Is it a solar cell? Is it a rechargeable battery? Well, technically it’s both. The scientists at Ohio State University have developed the world’s first solar battery that can recharge itself using light and air. The findings from the patent-pending device were published in the October 3, 2014 issue of the journal Nature Communications. This from Ohio State University: Key to the innovation is a mesh solar panel, which allows air to enter the battery, and a special process for…
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According to new studies, the future of energy storage and conversion may be something that’s sitting in your kitchen cupboard. A new breakthrough out of Virginia Tech demonstrates that a sugar-powered biobattery has the potential to outperform the current lithium-ion batteries on many fronts. Not only is the energy density of the sugar-powered battery significantly higher than that of the lithium-ion battery, but the sugar battery is also less costly than the li-ion, refillable, environmentally friendly, and nonflammable. This from…
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This from Scientific American: A team of Stanford University researchers, including former Energy Secretary Steven Chu, believes it has achieved the “holy grail” of lithium battery design: an anode of pure lithium that could boost the range of an electric car to 300 miles. Lithium-ion batteries are one of the most common types of rechargeable batteries on the market today. But most of the batteries—found in technologies like smartphones and electric cars—use an anode made of graphite or silicon. Read…
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ECS members are now eligible for a special discounted rate on EL-CELL’s seminar programs. The first, a hands-on seminar on basic battery research will be offered November 6 & 7, 2014 at the EL-CELL facility in Hamburg, Germany. The second, a hands-on seminar on advanced battery research will be offered March 12 & 13, 2015, also in Hamburg, Germany. Johannes Hinckeldeyn, Director of Sales and Marketing at EL-CELL, explains the strong collaboration with ECS, “EL-CELL wants to become the standard…
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Below is a question raised in a discussion going on in our LinkedIn group. Consider joining. I am looking for pressure sensor monitoring in a battery pack so that I can track the volume expansion of polymer or prismatic cells in a battery pack. Is anyone aware of any vendors that can provide samples of such sensors in consumer applications? We have over 3,600 members in the group, ready to discuss. If you have the answer to the above question,…
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One of the goals of this blog is to share some of the content we swap with each other in the office and with members around the world. And we are not just talking sharing information that we are publishing. It’s anything we find interesting. Here’s a perfect case, Logan, who’s an editorial assistant here, emailed me this article from ChemistryWorld about a super stretchy battery with a video: Lithium ion batteries that can be stretched by 600% have been…
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