The laser also has the potential to be used in optical data storage and lithography.
Image: Nature Communications

Former ECS member Teri Odom has assisted in the development of the first ever liquid nanoscale laser. This development could lead to some very practical applications, as well as guiding researchers one step closer to developing a “lab on a chip” for medical diagnostics.

The laser is relatively simple to create, cheap to produce, and has the ability to operate at room temperature. Because the device works in real time, users can quickly and simply produce different colors.

This from Science World Report:

The laser’s cavity itself is made up of an array of reflective gold nanoparticles where the light is concentrated around each nanoparticle and then amplified. In contrast to conventional laser cavities, no mirrors are required for the light to bounce back and forth. As the laser color is tuned the nanoparticle cavity stays fixed and does not change.

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Image: Jan Boedeker

Registration for the ECS Conference on Electrochemical Energy Conversion & Storage with SOFC-XIV is now open. The conference is set to take place this July in Scotland, a fitting venue when looking at the country’s goal of utilizing 100 percent renewable energy by 2020.

In 2012, Scotland pulled 40 percent of its power from renewable resources—a 24 percent increase over 2010.

Scotland is expected to hit the hallway point on the path of obtaining 100 percent renewable this year, making it the perfect platform for some of the top researchers globally in fuel cells and batteries.

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ECS will be offering three Short Courses at the 227th ECS Meeting this May in Chicago. Taught by industry experts, the small class size makes for an excellent opportunity for personalized instruction helping both novices and experts advance their technical expertise and knowledge.

Register online today!

Short Course #3
Scientific Writing for Scientists and Engineers
Noel Buckley, Instructor

Are you a graduate student, postdoctoral fellow or senior researcher who would like to improve your writing skills? This course is for you! Are you a professor who spends time rewriting students’ drafts of journal papers? Then, send your students to this course or attend it yourself and learn how to improve both your own and your students’ skills! Good skills in written communication are increasingly important, whether you are in an academic or an industrial environment. The course is intended for scientists and engineers with an interest in developing their skills in writing scientific documents, including journal papers, dissertations, proposals, abstracts, and reports. Read more.

About the Instructor
Dr. Noel Buckley, past President of ECS, is currently Professor of Physics and the University of Limerick, Ireland and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Cast Western Reserve University. Prior to his shift toward academica, Dr. Buckley spent 17 years at Bell Laboratories where he played a key role in the development of epitaxial crystal growth and characterization of compound semiconductor films for high performance optoelectronic devices and earlier worked on the development of rechargeable lithium batteries. He has more than 70 research publications and has made numerous presentations at international conferences. He has organized many technical symposia and has edited ~20 volumes of symposium proceedings. He has taught a graduate-level course in Scientific Writing since 2006 at the University of Limerick and via webcast at five other universities, and he has taught the present short course at previous ECS Meetings in Vancouver, Las Vegas, Montreal, Boston, and Seattle.

Registration for the short courses has been extended through the start of the meeting.

After a several year hiatus, the Chicago Section began the revitalization process in April 2015. Leading the effort in reengaging section members and activity are Alan Zdunek and Jordi Cabana from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) and Eungje Lee and Arturo Gutierrez from Argonne National Laboratory (ANL). They will serve as the interim executive board for the coming year.

A kick-off meeting/social reception is planned during the ECS 227th Meeting in Chicago, IL on Monday, May 25th from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., immediately following The ECS Lecture at the plenary. The reception will be jointly hosted by the Chicago Section, the Joint Center for Energy Storage Research (JCESR) and the Center for Electrochemical Energy Science (CEES) and the Chemical Sciences and Engineering Division at Argonne National Laboratory.

All ECS members are invited to participate in the event to learn more about future Chicago Section events and the program highlights from JCESR and CEES.

For more information contact, Interim Chair, Alan Zdunek, at zdunek@uic.edu.

Logan Streu, ECS Content Associate & Assistant to the CCO, recently spotted an article out of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory detailing a new type of graphene aerogel that could improve energy storage, sensors, nanoelectronics, catalysis, and separations.

The researchers are creating graphene aerogel microlattics through a 3D printing process known as direct ink wetting.

This from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory:

The 3D printed graphene aerogels have high surface area, excellent electrical conductivity, are lightweight, have mechanical stiffness and exhibit supercompressibility (up to 90 percent compressive strain). In addition, the 3D printed graphene aerogel microlattices show an order of magnitude improvement over bulk graphene materials and much better mass transport.

