The open-source code, WulffMaker, is available as a Wolfram computable document format file or a Mathematica notebook.
Image: MIT/Rachel Zucker

Recent PhD recipient and past ECS student member, Rachel Zucker, examined one of the most complex issues in materials science and has developed a range of mathematical solutions to explain the phenomena known as “dewetting” in solid films. In defense of her thesis, Zucker modeled dewetting in microscale and nanoscale thin films.

Dewetting can be boiled down to the general break-up of material due to excess surface energy. Zucker’s development provides us with not only a new understanding of this phenomenon, but also a way to simulate it. When analyzing solid state dewetting, issues becomes very prominent as engineers attempt to make products with smaller and smaller features.

“The big takeaway is: One, we can write down formulation of this problem; two, we can implement a numerical method to construct the solutions; three, we can make a direct comparison to experiments; and that strikes me as what a thesis should be — the complete thing — formulation, solution, comparison, conclusion,” said W. Craig Carter, MIT professor and Zucker’s co-adviser.

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ECS’s job board keeps you up-to-date with the latest career opportunities in electrochemical and solid state science. Check out the latest openings that have been added to the board.

P.S. Employers can post open positions for free!

ECS Journals Technical Editor
The Electrochemical Society – Pennington, NJ
ECS (The Electrochemical Society) is seeking to fill the position of Technical Editor of the Electronic and Photonic Devices and Systems Technical Interest Area for the ECS Journal of Solid State Science and Technology and ECS Solid State Letters.

Materials Scientist
Nano One Materials Corp. – Burnaby, Canada
Nano One is looking for an experienced, ambitious and creative scientist with proven organizational skills and an interest in industrial technology development. The successful candidate will be developing lithium ion cathode processing technologies as part of a multi-disciplinary team of scientists, engineers and technologists.

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PNNL scientist Jian Zhi Hu shows a tiny experimental battery mounted in NMR apparatus.
Image: PNNL

While working on a unique lithium-germanide battery, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) researchers knew something was happening inside the battery to dramatically increase its energy storage capacity, but they couldn’t see it. With no way to analyze the reaction occurring, the researchers could not understand the process. In order to solve the problem, the researchers developed a novel nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technique to allow insight and understanding of the electrochemical reactions taking place in the battery. Essentially, they have developed an NMR “camera.”

In the end, this leaves the scientists with not only a novel lithium-germanide battery with a distinctly high energy density, but also an NMR device that can be used to examine reactions as they happen inside the battery.

This from PNNL:

By using the NMR process to look inside the battery and observe this reaction as it happened, the scientists found a way to protect the germanium from expanding and becoming ineffective after it takes on lithium. The secret proved to be forming the germanium into tiny “wires” and encasing them in small, protective carbon tubes to limit the expansion. This technique significantly stabilizes battery performance. Without embedding germanium in carbon tubes, a battery performs well for a few charging-discharging cycles, but fades rapidly after that. Using the “core-shell” structure, however, the battery can be discharged and charged thousands of times.

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Can the United States convert to 100 percent clean, renewable energy by 2050? Stanford University’s Mark Z. Jacobson and U.C. Berkeley’s Mark Delucchi certainly think so. In fact, they’ve laid out a very comprehensive plan to do just that.

The two researchers have recently published a study detailing the viability of the U.S. converting to 100 percent green energy. They’re calling for aggressive changes in both infrastructure and energy consumption on a state-by-state level to achieve this goal. The new study shows that this transition from fossil fuels to renewable resources is not only technically possible with already existing technologies, but it’s also economically feasible.

“The main barriers are social, political and getting industries to change. One way to overcome the barriers is to inform people about what is possible,” Jacobson said. “By showing that it’s technologically and economically possible, this study could reduce the barriers to a large scale transformation.”

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Recently, scientists have been looking at the Japanese paper-folding art of origami as inspiration for novel flexible energy-storage technologies. While there have been breakthroughs in battery flexibility, there has yet to be a successful development of stretchable batteries. Now, researchers from Arizona State University have unveiled a way to make batteries stretch, yielding big potential outcomes for wearable electronics.

The Arizona State University research team includes ECS member and advisor of the ECS Valley of the Sun student chapter, Candace K. Chan. Chan and the rest of the team were inspired by a variation of origami called kirigami when developing this new generation of lithium-ion batteries.

According to the researchers, the new battery can be stretched more than 150 percent of its original size and still maintain full functionality.

Vimal Chaitanya, member of the ECS Education Committee, Heather Barkholtz, Jonathan Kucharyson, Maria Lukatskaya, ECS President Paul Kohl. (Not pictured Rajankumar Patel)

Each biannual meeting hosts a general student poster session and presents awards representing two categories: electrochemical and solid state science and technology.

Winners (pictured) were honored at the 227th ECS Meeting in Chicago on Wednesday May 27, 2015.

