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A solid-state battery, where the liquid electrolyte that carries the charge is swapped out for a solid alternative, promises a number of performance benefits over today’s solutions, but there are a few problems to solve first. Scientists at Brown University are reporting a new design that overcomes some of the key hurdles, using a delicate mix of ceramics and the wonder material graphene to produce the toughest solid electrolyte to date.

As the solution that carries the lithium ions back and forth between the anode and cathode while the battery is charged and discharged, liquid electrolytes play an important role in the function of today’s lithium-ion batteries. But these highly volatile liquids bring a risk of fire when the battery short circuits, so there is room for improvement in terms of safety.

Beyond that, alternative electrolytes could offer greater energy density and even allow for other components of the battery to be upgraded, too. For example, the anode is typically made out of copper and graphite, but scientists believe a solid electrolyte would enable the battery to function with a pure lithium anode, something that could break the “energy-density bottleneck,” according to one recently published study.

Daimler has announced an upcoming new truck called eEconic, a garbage truck based on the all-electric Mercedes-Benz eActros.

The German automotive company announced the vehicle today:

“The eEconic will at first be offered in the configuration 6×2/N NLA and is mainly in demand as a waste-collection vehicle. Battery-electric trucks are very well suited for urban use in waste management due to the comparatively short and plannable daily routes of up to 100 kilometers with a high proportion of stop-and-go in inner-city traffic. With an anticipatory driving style, electrical energy can be recovered during braking to charge the battery, which further improves range and efficiency.”

In 2017, Stanford University researchers presented a new device that mimics the brain’s efficient and low-energy neural learning process. It was an artificial version of a synapse — the gap across which neurotransmitters travel to communicate between neurons — made from organic materials. In 2019, the researchers assembled nine of their artificial synapses together in an array, showing that they could be simultaneously programmed to mimic the parallel operation of the brain.

Now, in a paper published June 15 in Nature Materials, they have tested the first biohybrid version of their artificial synapse and demonstrated that it can communicate with living cells. Future technologies stemming from this device could function by responding directly to chemical signals from the brain. The research was conducted in collaboration with researchers at Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (Italian Institute of Technology – IIT) in Italy and at Eindhoven University of Technology (Netherlands).

“This paper really highlights the unique strength of the materials that we use in being able to interact with living matter,” said Alberto Salleo, professor of materials science and engineering at Stanford and co-senior author of the paper. “The cells are happy sitting on the soft polymer. But the compatibility goes deeper: These materials work with the same molecules neurons use naturally.”

Its performance is equally microscopic, only generating anywhere between 10 to 400 micronewtons — a tiny fraction of the power of a toy rocket.

But in space, even that low amount of power can allow satellites to hold their positions, and even gradually deorbit to make sure they’re out of harm’s way and don’t become space debris.

Continue reading “This Mini Ion Thruster Is Adorably Tiny” »

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A mysterious cloud containing radioactive ruthenium-106, which moved across Europe in autumn 2017, is still bothering Europe’s radiation protection entities. Although the activity concentrations were innocuous, they reached up to 100 times the levels of what had been detected over Europe in the aftermath of the Fukushima accident. Since no government had assumed responsibility, a military background could not be ruled out.

Researchers at the Leibniz University Hannover and the University of Münster (both Germany) were able to confirm that the cloud did not originate from military sources—but rather from civilian nuclear activities. Hence, the release of ruthenium from a reprocessing plant for nuclear fuels is the most conclusive scenario for explaining the incident in autumn 2017. The study has been published in the journal Nature Communications.

A new report – using the latest renewable energy and storage prices – shows that with the right policies, the United States can avoid building new fossil fuel plants and increase energy sector jobs by over half a million each year, supporting recovery efforts.

A new report finds that a shift to 90-percent clean power could save as many as 85,000 lives by 2050 by sparing Americans from toxic pollution.

The country is still heavily reliant on coal, but this could change in the years ahead.