US Department of Energy

Battery development may extend range of electric cars

A "hybrid" anode developed at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory could quadruple the life of lithium-sulfur batteries.

Phonon map offers direction for engineering new thermoelectric devices

Researchers are using neutron scattering to study how a compound known as AgSbTe2, or silver antimony telluride, is able to effectively prevent heat from propagating through it on the microscopic level.

Disordered materials hold promise for better batteries

Researchers have found a whole new avenue for research: the use of disordered materials, which had generally been considered unsuitable for batteries.

Battery offers renewable energy breakthrough

A team of scientists and engineers has demonstrated a new type of battery that could fundamentally transform the way electricity is stored on the grid, making power from renewable energy sources such as wind and sun far more economical and reliable.

Hydrogen fuel cell range extenders double the range of EV trucks

Hydrogen fuel cell range extenders for 20 FedEx Express electric delivery trucks will allow FedEx Express to nearly double the amount of territory the vehicles can cover with one charge.

Researchers find simple, cheap way to increase solar cell efficiency

Researchers have found an easy way to modify the molecular structure of a polymer commonly used in solar cells. Their modification can increase solar cell efficiency by more than 30 percent.

Batteries as they are meant to be seen

Researchers have developed a way to microscopically view battery electrodes while they are bathed in wet electrolytes, mimicking realistic conditions inside actual batteries.

New spectroscopic technique could accelerate push for better batteries

A new technique developed at Berkeley Lab's Advanced Light Source could help scientists better understand and improve the materials required for high-performance lithium-ion batteries that power EVs and other applications.

Graphene can host exotic new quantum electronic states at its edges

Under an extremely powerful magnetic field and at extremely low temperature, the researchers found, graphene can effectively filter electrons according to the direction of their spin, something that cannot be done by any conventional electronic system.

Roots of the lithium battery problem

The lithium-ion batteries that power our laptops, smartphones and electric vehicles could have significantly higher energy density if their graphite anodes were to be replaced by lithium metal anodes.

Clean Energy Institute will focus on solar, battery technologies

A new University of Washington institute to develop efficient, cost-effective solar power and better energy storage systems has been launched.

Triboelectric generators capture wasted power

Researchers are developing a family of power generators that take advantage of the triboelectric effect to produce small amounts of electricity for portable devices and sensors.

Findings at Supercapacitors USA 2013

This third edition of IDTechEx's Supercapacitors event was held in Santa Clara, California on 20-21 November.

New spectroscopic technique could accelerate push for better batteries

A new technique could help scientists better understand and improve the materials required for high-performance lithium-ion batteries that power EVs and other applications.

Exotic drops could lead to all-liquid battery

Through the combination of water, oil and nanoparticle surfactants plus an external field, researchers are able to stabilize water drops into non-equilibrium shapes that could find valuable uses as therapeutic delivery systems, biosensors, microfluidic lab-on-a-chip devices, or possibly as the basis for an all-liquid electrical battery.

Efficient, low cost copper oxide solar cell

Amit Goyal and his team of research scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory are using copper oxide to redesign the face of solar power.

Longest cycle life reported so far for any lithium-sulfur battery.

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have demonstrated in the laboratory a lithium-sulfur (Li/S) battery that has more than twice the specific energy of lithium-ion batteries and that lasts for more than 1,500 cycles of charge-discharge with minimal decay of the battery's capacity. This is longest cycle life reported so far for any lithium-sulfur battery.

IDTechEx Energy Harvesting & Storage USA 2013 award winners

The 5th IDTechEx Energy Harvesting & Storage and Internet of Things & Wireless Sensor Networks awards ceremony was held on Wednesday, 20 November, during the opening keynote session of the annual conference that brings together developers, integrators and end-users of these emerging technologies.