Batteries could soon replace standard nickel-metal hydride batteries in hybrid vehicles

As part of the Department of Energy-funded FreedomCAR program, Sandia National Laboratories’ Power Sources Technology Group is researching ways to make lithium-ion batteries work longer and safer. The research could lead to these batteries being used in new hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) in the next five to ten years.

“Batteries are a necessary part of hybrid electric-gasoli

The Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI) has started work on determining the dynamic characteristics of an average woman. These will be used in developing the first crash test dummy in the world that is based on an average woman. Existing dummies have been developed with reference to an average male.

The fact that there is no model of an average woman at present may impose limitations on how well existing crash test dummies can evaluate the protection provided by

The continuing trend toward higher circuit density in microelectronic devices has motivated research efforts in varieties of high-resolution lithography techniques, including electron beam (EB), X-ray, and deep UV irradiation. Use of ultra-thin films and new materials have been proposed as approaches to improve resolution in lithography. The Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) technique is very effective method used to prepare well-defined ultra-thin film with controlled thickness and orientation at a mol

Coloured transparent organic-inorganic hybrid coatings

Interior design is set to utilise a new era in coloured materials if a team of researchers from Mexico have their way. The researchers have developed hard, coloured, transparent, organic–inorganic hybrid coatings for a range of materials. The success of the coatings comes from the formation of a composite or bio-mineral system at the nanoscopic or molecular level.

In a paper published in AZojomo*, the researchers, J.

Enhancing the thermal conductivity of â-Si 3N 4 ceramics

Silicon nitride ceramics are important engineering materials due to their excellent properties such as fracture toughness, wear resistance and high temperature strength. They were originally developed to compete with metallic parts and now find application in such areas as engine components, glow plugs for diesel engines, cutting tools, bearings, nozzles and kiln furniture.

Thermal conductivity is an important physi

’Smart’ Energy Devices and Real-time Pricing Information Enable Increased Options for Consumers, Bringing Power to the People

SEATTLE – Pacific Northwest National Laboratory announced today the launch of the Pacific Northwest GridWiseTM Demonstration projects, a regional initiative to test and speed adoption of new smart grid technologies that can make the power grid more resilient and efficient.

Senator Patty Murray, D-Wash., representatives from the Department of Energy,

Every year in the European Union there are over 9,000 deaths and 200,000 injured victims in road accidents in which pedestrians and cyclists collide with a car. Hoping to improve on these grim statistics, is a cutting-edge sensing system that could ultimately help to save the lives of vulnerable road users (VRUs).

“The concept is relatively straightforward,” explains Dr Marc-Michael Meinecke of Volkswagen, one of the chief partners in the SAVE-U project along with DaimlerChrysle

Penn State engineers have shown that a white-LED system for lighting and high data-rate indoor wireless communications, coupled with broadband over either medium- or low-voltage power line grids (BPL), can offer transmission capacities that exceed DSL or cable and are more secure than RF.

Colored LEDs or light emitting diodes are currently found in the numbers on digital clocks, remote controls, traffic lights and other applications. Recently, white LEDs have emerged in the mark

Risø National Laboratory, Technical University of Denmark, The Danish Meteorological Institute, Elsam and Energi E2 in Denmark have jointly developed a new method for predicting the energy produced by wind turbines. The method will save millions for electricity producers and consumers

In Denmark more than 5,000 wind turbines produce an average of more than 20 per cent of the Danish power consumption.

The electric utilities must supplement wind energy production with power fro

Geopolymers with the potential for use as refractory castable

From the most technologically aware city dwellers to remote jungle tribes, almost the entire population of the earth know polymeric materials as plastics. Although some plastics are oven proof and can readily withstand high temperatures, they generally melt or burn at extreme temperatures.

Inorganic polymers are different and show promise for use in elevated temperature applications. Inorganic polymers made f

Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists have discovered that a phenomenon called carrier multiplication, in which semiconductor nanocrystals respond to photons by producing multiple electrons, is applicable to a broader array of materials that previously thought. The discovery increases the potential for the use of nanoscrystals as solar cell materials to produce higher electrical outputs than current solar cells.

In papers published recently in the journals Nature Physics and

Materials Preparation Center Creates Stronger, Lighter Aluminum Alloy

The next generation of jet fighter aircraft could fly farther and faster thanks to a new high-strength aluminum alloy prepared at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory. The new alloy is one material being developed for use in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, a cutting-edge aircraft that will see widespread use as the primary fighter for the U.S. Navy, Air Force, and Marines as well as U.S. allies abroad.

The Technische Universität Dresden (TU Dresden) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) have cooperated in developing a novel laser sensor which measures two quantities that are important for turbine engineering more precise than ever before: firstly, the tip clearance between the rotating blades and the turbine casing over and, secondly, the vibrations resulting from the blades’ supersonic velocity. The novel laser Doppler profile sensor, which has been developed by Professor Jürgen Czarske and his t

Currently, an interdisciplinary research project is exploring new technologies with regard to biodegradable implants. The project is carried out by two research institutions at the Technische Universität Dresden, the Max Bergmann Center of Biomaterials (MBC) at the Institute of Materials Sciences and the Institute of Textile and Clothing Technology (ITB), as well as the Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research in Dresden (IPF) and the University Hospitals in Ulm and Heidelberg.

The project

Scientists at the Technische Universität Dresden/Germany have been developing an innovative composite material – “textile reinforced concrete“ – which is to serve for the structural reinforcement of buildings. For seven years now, more than 50 scientists from eight institutes have been collaborating in a research project entitled “Textile Reinforcements for Structural Strengthening and Repair“. The project has been funded by the German Research Foundation which has approved of the project’s t

Cidetec Technology Centre’s Energy Department has designed a prototype for a motorised bicycle that works off fuel cells. The project, financed by the Gipuzkoa Provincial Government, involved using a bicycle kindly provided by the ORBEA bicycle manufacturing company and the pedalling action of which is assisted by a motor. The novelty lies in that the battery power source for the motor is substituted by a fuel cell which, for its operation, only needs oxygen from the air and hydrogen contained un