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December 2, 2019
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Topic Close-up #6

Symposium L05: Composite Electrodes

Symposium focus: Multicomponent composite electrodes are an essential feature of a variety of electrochemical devices such as batteries, fuel cells, supercapacitors, and hybrid systems, and their proper design is key to ensuring that optimum kinetics and mass transport are achieved during operation. Several phases must meet in these composite systems, such as a gas diffusion electrode of a polymer electrolyte fuel cell, for the electrochemistry to take place, which requires the combination of good materials selection and processing protocols. (more…)

Photo Credit: Fossbytes

The newest Apple Watch has arrived. Updated, new, and shiny, the Series 4 watch offers a state-of-the-art heart monitor feature that can alert users of potential heart problems, according to IEEE Spectrum. The app, cleared by the Food and Drug Administration, works like an electrocardiogram, allowing wearers to proactively manage their health. Electrodes on the back of the watch and on the watch band allow wearers to detect irregular heart rhythms that can warn consumers of any possible atrial fibrillation’s that could possibly lead to blood clots or strokes; heart disease being one of the top killers in the western world. The Series 4 Apple Watch is truly unique; the first certified ECG monitor to be sold over the counter, directly to consumers. (more…)

When a battery is used, electrically charged ions travel between electrodes, causing those electrodes to shrink and swell. For some time, researchers have wondered why the electrode materials – which are fairly brittle – don’t crack in the expansion and contraction styles.

Now, a team of researchers from MIT, led by ECS member Yet-Ming Chiang, may have found the answer to this mystery.

This from MIT:

While the electrode materials are normally crystalline, with all their atoms neatly arranged in a regular, repetitive array, when they undergo the charging or discharging process, they are transformed into a disordered, glass-like phase that can accommodate the strain of the dimensional changes.

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Vilas Pol has assisted in the discovery of a nanoparticle network that could bring fast-charging batteries. He joined the Society in 2012.
Credit: Argonne National Laboratory

The Electrochemical Society’s Vilas Pol, along with a team of Purdue University researchers, has developed a nanoparticle network that could produce very fast-charging batteries.

This new electrode design for lithium-ion batteries has been shown to potentially reduce the charging time from hours to minutes, all by replacing the conventional graphite electrode with a network of tin-oxide nanoparticles.

This from Purdue University:

The researchers have performed experiments with a “porous interconnected” tin-oxide based anode, which has nearly twice the theoretical charging capacity of graphite. The researchers demonstrated that the experimental anode can be charged in 30 minutes and still have a capacity of 430 milliamp hours per gram (mAh g−1), which is greater than the theoretical maximum capacity for graphite when charged slowly over 10 hours.

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The prosthetic arm plugs into the patient’s electrode implant to create natural-feeling sensations.
Credit: Russell Lee

Prosthetic limbs help amputees with mobility and functionality, but do not allow one to regain their sense of touch. Scientists and engineers have been attempting to re-create touch for those who have lost limbs for some time now, and they may have found the answer.

A study published in Science Translation Medicine states that long-lasting, natural-feeling sensations are now able to be produced artificially for those with prosthetic limbs. Of course, those using the device cannot physically feel the ball. Although, the patterns of electric singles that are sent by a computer into nerves around the patient’s arm will tell him or her differently.

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