Lifeboat Foundation

Lithium metal, chosen for battery anodes due to its superior energy density compared to other materials, is a smart choice. Yet, challenges arise at the interface between the electrode and the electrolyte, presenting opportunities for enhancement to achieve safer and more efficient performance in future applications.

Researchers from Tsinghua University are keen on replacing the graphite anode with a lithium metal anode to construct a battery system with higher energy density. However, the Li metal anode is unstable and readily reacts with electrolytes to form a solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI). Unfortunately, the natural SEI is brittle and fragile, resulting in poor lifespan and performance.

Here, the researchers have looked into a substitute for natural SEI, which could effectively mitigate the side reactions within the battery system. The answer is ASEI: artificial solid electrolyte interphase. ASEI corrects some of the issues plaguing the bare lithium metal anode to make a safer, more reliable, and even more powerful source of power that can be used with more confidence in electric vehicles and other similar applications.

Cavities at the sides of a water channel can cause waves to be completely absorbed, suggesting new techniques for protecting coastlines.

If waves of water, light, or sound were to impinge upon a hypothetical object called a perfect absorber, they would be neither reflected nor transmitted; they would simply vanish. Researchers have now demonstrated perfect absorption using ordinary water waves traveling down a narrow channel [1]. The waves are canceled out by their own reflections from cavities built into the side of the channel. With further development, the researchers believe that the effect could be used to reduce erosion or protect sensitive structures by using an array of elements deployed near coastlines.

“We were motivated by the need to control or absorb waves in rivers or to protect coastlines,” says mathematical physicist Agnes Maurel of ESPCI Paris. “Completely absorbing wave energy is even better than redirecting it, and you can also imagine perhaps harvesting such energy.”

The unfrozen water-filled channels that crisscross multicrystal ice help feed ice growth, which can lead to fractures in materials such as asphalt and cement.

Eleven months after sharing plans to develop and implement a new series of EV charging hubs across North America, Mercedes-Benz, with the help of ChargePoint, has opened its very first location in the US, complete with a driver lounge and powered using 100% renewable energy.

This past January, Mercedes-Benz announced plans for the new network of fast charging hubs during a press conference at CES alongside its new partner, ChargePoint.

At the time, we learned that both MN8 Energy and Mercedes-Benz would finance and jointly operate the network of over 400 planned charging hubs, becoming home to over 2,500 ChargePoint DC fast charging piles across the US and Canada.

ChargePoint’s Express Plus Power Link 2000 DC charging system offers charging speed twice as fast as Tesla’s V3 Supercharger.

Mercedes Benz.

The initiative is part of Mercedes-Benz HPC’s first Charging Hub in North America, located at Mercedes-Benz USA Headquarters in Sandy Springs, Georgia. The 500 kW capacity, serviced by ChargePoint’s Express Plus Power Link 2000 DC charging system, makes it twice as fast as Tesla’s V3 Supercharger.

Continue reading “North America debuts high-speed 500 kW EV charging station” »

It’s worth noting that Airloom’s new wind turbine can be configured vertically or horizontally and that it can be deployed offshore as well as on land.

“For decades, the wind industry has lowered the cost of energy production by scaling ever larger turbines. Although this has been extremely successful in driving down overall costs, the approach now faces challenges in terms of both siting and cost of materials,” said Carmichael Roberts of Breakthrough Energy Ventures in a press release. “Airloom’s unique approach can solve both these problems, opening new market opportunities for wind energy that will further drive down costs. We look forward to Neal’s leadership in bringing this revolutionary technology into the market.”

With small-scale prototypes already up and running, the company plans to use its seed funding for research and development of the Airloom wind energy test device, which is designed to produce 50 kilowatts (kW) of electricity. Future systems are expected to be megawatt-scale and deployed hundreds of megawatts at a time in utility-scale wind farms.

Switching to hydrogen would mean big changes to the aviation industry, and possibly cleaner aircraft. But it would require major adjustments.

Researchers at SLAC National Accelerator Lab, Stanford, and Toyota are revolutionizing hydrogen fuel cells by substituting costly platinum group metals with more economical silver.

Govind Oza/iStock.

The breakthrough involves a radical shift in the catalyst composition, traditionally reliant on expensive platinum group metals (PGM), according to an SLAC release.

A radical redesign of commercial aircraft, called the flying-V plane, could increase fuel efficiency by 20%, greatly reducing emissions.