In light of U.N. Climate Talks in Paris and the crippling air pollution levels in China, Bill Nye continuing the good fight against climate change with his latest pitch for a solution against the catastrophic force.
His possible solution? Bubbles.
In the full interview with Yahoo! News Live, Nye also discusses a carbon fee, the real threats of climate change, and “climate deniers.” Check out the full video.
PS: Check out what ECS scientists are doing to address climate change!
A new form of carbon that has unprecedented strength and magnetism properties is making its mark in the world of materials science.
Researchers from North Carolina State University have recently developed a new phase of carbon called Q-carbon—an extraordinarily strong material that differs from carbon’s other two solid forms.
The first solid phase of carbon is graphite. Graphite is composed by lining up carbon atoms to form thin sheets, which results in a thin and flaky material. The other phase of carbon, diamond, occurs when carbon atoms form a rigid crystal lattice.
“We’ve now created a third solid phase of carbon,” says Jay Narayan, lead author of the research. “The only place it may be found in the natural world would be possibly in the core of some planets.”
Q-carbon differs from both existing phases of carbon, with unique characteristics that researchers did not even think were possible prior to its development, such as its magnetic and glowing qualities. To fully understand its novel qualities, it’s essential to understand how Q-carbon was developed.
Check out what’s trending in electrochemical and solid state science and technology! Read some of the most exciting and innovative papers that have been recently published in ECS’s journals.
The articles highlighted below are free! Follow the links to get the full-text version.
Towards Implantable Bio-Supercapacitors: Pseudocapacitance of Ruthenium Oxide Nanoparticles and Nanosheets in Acids, Buffered Solutions, and Bioelectrolyte
Since the early 1990s when ruthenium oxide-based electrode materials were found to have pseudocapacitive properties, they have been extensively investigated as promising supercapacitor electrodes. A best benchmark example is RuO2·nH2O in combination with H2SO4 as the electrolyte, being able to operate with high voltage window, high capacitance and long cycle life. Read the rest.
Influence of the Altered Surface Layer on the Corrosion of AA5083
Aluminum alloys are increasingly replacing heavier materials in transportation, military and other applications, oftentimes in environments demanding of exceptional corrosion performance. In this regard, AA5083 has served as one of the alloys of choice for marine applications. Read the rest.
Advances in 3D Printing of Functional Nanomaterials
The intense and widespread interest in additive manufacturing techniques, including 3D printing, has resulted in an approximately $5 billion industry today with projections for growth to $15-20 billion by 2018. The commercial availability of 3D printing equipment, and the development of flexible additive manufacturing platforms in R&D laboratories, has provided a foundation for researchers to perform fundamental research in the materials science and engineering of polymers, organic materials, ceramics, inks, pastes, and other materials. Read the rest.
Quantum dots may be just the thing to take renewable energy technology to the next level.
A team from MIT has recently developed a double film coating that has the ability to transform infrared light into visible light.
While that may not outwardly seem like a huge gain for the energy technology sector, the development has the potential to vastly improve efforts in renewable. Essentially, this research could help increase the amount of light a solar cell could capture. By capturing and using protons below their normal bandgap and thus converting the typically unused infrared light into use visible light, researchers could see efficiency levels of solar panels rise.
The researchers went about this development by placing two films on top of a plate of glass. The bottom film was comprised by using a type of quantum dot, while the top layer was made up of an organic molecule.
Today, families, businesses, and communities around the world are joining together to celebrate generosity and to give through Giving Tuesday. Created in 2012, Giving Tuesday is now celebrated in several countries around the world, including Germany, Canada, Guatemala, and the United Kingdom.
Please join us in celebrating Giving Tuesday with a gift to ECS.
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ECS would like to thank all those who support our Society with their gifts of time, talent, and resources. Your generosity powers our robust technical meetings, provides critical support for emerging scientists, and promotes high-quality publication in our journals.
We would like to extend a special thank you to the individuals below for their donations in 2015.
