Rare earth elements are critical materials that are largely depended by many technologies ranging from electric vehicles to wind turbines. Although these materials are abundantly available, it is expensive and also difficult to obtain.
Debora Rodrigues, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Houston, has received the 2016 C3E Research Award. Her work focuses on developing bio- and nanotechnologies to reduce energy costs in water and wastewater treatment.
Solar energy is on the rise. Many technical advances have made solar cells quite efficient and affordable in recent years.
An innovative process has been developed by researchers at the HZB Institute to produce highly sensitive semiconductors from solar fuels. They could be used in the solar water splitting process, using an organic, transparent protective layer.
ACS Applied Materials Interfaces recently published a study by University of Maryland scientists, who have discovered a new method for preparing batteries. This new preparation method starts with baking a leaf, and then adding sodium. The scientists used a carbonized oak leaf filled with sodium as a negative terminal or anode for the demonstration battery.
A group of scientists at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has successfully observed the unique molecular processes that occur during the production of organic solar cells.
Researchers from the University of Missouri have formulated a method that could pave the way for the manufacture of biodegradable electronics with the use of organic components found in mobile phone screen displays. This research sets the pace for reduction of electronic waste from landfills across the world.
Researchers from the Department of Applied Physics at Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) have created efficient yet inexpensive semitransparent perovskite solar cells using graphene electrodes.
Colorful, see-through solar cells invented at the University of Michigan could one day be used to make stained-glass windows, decorations and even shades that turn the sun's energy into electricity.
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have demonstrated in the laboratory a lithium-sulfur (Li/S) battery that has more than twice the specific energy of lithium-ion batteries, and that lasts for more than 1,500 cycles of charge-discharge with minimal decay of the battery’s capacity. This is the longest cycle life reported so far for any lithium-sulfur battery.