Deadline for Submitting Abstracts
Dec. 16, 2016
Submit today!

Topic Close-up #7

Symposium D03: Plasma Nanoscience and Technology

Symposium Focus is on extensive and in-depth discussions in the field of plasma nanoscience and nanotechnology as well as developing the next-generation plasma-based nanotechnologies and applications. One of the motivations to organize this Symposium is an ever-increasing and more and more widespread use of plasma-based tools and techniques for nanoscale synthesis and processing. The Symposium is planned as an expert meeting that will provide overview of some of the most important research directions in this field followed by the comments and detailed discussions of the main challenges and strategic directions for the future development in relevant areas.

Examples include topics related to nanoscale synthesis and processing using low-temperature plasmas, ion beams, lasers, etc.; physical and chemical mechanisms of growth of nanostructures using plasma-based and related processes; present and future industrial applications of plasma-based nanoscale synthesis and processing; design of plasma processes, reactors, and associated tools and instrumentation for nanoscale synthesis and processing.

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This year marks the 25th anniversary of the commercialization of the lithium-ion battery. To celebrate, we sat down with some of the inventors and pioneers of Li-ion battery technology at the PRiME 2016 meeting.

Speakers John Goodenough (University of Texas at Austin), Stanley Whittingham (Binghamton University), Michael Thackeray (Argonne National Laboratory), Zempachi Ogumi (Kyoto University), and Martin Winter (Univeristy of Muenster) discuss how the Li-ion battery got its start and the impact it has had on society.

Listen to the podcast and download this episode and others for free through the iTunes Store, SoundCloud, or our RSS Feed. You can also find us on Stitcher.

Deadline for Submitting Abstracts
Dec. 16, 2016
Submit today!

Topic Close-up #6

Symposium D01: Emerging Materials for Post CMOS Devices/Sensing and Applications 8

Symposium Focus on transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) (such as MoX2, WX2 etc.), IV/III-V based nanowires and TFET device performance, spintronics for next generation devices and sensing, as well as keeping its previous theme on graphene and CNT based device enhancement for post-CMOS applications. Integration of novel device concepts, transport and mobility enhancement related mechanisms; thermal behavior of graphene, and carbon-based devices including thermal transport, thermal conductivity, and heat transfer management in devices and nanostructures, sensing or backend interconnect applications; advanced materials for charge and non-charge based device application: resistance change materials encompassing logic, memory, or optical applications.

By: Sudeep Pasricha, Colorado State University

American mining production increased earlier this decade, as industry sought to reduce its reliance on other countries for key minerals such as coal for energy and rare-earth metals for use in consumer electronics. But mining is dangerous – working underground carries risks of explosions, fires, flooding and dangerous concentrations of poisonous gases.

Mine accidents have killed tens of thousands of mine workers worldwide in just the past decade. Most of these accidents occurred in structurally diverse underground mines with extensive labyrinths of interconnected tunnels. As mining progresses, workers move machinery around, which creates a continually changing environment. This makes search and rescue efforts even more complicated than they might otherwise be.

To address these dangers, U.S. federal regulations require mine operators to monitor levels of methane, carbon monoxide, smoke and oxygen – and to warn miners of possible danger due to air poisoning, flood, fire or explosions. In addition, mining companies must have accident-response plans that include systems with two key capabilities: enabling two-way communications between miners trapped underground and rescuers on the surface, and tracking individual miners so responders can know where they need to dig.

So far, efforts to design systems that are both reliable and resilient when disaster strikes have run into significant roadblocks. My research group’s work is aimed at enhancing commercially available smartphones and wireless network equipment with software and hardware innovations to create a system that is straightforward and relatively simple to operate.

Existing connections

The past decade has seen several efforts to develop monitoring and emergency communication systems, which generally can be classified into three types: through-the-wire, through-the-Earth and through-the-air. Each has different flaws that make them less than ideal options.

Wired systems use coaxial cables or optical fibers to connect monitoring and communications equipment throughout the mine and on the surface. But these are costly and vulnerable to damage from fires and tunnel collapses. Imagine, for example, if a wall collapse cut off a room from its connecting tunnels: Chances are the cable in those tunnels would be damaged too.

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Deadline for Submitting Abstracts
Dec. 16, 2016
Submit today!

Topic Close-up #5

Symposium A03: Battery Electrolytes

Symposium Focus on presentation of properties of novel electrolytes for application in lithium-ion and (Or) post lithium ion batteries (LI-S, Li-air, magnesium). Special emphasize will be paid on newly design systems which are in the optimization stage for further development and up scaling. Basic research is welcome however applied studies will be preferred.

Confirmed Speakers
Prof. Steve Greenbaum Hunter College CUNY
Prof. Dina Golodnitsky- Tel Aviv University
Prof. Maria Forsyth Deakin University (herself or somebody on behalf from her group)

By: Vera Keller, University of Oregon

Galileo demonstrates a telescope to the doge of Venice. Giuseppe Bertini

While the Nobel Prizes are 115 years old, rewards for scientific achievement have been around much longer. As early as the 17th century, at the very origins of modern experimental science, promoters of science realized the need for some system of recognition and reward that would provide incentive for advances in the field.

