Lifeboat Foundation

Hydrogen is already a key component of chemical industrial processes and in the steel industry. So making clean hydrogen to use in those industrial processes is critical to reducing carbon emissions, says Jake Stones at market research firm Independent Commodity Intelligence Services (ICIS).

But as an energy source itself, hydrogen’s big advantage is its versatility according to Sunita Satyapal, who oversees hydrogen fuel cell technology for the Department of Energy.

“It’s often called the Swiss Army knife of energy,” she says.

There is an exciting branch of battery research that involves combining the strength and durability of next-generation materials with their energy storage potential. This could see car panels double as their batteries, for example, and in a new example of what this could look like scientists have developed a “power suit” for electric vehicles that could not only extend their range, but give them a handy boost in acceleration at the same time.

Sometimes known as structural batteries, we’ve seen some interesting recent advances in this space from research groups and even big-name automakers. Back in 2013, Volvo demonstrated carbon fiber body panels with energy storage potential, and we’ve seen other teams show off similar concepts since. These projects sought to combine the high energy density of batteries with the ultra-fast discharge rates of supercapacitors, in materials strong enough to serve as a car’s exterior.

This new breakthrough continues this line of thinking, with scientists at University of Central Florida and NASA designing a new material featuring unique properties that allow for not just impressive energy storage potential, but also the strength needed to endure a car crash.

The world’s first demonstration device to produce 1,000 tons of gasoline per year from carbon dioxide (CO₂) hydrogenation has completed its technology evaluation and trial operation.

Located in the Zoucheng Industrial Park, Shandong province, China, the project has been jointly developed by the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the Zhuhai Futian Energy Technology company. The hydrogenation of CO₂ into liquid fuels and chemicals can not only realize the resource utilization of CO₂ but also facilitate the storage and transportation of renewable energy.

However, activation and selective conversion of CO₂ are challenging. A technology that can selectively produce energy-dense, value-added hydrocarbon fuels will provide a new route to promote the clean, low-carbon energy revolution.

In the endless quest to pack more energy into batteries without increasing their weight or volume, one especially promising technology is the solid-state battery. In these batteries, the usual liquid electrolyte that carries charges back and forth between the electrodes is replaced with a solid electrolyte layer. Such batteries could potentially not only deliver twice as much energy for their size, they also could virtually eliminate the fire hazard associated with today’s lithium-ion batteries.

But one thing has held back solid-state batteries: Instabilities at the boundary between the solid electrolyte layer and the two electrodes on either side can dramatically shorten the lifetime of such batteries. Some studies have used special coatings to improve the bonding between the layers, but this adds the expense of extra coating steps in the fabrication process. Now, a team of researchers at MIT and Brookhaven National Laboratory have come up with a way of achieving results that equal or surpass the durability of the coated surfaces, but with no need for any coatings.

The new method simply requires eliminating any carbon dioxide present during a critical manufacturing step, called sintering, where the battery materials are heated to create bonding between the cathode and electrolyte layers, which are made of ceramic compounds. Even though the amount of carbon dioxide present is vanishingly small in air, measured in parts per million, its effects turn out to be dramatic and detrimental. Carrying out the sintering step in pure oxygen creates bonds that match the performance of the best coated surfaces, without that extra cost of the coating, the researchers say.

Europe’s natural gas shortage, which has pushed prices to multi-year highs, has revived talk of the EastMed pipeline – a Mediterranean Sea pipeline that could carry gas from Israel to European customers, Chevron Chief Executive Michael Wirth said on Monday at the CERAWeek energy conference.

Wirth downplayed concerns over global oil supplies amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and the subsequent potential for an energy crisis.

The EastMed pipeline, meant to transfer natural gas from Israeli waters to Europe via Greece and Cyprus, was announced in 2016, and several agreements have been signed between the three countries on the subject. The three states aimed to complete the €6 billion project by 2025, but no financing has been secured for it.

A new review paper on magnetic topological materials introduces a theoretical concept that interweaves magnetism and topology. It identifies and surveys potential new magnetic topological materials and suggests possible future applications in spin and quantum electronics and as materials for efficient energy conversion.

Magnetic topological materials represent a class of compounds whose properties are strongly influenced by the topology of the electronic wavefunctions coupled with their spin configuration. Topology is a simple concept dealing with the surfaces of objects. The topology of a mathematical structure is identical if it is preserved under continuous deformation. A pancake has the same topology as a cube, a donut as a coffee cup, and a pretzel as a board with three holes. Adding spin offers additional structure—a new degree of freedom—for the realization of new states of matter that are not known in non-magnetic materials. Magnetic topological materials can support chiral channels of electrons and spins, and can be used for an array of applications including information storage, control of dissipationless spin and charge transport, and giant responses under external stimuli such as temperature and light.

The review summarizes the theoretical and experimental progress achieved in the field of magnetic topological materials beginning with the theoretical prediction of the quantum anomalous Hall effect without Landau levels, leading to recent discoveries of magnetic Weyl semimetals and antiferromagnetic topological insulators. It also outlines recent tabulations of all magnetic symmetry group representations and topology. As a result, all known magnetic materials—including future discoveries—can be fully characterized by their topological properties. The identification of materials for a specific technological application (e.g., quantum anomalous Hall) is straightforward.

Using corn for fuel seems like a dumb idea in light of new research.

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Continue reading “America Was Wrong About Ethanol — Study Shows” »

Membrane filters don’t require much energy to purify water, making them popular for wastewater treatment. To keep these materials in tip-top condition, they’re commonly cleaned with large amounts of strong chemicals, but some of these agents destroy the membranes in the process. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces have developed reusable nanoparticle catalysts that incorporate glucose to help efficiently break down contaminants inside these filters without damaging them.

Typically, dirty wastewater filters are unclogged with strong acids, bases or oxidants. Chlorine-containing oxidants such as bleach can break down the most stubborn organic debris. But they also damage polyamide membranes, which are in most commercial nanofiltration systems, and they produce toxic byproducts. A milder alternative to bleach is hydrogen peroxide, but it decomposes contaminants slowly.

Previously, scientists have combined hydrogen peroxide with iron oxide to form hydroxyl radicals that improve hydrogen peroxide’s efficiency in a process known as the Fenton reaction. Yet in order for the Fenton reaction to clean filters, extra hydrogen peroxide and acid are needed, increasing financial and environmental costs. One way to avoid these additional chemicals is to use the enzyme glucose oxidase, which simultaneously forms hydrogen peroxide and gluconic acid from glucose and oxygen. So, Jianquan Luo and colleagues wanted to combine glucose oxidase and iron oxide nanoparticles into a system that catalyzes the Fenton-based breakdown of contaminants, creating an efficient and delicate cleaning system for membrane filters.

The USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) this week released the USB Type-C Specification Revision 2.1, and it introduces a welcome (and powerful) new feature.

Existing USB-C cables are capable of delivering up to 100 watts of power, but as The Verge reports, the latest spec revision increases it to 240 watts. The change means future USB-C ports will be able to power and charge a lot more of your kit, resulting in fewer cables and adapters to carry around.

Expect to buy a new cable and charger if you want to take advantage of the extra power.

Continue reading “Latest USB Type-C Spec Increases Power Delivery to 240 Watts” »