space, and you have to be careful when you do that. Our job is to come up with solutions to provide safety while at the same time increasing performance.”

While lithium ion batteries are typically safe under normal conditions, the battery’s flammable electrolyte solution could overheat and catch fire if it is punctured or overcharged.

(more…)

Deadline for Submitting Abstracts
April 15, 2016
Submit today!

Topic Close-up

SYMPOSIUM H04: Low-Dimensional Nanoscale Electronic and Photonic Devices 9

FOCUSED ON the most recent developments in nanoscale transparent electronic, photonic materials, and devices. The symposium will encompass low dimensional and transparent novel materials and devices, processing, device fabrication, reliability, and other related topics.

NOTING THAT the symposium includes materials preparation, growth, processing, devices, chemistry, physics, theory and applications, it also provides a forum for researchers, scientists and engineers from different countries worldwide, who are actively involved in all forms of research on low dimensional nanomaterials related to electronic and photonic devices and properties. Learn about all the topics!

Did You Know?

Students can be eligible for the General Student Poster Session awards by submitting an abstract to Z01 – General Society Student Poster Session.

Important Dates

• Take advantage of exhibition and sponsorship opportunities:
  Deadline: June 15, 2016

Full papers presented at ECS meetings will be published in ECS Transactions.

Submit today!

Do not forget that the IMLB 2016 abstract submission site is scheduled to close this Friday, January 15!

In order to make things easier for you, we will keep the submission system open through the day of Monday, January 18. Please make sure to get your abstract in as soon as possible so you can present your latest work to lithium-ion battery researchers from around the world.

Don’t miss your chance to participate in IMLB 2016, make sure to submit your abstract before January 18, 2016!

Submit today!

Thomas Fuller, JES Technical Editor, and guest editors
Bryan Pivovar, Kathy Ayers, Marcelo Carmo, Jim O’Brien, and
Xiaoyu Zhang, invite you to submit to the:

JES Focus Issue:

Electrolysis for Increased Renewable Energy Penetration

Submission Deadline | April 7, 2016

This special issue of the Journal of The Electrochemical Society focuses on electrolysis. Interest in this area has increased significantly with focus on several different technological approaches, each with their own unique challenges. Examples include, cost challenges for PEM water electrolysis, and thermal and durability challenges for high-temperature, solid-oxide electrolysis.

Topics of interest to this special issue of JES include, but are not limited to:

• Novel approaches for electrocatalysts including nanostructures with enhanced activities, durability, and cost reduction
• Fundamental studies of the chemical processes on solid surfaces and triple-phase-boundaries
• Polymers, ion conducting ceramics, membranes, and electrodes for electrolysis applications
• New approaches on the design and characterization of membrane/separator components
• New architectures for porous transport medias and bipolar plates

Read more topics of interest.

Submission Deadline | April 7, 2016

We invite original contributions from both fundamental and applied work that falls in the technical areas of interest of JES readership.

Please submit manuscripts at http://ecsjournals.msubmit.net.

Papers accepted into this focus issue are published online within 10 days of acceptance. The issue is created online an article at a time with the final article published in September 2016.

The deadline for nominations for the Edward Goodrich Acheson Award has been extended to March 1, 2016.

The Edward Goodrich Acheson Award, one of the oldest and most prestigious ECS honors, was established in 1928 for distinguished contributions to the advancement of any of the objects, purposes or activities of The Electrochemical Society. Read the nomination rules.

The recipient shall be a longstanding member of and established volunteer leader within ECS.  He or she will also be distinguished for contributions consisting of:  (a) discovery pertaining to electrochemical and/or solid state science and technology, (b) invention of a plan, process or device or research evidenced by a paper embodying information useful, valuable, or significant in the theory or practice of electrochemical and/or solid state science and technology.

Did you know that since 1929, ECS has presented the Acheson Award 43 times? Of that number, 33 award winners have also served the organization as President. The most recent recipient of this award was Ralph Brodd in 2014, the 79th ECS President who was esteemed for over 40 years of experience in the battery industry. Perhaps you know an ECS Past President worthy of the 2016 Acheson award. Start the nomination process today.

Edward Goodrich Acheson (1856 – 1931) was an American chemist and the 6th President of The Electrochemical Society who invented the Acheson process, which is still used to make silicon carbide (carborundum) and later a manufacturer of carborundum and graphite. Acheson worked with Thomas Edison and experimented on making a conducting carbon to be used in the electric light bulb.