Here are the winners:

1^st Place – Electrochemical
Jonathan Kucharyson
University of Michigan
Poster Number 2241
Stability Assessment and Charge Storage Mechanism of Vanadium (III) Acetylacetonate Complexes for Non-Aqueous Redox Flow Batteries

2^nd Place – Electrochemical
Maria Lukatskaya
Drexel University
Poster Number 2235
Cation Intercalation of High Volumetric Capacitance of Two-Dimensional Titanium Carbide

1^st Place – Solid State
Heather Barkholtz
Northern Illinois University
Poster Number 2208
Highly Active Non-PGM Catalysts Prepared from Metal Organic Frameworks

2^nd Place – Solid State
Rajankumar Patel
Missouri University of Science & Technology
Poster Number 2216
Lithium-Ion Battery Cathodes Coated with Ultra-Thin Conductive Films for Long Cycle Life

This poster session provides a forum for graduate and undergraduate students to present research results of general interest to ECS. The purpose of this session is to foster promote work in both electrochemical and solid-state science and technology, and to stimulate active student interest and participation in ECS.

Cash prizes are given to the presenting student author on each winning paper; the amounts are awarded at the discretion of the organizers and judges.

Your next chance will be at the 229th ECS Meeting in San Diego. Look for the call for papers soon!

Small-scale device provides easy “plug-and-play” testing of molecules and materials for artificial photosynthesis and fuel cell technologies.
Image: Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis

Scientists have developed a small-scale device that can aid in the advancement of artificial photosynthesis and fuel cell technologies.

The new device provides an easy “plug-and-play” microfluidic test-bed to evaluate materials for electrochemical energy conversion systems. Researchers will now be able to test small amounts of molecules and materials before producing a full-scale device to insure new devices will provide high energy density.

Sophia Haussener and Joel Ager, published ECS authors and past members, were two of the researchers that worked on the project for the U.S. Department of Energy. (Check out Haussener’s past research on photoelectrochemical water-splitting and Ager’s work in electron diffraction.)

This from U.S. Department of Energy:

As all functional components in this microfluidic test-bed can be easily exchanged, the performance of various components in the integrated system can be quickly assessed and tailored for optimization. The initial experiments and modeling were performed for water electrolysis; however, the system can be readily adapted to study proposed artificial photosynthesis and fuel cell technologies.

Read the full article here.

The researchers believe that this technology will be easily adaptable to other technologies, such as solar-fuel generators. Development of such devices may significantly accelerate due to the new ability to assess performance at an early stage.

Wind energy has seen a lot of positive momentum over the past few years in a global effort to help facilitate change in the energy infrastructure. With over $100 billion invested in wind energy in 2014 alone, this technology is one of the fastest growing sectors in the world. Today we’re celebrating Global Wind Day by looking at the innovation that has happened in this sector and taking a peek at what is yet to come.

Over the years, wind energy has seen some dramatic changes. In the 1980s, California was the hub of all wind energy with 90 percent of the world’s installed wind energy capacity. Now, countries such as China, Germany, Spain, India, and the United States have all shifted a substantial percentage of energy needs toward wind. In just a short 12-year period between 2000 and 2012, wind energy has increased over 16 times to more than 282,000 MW of operating wind capacity.

Scientists across the globe are continuing to tap into this technology in order to produce higher efficiency levels at lower price points. Take a look at the work some of our scientists are doing in the sector:

• “Integrating Wind And Solar With Hydrogen Producing Fuel Cells“
• “The Cost of Hydrogen Production from Wind Energy“
• “The Application of Valve-Regulated Lead Acid Batteries to Wind Power Generation Systems“
• “Fuel Cells And Hydrogen For Smart Grid“

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“If you want innovation, if you want to have engineers of tomorrow, you have to have science.”

Those were the words of Bill Nye the Science guy at the 2015 Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision K-12 national science competition.

A group of students from West Salem High School in Oregon took first place overall in the competition this year with their prototype of programmable bio-scaffolding that could eliminated uncontrollable bleeding from open wounds in those who take blood thinning medications.

Nye has been involved with this competition for more than a decade. Not only does Nye hope that this competition will help encourage young people to value the importance of the sciences, but that it will also highlight the need for gender inclusion in STEM.

“Half the humans are girls and women, so we want half the engineers and scientists to be girls and women,” said Nye.

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“The Big Bang Theory” is making history by creating the first television-inspired scholarship to help advance students in STEM.

Students pursing science, technology, engineering, and math degrees at UCLA are eligible for the scholarship, which is currently endowed at $4 million.

“We have all been given a gift with ‘The Big Bang Theory,’ a show that’s not only based in the scientific community, but also enthusiastically supported by that same community. This is our opportunity to give back,” said series creator Chuck Lorre.

This from UCLA:

For the 2015–16 academic year, 20 Big Bang Theory scholars will be selected to receive financial assistance. Each year in perpetuity, five additional scholars will be chosen. Scholarships will be awarded based on financial need to low-income students who have earned admission to UCLA based on academic merit but need additional support to bridge the gap between typical levels of financial aid and the cost of attendance.

Read the full article here.