Turning abandoned mines into batteries

Jan 12, 2023 (Nanowerk News) Renewable energy sources are central to the energy transition toward a more sustainable future. However, as sources like sunshine and wind are inherently variable and inconsistent, finding ways to store energy in an accessible and efficient way is crucial. While there are many effective solutions...

Novel design helps develop powerful microbatteries

Jan 12, 2023 (Nanowerk News) Translating electrochemical performance of large format batteries to microscale power sources has been a long-standing technological challenge, limiting the ability of batteries to power microdevices, microrobots and implantable medical devices. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers have created a high-voltage microbattery (> 9 V), with high-energy...

Electron injection in fullerenes builds novel crystalline carbons

Jan 12, 2023 (Nanowerk News) Charge injection has been widely utilized to tune the energy level of electrons in semiconductors without altering their microscopic structure. Recently, a research team led by Professor ZHU Yanwu from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has discovered another function of charge injection....

Now on the molecular scale: electric motors

Jan 11, 2023 (Nanowerk News) Electric vehicles, powered by macroscopic electric motors, are increasingly prevalent on our streets and highways. These quiet and eco-friendly machines got their start nearly 200 years ago when physicists took the first tiny steps to bring electric motors into the world. Now a multidisciplinary team...