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If you have been considering joining ECS, now is the perfect time. The current membership rate is $95 plus $10 for division dues. These rates will increase to $115 and $15 as of January 2016, so don’t wait!
Here are just a few of the reasons why you should become an ECS member today:
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Discussion during poster session. From left to right: Maximilian Bernt, Lukas Seidl, Thomas Mittermeier, Ludwig Asen, Benedikt Brandes (hidden).
Networking and knowledge exchange are at the heart of the newly established Munich student chapter.
“We wanted to establish an easy way to find people you could talk to when you encounter problems, want to vent your ideas about your experiments, or get some help,” says Thomas Mittermeier, chair of the student chapter and PhD student at Technische Universität München.
The student chapter, which pulls students from multiple universities across Munich, is working to assist in connecting themes and ideas happening in electrochemical research across the city. For Mittermeier and the rest of the students, it provides an avenue to transfer knowledge and bring more depth to research with ease.
“Since we’re from different individual research groups that all relate in some way to electrochemistry, the initial idea to start a student chapter was sparked from that,” Mittermeier says.
From ideas to research tools, the Munich student chapter is using an organized flow between universities and research groups to make research easier, producing better results. While the idea for this collaboration was sparked from the diversity and depth in research happening in Munich, the ideal platform was not always as apparent.
As a student member, Mittermeier regularly received ECS’s student newsletter. After seeing a list ranking universities by their number of student members, Mittermeier thought it was strange that his own university— Technische Universität München—was so high on the list but did not have a student chapter. With this, the ball started rolling for what would be the Munich student chapter.
The space elevator: a concept first conceptualized in the late 19th century that has been highly disputed and contested over the years. Many scientists and research institutions believe that the space elevator can be actualized in our lifetime. Up until 2014, Google X’s Rapid Evaluation R&D team was still working on bringing this concept to life. However, the project came to a halt due to the lack of advancement in the field of carbon nanotubes—the material that many deemed necessary to meet the strength requirements for the space elevator.
But work in the field of carbon nanotubes pressed on, and in 2014 diamond nanothreads were first synthesized. With strength properties similar to that of carbon nanotubes, researchers are once again interested in the development of the space elevator.
After testing from the Queensland University of Technology in Australia, researchers are putting a breath of fresh air into the space elevator with large scale diamond nanothreads, which may potentially be the world’s strongest substance.
Image: AlexanderAIUS
From solar cells to fuel cells to body armor, graphene has more potential applications than one could briefly summarize. Now, this wonder material is entering into a new realm of possibility.
According to new research from the University of Belgrade in Serbia, graphene has amazing sound detection qualities. Because of this, the researchers have developed the world’s first graphene-based condenser microphone. At about 32 times the strength of some of today’s best microphones, the graphene-based device has the ability to detect a range of audible frequencies. Further, the researchers believe that with a little more tweaking, it will be able to pick up sound that is well beyond the range of human hearing.
This from Gizmodo:
The researchers used a chemical vapor deposition process to “grow” sheets of graphene on a nickel foil substrate. They then etched the nickel away and placed the remaining graphene sheet (about 60 layers thick) in a commercial microphone casing. There, it acts as a vibrating membrane, converting sound to electric current.
With energy demands increasing every day, researchers are looking toward the next generation of energy storage technology. While society has depended on the lithium ion battery for these needs for some time, the rarity and expense of the materials needed to produce the battery is beginning to conflict with large-scale storage needs.
To combat this issue, a French team comprised of researchers primarily from CNRS and CEA is making gains in the field of electrochemical energy storage with their new development of an alternative technology for lithium ion batteries in specific sectors.
Instead of the rare and expensive lithium, these researchers are focusing on the use of sodium ions—a more cost efficient and abundant materials. With efficiently levels comparable to that of lithium, many commercial sectors are showing an increasing interest for sodium’s potential in storing renewable energy.
While this development takes the use of sodium to a new level, the idea has been around since the 1980s. However, sodium never took off as the primary battery building material due to low energy densities and short life cycles. It was then that researchers chose to power electronics with lithium for higher efficiency levels.
