Just over 45 years ago today, 500,000 women marched down New York City’s Fifth Avenue to celebrate the anniversary of the 1920 ratification of the 19th Amendment. Since that day, Aug. 26 has been annually celebrated in the U.S. as Women’s Equality Day – a celebration of a major turning point in the women’s rights movement: the right to vote. While women’s move toward equality has gained much momentum since the 1920s, there have been plenty of bumps in the…
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One of the biggest barriers between renewables and widespread grid implementation has been the issue of intermittency. How can we meet a nation’s energy demands with solar when the sun goes down? In an effort to move past these barriers toward a cleaner energy infrastructure, a new paper published in the Journal of The Electrochemical Society describes an effective, low-cost solution for storing solar energy. The research team from Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne is looking to covert solar energy…
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Electric vehicles have become more visible in the automobile market over the past few years, but many potential buyers still cite one thing as a major deterrent in going electric: range anxiety. Range anxiety is a term many use to describe the fear of an EV’s battery running out of juice while driving, leaving them stranded away from a charging station. However, a new study published by a team from MIT and the Santa Fe Institute looked at data in…
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Many scientists believe we’re at the tipping point of our energy technology future. With the advancement of new, alternative energy sources, some are left to wonder what will happen to the energy landscape as a whole. While nuclear power has energized much of the world over the past 50 years, the establishment of new nuclear power plants has been nonexistent in recent times in light of other alternatives such as solar and wind. Now, with California phasing out its last…
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Thomas Zawodzinski is currently the Governor’s Chair in Electrical Energy Conversion and Storage, with appointments in the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Dept. at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville and at ORNL where he has continued his career trend of playing leadership roles in projects on fuel cell materials systems – including projects in the development of automotive applications, fuel cell durability, and batteries. In addition to his continuous involvement in a multitude of fuel cell programs, Zawodzinski has initiated and led…
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Adam Heller’s work in electrochemical engineering has touched the lives of people across the globe. As the inventor of the painless diabetes blood monitor, his developments in healthcare have had an enormous societal and economic impact. Heller’s work spans a range of technologies, touching areas related to battery and energy—including solar cells, the lithium battery, and photoelectrocatalysis. Heller’s journey though the sciences took flight in 1961, when he received his PhD from Ernest David Bergmann at the Hebrew University. From...
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Nissan is taking a big step toward eco-friendly transportation with the development of their new solid oxide fuel cell vehicle. The science behind the vehicle, which the car company has branded e-Bio Fuel-Cell, uses bio-ethanol fuel to generate electricity through SOFC technology. Nissan states that sugarcane, corn, and soy can all be used as means of fuel – resulting in a carbon neutral cycle when the car hits the road. Nissan claims a higher driving range and lower charge time…
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Ralph E. White is a professor of chemical engineering and a distinguished scientist at the University of South Carolina. He graduated from the University of South Carolina with a BS in chemical engineering in 1971. He then attended the University of California at Berkeley and completed his PhD in 1977 under the direction of John Newman. White began his teaching career at Texas A&M University in 1977. In 1993 he moved to the University of South Carolina, where he served…
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A new study published by researchers from Michigan State University reveals a new biofilm that can feed on waste and produce energy as a byproduct. The novel biofilm was discovered and patented by ECS member and Science for Solving Society’s Problems grantee Gemma Reguera. (MORE: Listen to our Science for Solving Society’s Problems Round Table podcast to hear how Reguera is applying microbial science to solving pressing issues in water and sanitation.) Reguera’s biofilm works in a way very similar…
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A new open access paper published in the Journal of The Electrochemical Society entitled, “Lithium-Ion Cathode/Coating Pairs for Transition Metal Containment,” finds a new cathode coating for li-ion batteries that could extend the technology’s lifespan. According to Green Car Congress, the dissolution of transition metals is a major contributor to a li-ion battery’s expedited aging and degradation. However, this new study published in JES by ECS members David Snydacker, Muratahan Aykol, Scott Kirklin, and Christopher Wolverton from Northwestern University makes…
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