An international research group has engineered a new energy-generating device by combining piezoelectric composites with carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP), a commonly used material that is both light and strong. The new device transforms vibrations from the surrounding environment into electricity, providing an efficient and reliable means for self-powered sensors.
Details of the group’s research were published in the journal Nano Energy on June 13, 2023.
Energy harvesting involves converting energy from the environment into usable electrical energy and is something crucial for ensuring a sustainable future.
The idea of solar energy being transmitted from space is not a new one. In 1968, a NASA engineer named Peter Glaser produced the first concept design for a solar-powered satellite. But only now, 55 years later, does it appear scientists have actually carried out a successful experiment. A team of researchers from Caltech announced on Thursday that their space-borne prototype, called the Space Solar Power Demonstrator (SSPD-1), had collected sunlight, converted it into electricity and beamed it to microwave receivers installed on a rooftop on Caltech’s Pasadena campus. The experiment also proves that the setup, which launched on January 3, is capable of surviving the trip to space, along with the harsh environment of space itself.
“To the best of our knowledge, no one has ever demonstrated wireless energy transfer in space even with expensive rigid structures. We are doing it with flexible lightweight structures and with our own integrated circuits. This is a first,” said Ali Hajimiri, professor of electrical engineering and medical engineering and co-director of Caltech’s Space Solar Power Project (SSPP), in a press release published on Thursday.
A team of researchers successfully constructed nanofiltration membranes with superior quality using the mussel-inspired deposition methods. Such was achieved via a two-part approach to fabricate the thin-film composite (TFC) nanofiltration membranes. Firstly, the substrate surface was coated through fast and novel deposition to form a dense, robust, and functional selective layer. Then, the structure controllability of the selective layer was enhanced by optimizing the interfacial polymerization (IP) process. As a result, the properties of nanofiltration membranes produced are with high durability and added functionality. When put into a bigger perspective, these high-performance TFC nanofiltration membranes are potential solutions to a number of fields, including water softening, wastewater treatment, and pharmaceutical purification. Hence, there is a need to further explore and expand the application in an industrial scale instead of being bound within the walls of the laboratories.
Membrane-based technologies, especially enhanced nanofiltration systems, have been highly explored due to their myriad of distinct properties, primarily for their high efficiency, mild operation, and strong adaptability. Among these, the TFC nanofiltration membranes are favoured for their smaller molecular weight cutoff, and narrower pore size distribution which lead to higher divalent and multivalent ion rejection ability. Moreover, these membranes show better designability owing to their thin selective layer make-up and porous support with different chemical compositions. However, the interfacial polymerization (IP) rate of reaction is known to affect the permeability and selectivity of the TFC nanofiltration membranes by weakening the controllability of the selective layer structure. Therefore, this study was designed to improve the structural quality of the TFC nanofiltration membranes through surface and interface engineering, and subsequently, increase the functionality.
Stella Vita is the World’s first ever solar powered campervan capable of a staggering 600 Km on a single charge! Aptly described as a “self-sustaining house on wheels” it comes kitted out with a double bed, sofa, kitchen area, a shower, sink and toilet! This could just be the perfect way to go off-grid…! Robert went to meet the engineers at Eindhoven University of Technology to see it for himself.
0:00 A solar powered campervan?! 1:20 A 3000Km road trip. 3:55 Better than the back of a Tesla. 4:38 Back to Uni. 6:40 600Km of range. 7:12 Everything is lightweight. 8:51 Experimental but comfortable. 9:44 Key design elements. 10:43 Built in this room. 11:35 Robert makes his bid. 12:02 Arriving in Tarifa. 12:50 Can we buy one? 13:30 Bobby’s outro.
Tesla has added a discount to the new inventory of Model S and Model X vehicles and three years of free Supercharging for deliveries by the end of the quarter.
With the end of the quarter approaching, Tesla is looking to deliver better-looking financial results by not ending it with many vehicles in inventory.
To achieve this, Tesla has regularly applied special discounts or incentives to take delivery of new inventory vehicles by the end of the quarter.
Einride is trying to change how the world moves goods. The Sweden-based company with a growing U.S. presence combines battery-electric power with automation and data to develop freight’s future.
The company’s futuristic-looking equipment became a tourist attraction in New York City last week when it parked an electric truck and a cab-less Autonomous Electric Transport vehicle on West 23rd Street in Chelsea, where passersby stopped to take pictures with the electric freight movers.
While some companies focused on the future of transportation are taking more measured approaches, Einride’s leaders told FleetOwner that it is ready to move the freight world into the future now.
Penn State researchers have discovered a protein found naturally in a bacterium (Hansschlegelia quercus) isolated from English oak buds exhibits strong capabilities to differentiate between rare earths. Harnessing its power could revolutionize the entire tech sector by fundamentally changing how critical minerals like rare earths are harvested and purified. Image Credit: Penn State. Creative Commons
The discovery is important because rare earth elements, like neodymium and dysprosium, are critical components to almost all modern technologies, from smartphones to hard drives, but they are notoriously hard to separate from the Earth’s crust and from one another.
By figuring out how this molecular handshake works at the atomic level, the researchers have found a way to separate these similar metals from one another quickly, efficiently, and under normal room temperature conditions. This strategy could lead to more efficient, greener mining and recycling practices for the entire tech sector, the researchers state. Related: U.S. Crude Trading At Big Discount To Dubai Oil.
