Energy Storage

Researchers at MIT and Sandia National Laboratories have used transmission electron microscope (TEM) imaging to observe, at a molecular level, what goes on during a reaction called oxygen evolution as lithium-air batteries charge; this reaction is thought to be a bottleneck limiting further improvements to these batteries.

The new report from IDTechEx titled Printed, Organic & Flexible Electronics: Forecasts, Players & Opportunities 2013-2023 finds that the total market for these technologies will grow from $16.04 billion in 2013 to $76.79 billion in 2023.

Variously called Printed, Flexible or Organic Electronics, it is one of the fastest growing technologies in the world. It is of vital interest to industries as diverse as consumer goods, healthcare, mobility, electronics, media and architecture.

Might the automotive major lose out on the electric vehicle revolution? This was the question asked at the INTRASME Electric Vehicle Opportunity Workshop in the ICC Berlin (19th April).

IDTechEx held its Graphene LIVE! tradeshow and conference in Berlin over April 17-18, 2013. This event was co-located with Printed Electronics, TCF LIVE!, Energy Harvesting and Supercapacitor events.

A tiny, biocompatible battery in edible form that a patient could 'take' once a day.

This excellent event "7th Electric Aircraft Symposium" in Santa Rosa, USA was acclaimed as the best ever in the series. Over 150 people attended, an eclectic mix from NASA and Siemens to hobbyists, universities and technology startups were there.

Organic Photovoltaic (OPV) technology developer Solar Press is investigating the potential for flexible plastic based OPV modules to be used as a power source for remote, autonomous sensors within buildings - an 'energy harvesting' application.

"A battery can deliver far more power than anybody ever thought. In recent decades, electronics have gotten small. The thinking parts of computers have gotten small. And the battery has lagged far behind. This is a microtechnology that could change all of that. Now the power source is as high-performance as the rest of it."

Toyo-keizai Online, Yomiuri-online and Livedoor Online News in Japan have recently reported in Japanese on further problems with the large lithium-ion batteries produced by GS Yuasa, the Japanese company involved in the grounding of the Boeing Dreamliner worldwide due to fires in its lithium-ion batteries but also supplying lithium-ion batteries to the International Space Station.