US Department of Energy

New design points a path to the ultimate battery

Researchers have successfully demonstrated how several of the problems impeding the practical development of the so-called 'ultimate' battery could be overcome.

Discovery about new battery overturns decades of false assumptions

New findings have overturned a scientific dogma that stood for decades, by showing that potassium can work with graphite in a potassium-ion battery - a discovery that could pose a challenge and sustainable alternative to the widely-used lithium-ion battery.

Future tradeoffs analysed at IDTechEx conference

At IDTechEx's forthcoming event, Electric Vehicles: Everything is Changing, taking place in Santa Clara on Nov 18-19, there will be many presentations on the next wave of battery technology for electric vehicles.

A new era in battery manufacturing

Thin Film Solid State Batteries have game-changing applications in electronics, robotics, industry, medical devices and the military.

SiNode Systems

Sinode systems was founded in 2012 as a spin out from Northwestern University. The company has developed a silicon-graphene composite material for lithium-ion batteries and it is the exclusive licensee of the patents held by Northwestern University.

Electric Vehicles: Everything is Changing 2015, Nov 18-19, Santa Clara

What to expect at the Future Battery Technology Session at IDTechEx's Electric Vehicles: Everything is Changing Show!

A $14bn market for advanced and post lithium-ion batteries in 2026

Whilst existing battery technologies such as lead acid and lithium-ion batteries will dominate the battery market in the following 10 years, advanced and post lithium-ion batteries given the right conditions can potentially take a considerable dent of about 10% of whole battery market by 2026.

Expanding possibilities for making materials that store energy

The scientists whose job it is to test the limits of what nature—specifically chemistry— will allow to exist, just set up shop on some new real estate on the Periodic Table.

Road to supercapacitors for scrap tires

Some of the 300 million tires discarded each year in the United States alone could be used in supercapacitors for vehicles and the electric grid.

Wildcat Discovery Technologies

Wildcat Discovery Technologies is a materials R&D company located in San Diego, California. Wildcat is focused on the discovery of advanced materials for lithium-ion batteries, with secondary work on variety of other applications. Wildcat scientists use proprietary state-of-the-art high throughput technology to synthesize and test thousands of battery materials, each fully formulated and tested in actual cells. Wildcat collaborates with industry leaders around the world to develop promising new materials for new and promising rechargeable and primary battery technologies.

Single layer perovskite sheet rises to the fore

To the growing list of two-dimensional semiconductors, such as graphene, boron nitride, and molybdenum disulfide, whose unique electronic properties make them potential successors to silicon in future devices, you can now add hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites.

New world record for both sides-contacted silicon solar cells

The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE has set a new efficiency record for silicon solar cells.

Outlook on fuel cell technologies for automotive applications

Being the automotive sector a trillion dollar market and given the existence of multiple low carbon powertrain technologies and sunk investments in specific powertrains technologies, the possibility of "betting on the wrong horse" makes the transition to low carbon vehicles a very risky process for incumbent automotive companies (global automotive manufacturers and their tier one suppliers). Through these technology developments these incumbent companies are primarily trying to maintain or increase their captured added value of the automotive value chain and their global sales market share. For new entrants with no existing interests, the risks are lower given they are not compelled to capture most of the value of the powertrain technology, giving them the possibility of sharing it with other parts of the value chain (suppliers, technology developers etc.)

New approach for organic solar panels and flexible electronics

TV screens that roll up. Roofing tiles that double as solar panels. Sun-powered cell phone chargers woven into the fabric of backpacks. A new generation of organic semiconductors may allow these kinds of flexible electronics to be manufactured at low cost.

New catalyst may hasten commercialization of fuel cell vehicles

Scientists have developed a new fuel cell catalyst using earthly abundant materials with performance that is comparable to platinum in laboratory tests.

Energy independent vehicles emulate static off-grid experience

Off-grid electricity production on land has lessons for energy independent electric vehicles (EIVs) that come later. These generate all their own electricity from wind, waves, sun and other forms of ambient energy - free and clean.

Capture sunlight with your quantum dot window

A luminescent solar concentrator is an emerging sunlight harvesting technology that has the potential to disrupt the way we think about energy; It could turn any window into a daytime power source.

New 3D nano-material enhances battery storage

The scientists' goal is to produce new materials for a host of uses, ranging from high-efficiency batteries, ultracapacitors, fuel cells and hydrogen storage devices to lightweight thermal coatings for hypersonic jets, multifunctional materials for aerospace, and more.

Solar cell absorbs high-energy light at 30-fold higher concentration

By combining designer quantum dot light-emitters with spectrally matched photonic mirrors, a team of scientists created solar cells that collect blue photons at 30 times the concentration of conventional solar cells, the highest luminescent concentration factor ever recorded.

Thermoelectric energy harvesting comes center stage

Thermoelectric energy harvesting is no longer the Cinderella of energy harvesting - a subject previously dominated by photovoltaics and electrodynamics such as the bicycle dynamo and the electric vehicle's regenerative braking.