US Department of Energy

New electrolyte stops rapid decline of next-gen lithium battery

The lithium-ion battery is ubiquitous. Because of its versatility, this battery can be tailored to powering cell phones, laptops, power tools or electric vehicles. It is now the source of a multibillion-dollar enterprise annually that continues to grow each year.

Six degrees of nuclear separation

Scientists look to 3D printing to ease separation anxiety, which paves the way to recycle more nuclear material.

Pyrotek

Primarily a foundry, smelting and casting company, Pyrotek now produce graphite for Li-ion batteries.

Patrol boat created in 72 hours by 3D printer

The new 3D printer is designed to print objects as long as 100 feet by 22 feet wide by 10 feet high, and can print at 500 pounds per hour. The one-of-a-kind printer will support several ambitious initiatives, including development of biobased feedstocks using cellulose derived from wood resources, and rapid prototyping of civilian, defense and infrastructure applications.

New materials to help stop lithium-ion battery fires

From automobiles and planes to laptops and e-bikes, lithium-ion batteries have been blamed for causing fires in high-tech devices. Now scientists have come up with patented techniques that may cut down the risk from these popular batteries, which are found in everyday devices such as phones and tablets.

Succinity

Succinity, formed as a joint venture between BASF and Corbion, produces biobased succinic acid.

Ammonia for fuel cells

Fuel cells are pollution-free power sources that convert chemical energy to electricity with high efficiency and zero emissions. Fuel cell cars, trucks, and buses would allow people to travel long distances with convenient refueling and less of a carbon footprint.

Printed sensors detect what's in your sweat

Needle pricks not your thing? A team of scientists is developing wearable skin sensors that can detect what's in your sweat.

Heat-free tech for flexible electronics

The latest application of undercooled metal technology features liquid metal (in this case Field's metal, an alloy of bismuth, indium and tin) trapped below its melting point in polished, oxide shells, creating particles about 10 millionths of a meter across.

Electric car research boosted by cobalt-free battery

The elimination of cobalt -- an expensive chemical component currently required to power our smartphones and laptops -- from lithium-ion batteries has been the goal of Texas Engineer Arumugam Manthiram for much of his career.

Thin, silver nanowires may hold key to flexible and safe touchscreens

An unexpected ability of cells to bend metal determines the safety of silver nanowires — highly conductive nanomaterials a thousand times thinner than a human hair that are being used in next-generation touchscreens for smartphones and consumer electronics, a team of scientists has found.

New laws of attraction: Scientists print magnetic liquid droplets

Scientists have made a new material that is both liquid and magnetic, opening the door to a new area of science in magnetic soft matter. Their findings could lead to a revolutionary class of printable liquid devices for a variety of applications from artificial cells that deliver targeted cancer therapies to flexible liquid robots that can change their shape to adapt to their surroundings.

Tiny supersonic jet injection for nanoscale additive manufacturing

By energizing precursor molecules using a tiny, high-energy supersonic jet of inert gas, researchers have dramatically accelerated the fabrication of nanometer scale structures. The rapid additive manufacturing technique also allows them to produce structures with high aspect ratios. Now, a theory developed to describe the technique could lead to new applications for additive nanomanufacturing and new nanoscale materials.

Lead batteries poised to support electric vehicle charging stations

Plans to introduce lead battery-supported electric vehicle charging stations have moved a step closer thanks to funding through a competitive grant awarded by the U.S. state of Missouri, made possible by funds from the U.S. Department of Energy State Energy Program.

$5.5 million to apply machine learning to geothermal exploration

The US Department of Energy announced up to $5.5 million for 10 new projects to apply machine learning techniques to geothermal exploration and production. Machine learning - the use of advanced algorithms to identify patterns in and make inferences from data - could assist in finding and developing new geothermal resources.

Deep learning to assess suicide risks

Researchers are applying deep learning and analytics to electronic health record data to help the Veterans Administration address a host of medical and psychological challenges affecting many of the nation's 700,000 military veterans.

Assessment of tidal turbine planned for New York

The European Marine Energy Centre will provide an independent performance assessment of Verdant Power's 5th Generation tidal turbine system to be deployed for commercial demonstration in New York City's East River in 2020.

General Graphene Corporation

The company founded in 2014 using technology developed at ORNL in the US

Speeding development of fusion power

Can tokamak fusion facilities, the most widely used devices for harvesting on Earth the fusion reactions that power the sun and stars, be developed more quickly to produce safe, clean, and virtually limitless energy for generating electricity?