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Chemical phase map showing how the electrochemical discharge of iron fluoride microwires proceeded from 0 percent discharge (left), to 50 percent (middle), to 95 percent.
Source: AZO Materials

ECS student member Linsen Li, along with former member Song Jin, have recently completed the first part of their study focusing on the powerful potential of iron fluoride in lithium-ion batteries, which can improve energy storage.

“In the past, we weren’t able to truly understand what is happening to iron fluoride during battery reactions because other battery components were getting in the way of getting a precise image,” said Linsen Li, graduate student and research assistant at the University of Wisconsin – Madison.

This development will likely impact energy storage and could, in the future, advance large-scale renewable energy storage technologies if the researchers can maximize the cycling performance and efficiency of the low-cost fluoride lithium-ion battery materials.

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Thousands of scientific leaders from around the world
will gather this spring in Chicago for the 227th ECS Meeting.

Over 50 topical symposia consisting of over 2,000 technical presentations, full-day short courses, professional development workshops, career opportunities, poster sessions, a dynamic technical exhibit and the 3rd Free the Science 5K Run. The 227th ECS Meeting is expected to attract over 2,000 scientists and engineers from industry, government, and academic institutions.

The ECS Lecture
“Hydrogen from Photoelectrochemical
Water Splitting – What’s it gonna’ take?”
John A. Turner studied under Fred Anson and Heinz Gerischer. He joined the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in 1979 and began his work on photoelectrochemical water splitting for hydrogen production.

Society Award
The first ever Allen J. Bard Award will be presented along with the Gordon E. Moore Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Solid State Science and Technology.

Register for the meeting by Friday
and get a discount on your hotel room too!

PS: There is sill time to join us as an exhibitor or sponsor.
Contact dan.fatton@electrochem.org for further information.

Opening of the ECS Korea Section-KIST Joint Symposium on Electrochemical CO₂ Conversion in Gwangju, South Korea.

The Korea Section Symposium (Organizers: Prof. Yung-Eun Sung, Prof. Soo-Kil Kim and Dr. Byoung Koun Min) was held on April 2, 2015 at the Kimdaejung Convention Center in Gwangju, Korea.

This year, the event was held as a Joint Symposium with the Korea Institute of Science and Technology, with the title “ECS Korea Section-KIST Joint Symposium on Electrochemical CO₂ Conversion.” It was composed of seven talks on electrocatalysts and systems for electrochemical reduction of CO₂.

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Deadline for Submitting Abstracts
May 1, 2015

Submit today!

You won’t want to miss the

– Electrochemical Energy Summit 2015 –

Theme: Solar Critical Issues and Renewable Energy

Held during the 228th ECS Meeting, the fifth international ECS Electrochemical Energy Summit is designed to foster an exchange between leading policy makers and energy experts about society needs and technological energy solutions.

Participants

• Fluid Interface Reactions, Structures, and Transport Center (FIRST)
  David Wesolowski, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
• NorthEast Center for Chemical Energy Storage (NECCES)
  M. Stanley Whittingham, Binghamton University
• Center for Mesoscale Transport Properties (m2m)
  Esther Takeuchi, Stony Brook University
• Nanostructures for Electrical Energy Storage (NEES)
  Gary Rubloff, University of Maryland
• Center for Electrochemical Energy Science (CEES)
  Paul Fenter, Argonne National Laboratory
• Joint Center for Energy Storage Research (JCESR)
  George Crabtree, Director
• Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP)
  Harry Atwater, Director

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What better day than Earth Day to highlight the work of ECS member Luke Haverhals, an assistant professor at Bradley University working in novel types of energy storage and conversion through the utilization of renewable, sustainable substrates such as hemp, wood, and silk.

Haverhals is a former student of current ECS 3rd Vice-President Johna Leddy. Since departing from Leddy and the University of Iowa, Haverhals has worked in an area focused on wielding natural fibers using ionic liquids (i.e. enhanced energy conversion devices).

Ionic liquids have been gaining much notoriety lately, with potential game changing electrolytes for energy conversion devices ranging from batteries to fuel cells.

Make sure to join Haverhals and other scientists pioneering world-changing research by joining ECS today and attending our upcoming scientific meeting!