Before the prize, it was the gift that reigned in science. Precursors to modern scientists – the early astronomers, philosophers, physicians, alchemists and engineers – offered wonderful achievements, discoveries, inventions and works of literature or art as gifts to powerful patrons, often royalty. Authors prefaced their publications with extravagant letters of dedication; they might, or they might not, be rewarded with a gift in return. Many of these practitioners worked outside of academe; even those who enjoyed a modest academic salary lacked today’s large institutional funders, beyond the Catholic Church. Gifts from patrons offered a crucial means of support, yet they came with many strings attached.

Eventually, different kinds of incentives, including prizes and awards, as well as new, salaried academic positions, became more common and the favor of particular wealthy patrons diminished in importance. But at the height of the Renaissance, scientific precursors relied on gifts from powerful princes to compensate and advertise their efforts.

Presented to please a patron

With courtiers all vying for a patron’s attention, gifts had to be presented with drama and flair. Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) presented his newly discovered moons of Jupiter to the Medici dukes as a “gift” that was literally out of this world. In return, Prince Cosimo “ennobled” Galileo with the title and position of court philosopher and mathematician.

If a gift succeeded, the gift-giver might, like Galileo in this case, be fortunate enough to receive a gift in return. Gift-givers could not, however, predict what form it would take, and they might find themselves burdened with offers they couldn’t refuse. Tycho Brahe (1546-1601), the great Danish Renaissance astronomer, received everything from cash to chemical secrets, exotic animals and islands in return for his discoveries.

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In 2005, the number of electric vehicles on the road could be measured in the hundreds. Over the years, researchers have made technological leaps in the field of EVs. Now, we’ve exceeded a global threshold of one million EVs, and the demand continues to grow.

However, the ultimate success and growth of the EV hinges on battery technology. With some scientists stating that convention Li-ion batteries are approaching their theoretical energy density limits, researchers have begun exploring new energy storage technologies.

ECS member Qiang Zhang is one researcher focusing on technologies beyond Li-ion, specifically focusing on lithium sulfur batteries in a recently published paper.

“The lithium sulfur battery is recognized as a promising alternative for its intercalation chemistry counterparts,” Zhang says. “It possesses a theoretical energy density of ~2600 Wh kg-1 and provides a theoretical capacity of 1672 mAh g−1 through multi-electron redox reactions. Additionally, valuable characteristics like high natural abundance, low cost and environmental friendliness of sulfur have lent competitive edges to the lithium sulfur battery.”

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Actor, writer, and science advocate Alan Alda recently launched the sixth Flame Challenge science education contest.

Since 2011, Alda has presented scientists with questions asked by kids in an effort to bridge a communication gap and enhance overall scientific communication to those not in the field. After sorting through hundreds of questions proposed by kids, Stony Brook University’s Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science has announced that it will be asking scientists from around the world, “What is energy?”

“As far as I know, nothing happens without energy,” Alda says. “Night and day, we’re surrounded by it, moved by it — we live and breathe by it. But what is it?”

The Flame Challenge will be judged by 11-year-olds from around the world, challenging the scientists submitting answer to easily communicate these complex concepts.

“I hope scientists from every discipline will have a go at answering this fundamental question about energy. Eleven-year-olds all over the world are waiting to hear the explanation,” Alda says. “The kids — and our sponsors, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Chemical Society — all invite scientists to see if they can explain this complex aspect of nature clearly and vividly. Give it your best shot because, don’t forget, the kids themselves are the judges.”

Scientists and educators looking to participate in this challenge can get more information at www.flamechallenge.org.

Deadline for Submitting Abstracts
Dec. 16, 2016
Submit today!

Topic Close-up #4

Symposium L02: Ion-Conducting Polymeric (or, Polymer-based) Materials

Symposium Focus is on polymeric ion-conducting materials. They are supramolecular systems which comprise/are doped with ions and present a significant conductivity. Polymeric ion-conducting materials are found at the heart of a number of advanced applications, ranging from electrochemical energy conversion and storage systems (e.g., lithium batteries, low-temperature fuel cells, supercapacitors) to sensors, actuators, photo-electrochemical devices, not to mention the fields of microelectronics and biotechnology. This Symposium will place a particular emphasis on all the fundamental and applied aspects of the science and technology of polymeric ion-conducting materials, covering experimental and theoretical studies on their structure, properties, interactions and mechanisms of charge migration.

By: Sameer Sonkusale, Tufts University

Image: Alonso Nichols, Tufts University, CC BY-ND

Doctors have various ways to assess your health. For example, they measure your heart rate and blood pressure to indirectly assess your heart function, or straightforwardly test a blood sample for iron content to diagnose anemia. But there are plenty of situations in which that sort of monitoring just isn’t possible.

To test the health of muscle and bone in contact with a hip replacement, for example, requires a complicated – and expensive – procedure. And if problems are found, it’s often too late to truly fix them. The same is true when dealing with deep wounds or internal incisions from surgery.

In my engineering lab at Tufts University, we asked ourselves whether we could make sensors that could be seamlessly embedded in body tissue or organs – and yet could communicate to monitors outside the body in real time. The first concern, of course, would be to make sure that the materials wouldn’t cause infection or an immune response from the body. The sensors would also need to match the mechanical properties of the body part they would be embedded in: soft for organs and stretchable for muscle. And, ideally, they would be relatively inexpensive to make in large quantities.

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