efficient battery Archives – The Green Optimistic

Higher Ranged EV Battery Possible with Lithium and Sulfur

Benji Jerew — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 07:38:21 +0000

Current lithium-ion [Li-ion] batteries, while more energy-dense than their nickel-cadmium [NiCad] and nickel-metal hydride [NiMH] predecessors, are still limited to 200 watt-hours per kilogram [Wh/kg]. While Li-ion technology is fine for laptops and mobile devices, the inherent density limitation of Li-ion batteries has made the adoption of electric vehicles [EV] difficult. Aside from the density […]

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New Foam Material Could Improve Batteries and Hydrogen Fuel Cells

Mila Luleva — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 06:05:53 +0000

The latest issue of the journal Angewandte Chemie published a study that reveals a new cheap material that can be used in electrodes of electrochemical cells. The material discovered by a team of Korean and American scientists is based on affordable carbon black and melamine foam. The high number of catalytically active centers, combined with the […]

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Nickel-Iron Battery Company Combines Business and Social Mission

Maria Reyes — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 18:54:50 +0000

Brandon and Maggie Williams created the Iron Edison Battery Company to address the issue of toxic waste related to rampant battery disposal. Their company is a living proof that business and profitability do not have to come at the expense of destroying the environment. Brandon Williams, CEO of the company, said they wanted to serve […]

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Tobacco Virus Could Enhance Lithium Ion Batteries' Capacity Tenfold

Ovidiu Sandru — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 20:42:20 +0000

Viruses, even if they have a bad reputation as the most versatile and destructive forces for anything alive, have their good parts, too. Now, for instance, an interdisciplinary team of scientists from the University of Maryland have a clue on how to use a virus called TMV (Tobacco Mosaic Virus) to enhance lithium ion batteries' capacity tenfold. And they're not joking.

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PNNL Researchers Reinvent Sodium-Nickel Chloride Batteries and Make Them 30% More Powerful

Ovidiu Sandru — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 14:52:30 +0000

Lithium ion batteries have been so far the best option for storing energy. Lithium is nevertheless an expensive material and a precious natural resource, whose extraction involves complex chemical processes, often damaging to the environment. Sodium-nickel chloride batteries, on the other hand, promise a cheaper alternative to lithium ion due to recent innovations from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

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Wax Helps Scientists Reach Theoretical Storage Limit for Lithium Manganese Phosphate Batteries

Ovidiu Sandru — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 06:27:01 +0000

In the war for efficiency, not only energy harvesters (like solar cells, wind turbines and others) have to win, but they will also have to be accompanied by storage devices, coming from behind. Daiwon Choi, working at DOE's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has discovered how paraffin (wax) can improve the battery manufacturing technology by enhancing their electrodes.

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Lithium Manganese Phosphate Batteries Break Efficiency Records

Ovidiu Sandru — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 10:35:44 +0000

Paraffin wax and oleic acid have been discovered to make up good materials for battery electrodes, which could have applicability in electric cars and power storage systems. A team of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) researchers in Richland, WA, have discovered a technique that could turn materials otherwise unsuited for battery electrodes into ones that exceed even today's most advanced.

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Lithium Air Batteries Find That Gold-Platinum Catalyst Increases Their Efficiency and Lifetime

Ovidiu Sandru — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 16:49:18 +0000

MIT researchers have just discovered an alloy that, if used as a catalyst, makes lithium-air batteries more efficient. This type of battery works by reacting the metal lithium with the oxygen from the air, and is very efficient at storing high amounts of energy (three times more than lithium ion). The industry awaits the development of lithium air batteries so they can be used in future electric cars.

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Newly Discovered TiO2-Coated Nanotubes Could Build Better Li-Ion Battery Electrodes

Ovidiu Sandru — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 15:29:28 +0000

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) by itself makes up a very low performance electrode, because the electrons move very slowly through it (can take years until you could fill a millimiter-thick TiO2 piece). When you reduce its thickness, though, TiO2 acts like a very good electrode.

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