Krishnan Rajeshwar, ECS senior vice president and co-founder of UTA’s Center for Renewable Energy, Science and Technology

New research headed by ECS senior vice president Krishnan Rajeshwar has developed “green fuels” to power cars, home appliances, and even impact critical energy storage devices.

Solar fuels addressing global issues

Rajeshwar’s research works to address critical global and environmental issue by creating an inexpensive way to generate fuel from harmful emissions such as carbon dioxide.

(MORE: Read additional publications by Rajeshwar.)

The University of Texas at Arlington professor and 35 year ECS member has developed a novel high-performing material for cells that harness sunlight to split carbon dioxide and water into usable fuels like methanol and hydrogen gas.

From harmful to helpful

“Technologies that simultaneously permit us to remove greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide while harnessing and storing the energy of sunlight as fuel are at the forefront of current research,” Rajeshwar said. “Our new material could improve the safety, efficiency and cost-effectiveness of solar fuel generation, which is not yet economically viable.”

(MORE: Read the full study as published in ChemElectroChem Europe.)

This from University of Texas at Arlington:

The new hybrid platform uses ultra-long carbon nanotube networks with a homogeneous coating of copper oxide nanocrystals. It demonstrates both the high electrical conductivity of carbon nanotubes and the photocathode qualities of copper oxide, efficiently converting light into the photocurrents needed for the photoelectrochemical reduction process.

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Tesla is most commonly known for its novel innovations in automobile technology, research into battery technology, and even the company’s dedication to open source knowledge. Now, the company is shifting gears to create a product for all the tiny Elon Musk fans out there.

Tesla, in collaboration with Radio Flyer, has recently produced line of electric vehicles for kids.

True to Tesla vehicles, the kid car is essentially a scale model of Tesla’s popular electric sedan.

The newly developed semiconductor material could eventually lead to electronic devices that are 100 percent faster.
Image: Dan Hixson/University of Utah College of Engineering

Thanks to a new development in semiconducting materials, our electronics may soon be faster all while consuming a lot less power.

The semiconductor is comprised of tin and oxygen and is only one atom thick, which allows electrical charges to move very quickly – much faster than comparable materials, such as silicon. This material also differs from conventional 3D materials, as it is 2D. The benefit of this material being 2D lies in the reduction of layers and thickness, thus allowing electronics to move faster.

This material has the ability to be applied to transistors, which are central to the majority of electronic devices.

This from the University of Utah:

While researchers in this field have recently discovered new types of 2D material such as graphene, molybdenun disulfide and borophene, they have been materials that only allow the movement of N-type, or negative, electrons. In order to create an electronic device, however, you need semiconductor material that allows the movement of both negative electrons and positive charges known as “holes.” The tin monoxide material discovered by Tiwari and his team is the first stable P-type 2D semiconductor material ever in existence.

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ECS members have found a way to embed a supercapacitor energy storage device in a silicon wafer of a microchip.
Image: Drexel University.

More than half a decade of research has revealed that carbon films can give microchips energy storage capabilities.

An international team, led by ECS members Yury Gogotsi and Patrice Simon, has confirmed their process for making carbon films and micro-supercapacitors that will allow microchips and their power sources to become one and the same.

(MORE: Read additional publications by Gogotsi.)

“This has taken us quite some time, but we set a lofty goal of not just making an energy storage device as small as a microchip—but actually making an energy storage device that is part of the microchip and to do it in a way that is easily integrated into current silicon chip manufacturing processes,” Simon said. “With this achievement, the future is now wide open for chip and personal electronics manufacturers.”

(MORE: Read additional publications by Simon.)

This research proves that the versatile films can be seamlessly integrated into systems that power silicon-based microchips, providing the ability to power items from laptops to smart watches.

“The place where most people will eventually notice the impact of this development is in the size of their personal electronic devices, their smart phones, fitbits89 and watches,” Gogotsi said. “Even more importantly, on-chip energy storage is needed to create the Internet of Things – the network of all kinds of physical objects ranging from vehicles and buildings to our clothes embedded with electronics, sensors, and network connectivity, which enables these objects to collect and exchange data. This work is an important step toward that future.”

This from Drexel University:

The researchers’ method for depositing carbon onto a silicon wafer is consistent with microchip fabrication procedures currently in use, thus easing the challenges of integration of energy storage devices into electronic device architecture. As part of the research, the group showed how it could deposit the carbon films on silicon wafers in a variety of shapes and configurations to create dozens of supercapacitors on a single silicon wafer.

Read the full article.

The carbon films also have the potential to have applications in dynamic seals, gas filtration, and water desalination or purification.

Lithium batteries are everywhere!

IMLB 2016 will be the premier international conference on the state of lithium battery science and technology. Convening from June 19-24 in the heart of downtown Chicago, the conference is expected to draw 2,000 experts, researchers, and company representatives involved in the lithium battery field. This meeting is one of the leading resources for industry experts from around the world and attendees represent an extremely well-targeted and responsive audience.

Join industry leaders like, Samsung, Toyota and more as an exhibitor at the 2016 IMLB. As an exhibitor, you will have the unique opportunity to present your products and services to key constituents from industry, government and academia.

Exhibit space is filling up quickly!

As always, exhibit booths and sponsorship options will be allotted on a first come, first served basis. As the exhibit lineup continues to grow we highly recommend you lock in your exhibit location and sponsorship options today. To reserve a booth, or browse our sponsorship options, please complete pages 7-8 of our online exhibit and sponsorship brochure and return them by no later than Friday, March 11.

If you have any questions, or would like to work on a custom package, please feel free to contact Casey Emilius, ECS Meetings Coordinator.

Battery Division Awards

Nominations Deadline: March 15, 2016

ECS recognizes outstanding technical achievements in electrochemistry and solid-state science and technology through its Honors & Awards program. There are many deserving members of the Battery Division among us and this is an opportunity to highlight their contributions.

We are currently accepting nominations for:

Battery Division Research Award: established in 1958 to encourage excellence in battery and fuel cell research, and to encourage publication in ECS journals.

Battery Division Technology Award: established in 1993 to encourage the development of battery and fuel cell technology, and to recognize significant achievements in this area.

Battery Division Student Research Award: established in 1979 to recognize promising young engineers and scientists in the field of electrochemical power sources.

Please review the full award criteria for distinct application requirements before making the nomination.

Take a look at the 2015 winners of Battery Division Awards:

• Dr. Martin Winter – Research
• Dr. Ashok Shukla – Technology
• Matteo Bianchini – Student Research

Nominate a colleague today!

We all know electrochemistry and solid state scientists are solving some of the biggest challenges today, but did you know their innovations are also improving traditional Valentine’s Day gifts around the world?

Share your love for science. Donate to ECS today!

Today, Feb. 11, 2016, marks the 165th birthday of one Thomas Edison.

While he may no longer be around for us to celebrate with, ECS is paying homage to one of our earliest members.

“Genius is one percent inspiration, 99 percent perspiration.”

– Thomas Edison, Harper’s Monthly (September 1932 edition)