Pennington, NJ – (March 1, 2017) – The electrical grid is the central component of energy distribution and consumption, but the control of the same is currently underfunded and incapable of moving the nation toward a clean energy future. In a new study, electrochemical engineering expert Venkat Subramanian discusses the potential for implementing bottom-up renewable grid control with microgrids. Subramanian is a member of The Electrochemical Society and the Washington Research Foundation Innovation Professor of Chemical Engineering and Clean Energy…
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Papers and presentations John B. Goodenough 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry John B. Goodenough was awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with M. Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yoshino "for the development of lithium-ion batteries." His current research explores the relationships between the chemical, structural and electrical properties of solids, addressing fundamental solid state problems in order to design new materials that can enable an engineering function. Goodenough received the Royal Society’s Copley Medal, the Japan Prize, National Medal of...
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The 2017 ECS Twin Cities Section Symposium will take place Friday, April 7 in Saint Paul, MN. Attendance is free and includes talks, lunch, and the Innovation Center Tour showing hundreds of 3M technologies, and a poster session. Register for the symposium. Confirmed speakers: Johna Leddy, University of Iowa Electrochemically Silent Films on Electrodes – Means and Methods Electrochemically inert films on electrodes alter properties of transport, selectivity, and kinetics to enable new devices and measurement methods. Examples include: density…
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By: Joshua D. Rhodes, University of Texas at Austin The electric grid is an amazing integrated system of machines spanning an entire continent. The National Academy of Engineering has called it one of the greatest engineering achievements of the 20th century. But it is also expensive. By my analysis, the current (depreciated) value of the U.S. electric grid, comprising power plants, wires, transformers and poles, is roughly US$1.5 to $2 trillion. To replace it would cost almost $5 trillion. That…
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Reports of a woman’s headphones catching fire while on a flight from Bejing to Melbourne has once again heightened interest in lithium-ion battery safety. According to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, the incident occurred while the woman was sleeping mid-flight wearing battery-powered headphones. Early in 2016, battery expert and ECS fellow, K.M. Abraham, talked to ECS about lithium-ion battery safety concerns amidst reports of exploding hoverboards. Below are some excerpts of what he had to say. “It is safe to…
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One of the keys to developing a successful electric vehicle relies on energy storage technology. For an EV to be successful in the marketplace, it must be able to travel longer distances (i.e. over 300 miles on a single charge). A team of researchers from Georgia Institute of Technology, including ECS fellow Meilin Liu, has recently created a nanofiber that they believe could enable the next generation of rechargeable batteries, and with it, EVs. The recently published research describes the…
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The winter 2016 issue of Interface is now available in the ECS Digital Library! This issue celebrates 25 years of Interface! Since its establishment, Interface has continuously provided Society members with top of the line technical articles about the latest developments in the fields of solid state and electrochemical science and technology. It also provides news and information about and for members. This issue includes a special reflection article on its 25 years that contains highlights from every past quarterly…
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By: Jonathan Coopersmith, Texas A&M University Imagine if you could gas up your GM car only at GM gas stations. Or if you had to find a gas station servicing cars made from 2005 to 2012 to fill up your 2011 vehicle. It would be inconvenient and frustrating, right? This is the problem electric vehicle owners face every day when trying to recharge their cars. The industry’s failure, so far, to create a universal charging system demonstrates why setting standards…
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In June 2016, the International Meeting on Lithium Batteries (IMLB) in Chicago successfully celebrated 25 years of the commercialization of lithium-ion batteries. According to Doron Aurbach, technical editor of the Batteries and Energy Storage topical interest area of the Journal of The Electrochemical Society, research efforts in the Li-battery community continues to provide ground-breaking technological success in electromobility and grid storage applications. He hopes this research will continue to revolutionize mobile energy supply for future advances in ground transportation. ECS…
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The peer review process is the heart of scholarly communication, assuring the publication of high-quality papers and strengthening the public’s perception of the science. Through peer review, editors, reviewers, and authors work together to ensure the work is coherent, rigorous, and adds to the scientific knowledge base. However, peer review is not flawless. Namely, the labor intensive review-revise-resubmit process can be time consuming, potentially hampering scientific progress due to publication delay. “Peer review is everything,” says Michael Hickner, member of…
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