Thermophotovoltaics: Researchers develop new resistant emitter based on iridium. Together with the Technical University of Hamburg and Aalborg University, researchers from the Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon have developed a new selective emitter based on iridium for thermophotovoltaics. Iridium was thus used for the first time as a material for an emitter, and in the experiments, it showed particular endurance at high temperatures around 1000 °C. Their study results were published today in the journal Advanced Materials and open up new perspectives for…
Theoretical extension of parametric amplification. Sensors in electronic devices work with high-frequency signals. For maximum accuracy in the measurements, the parametric amplification effect is used. Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) are investigating how this effect can significantly expand the functionality of sensors. Possible applications include improved location positioning with microelectromechanical sensors like those used in smartphones. Most people are probably familiar with the phenomenon from childhood: standing on a swing, a child rhythmically bends and straightens their…
Newly discovered reaction mechanism overcomes rapid performance decline in lithium-sulfur batteries. Scientists discover surprising pathway to better lithium-sulfur batteries by visualizing reactions at the atomic scale. The road from breakthrough in the lab to practical technology can be a long and bumpy one. The lithium-sulfur battery is an example. It has notable advantages over current lithium-ion batteries powering vehicles. But it has yet to dent the market despite intense development over many years. That situation could change in the future thanks to…
Redox-flow battery eliminates costly and inefficient membrane. Jimmy Jiang envisions a future where every house is powered by renewable energy stored in batteries. In his chemistry lab, Jiang and his students at the University of Cincinnati have created a new battery that could have profound implications for the large-scale energy storage needed by wind and solar farms. Innovations such as UC’s will have profound effects on green energy, Jiang said. Batteries store renewable energy for when it’s needed, not just…
Germany’s first cryogenic measuring setup for statistical quality measurement of qubit devices on whole 200- and 300-mm wafers has started operation at Fraunhofer IAF. The on-wafer prober can characterize devices based on semiconductor quantum dots and quantum wells as well as superconductors at measurement temperatures below 2 K. Fully automated operation will allow researchers to build up a quantitatively relevant database and advance the industrial production of high-quality devices for quantum computing and quantum sensing in Europe. With the newly…
Flexibility, durability and trust… The accessibility of RISC-V has started a revolution and, thanks to its open architecture, allows developers to design processors tailored to specific requirements. The Fraunhofer IPMS also offers a processor IP based on the RISC V instruction set architecture. The institute has extensive RISC-V expertise, which is used in research projects and is actively developed. The open-source instruction set architecture (ISA) called “Reduced Instruction Set Computer V” (RISC-V) was designed with the aim of emphasizing energy…
In a world experiencing increased heat stress, a zero-carbon-emission cooling technology that consumes no electricity, operating instead by shedding heat directly into outer space, would be a groundbreaking advance. However, poor standardization and a lack of transparency is hampering this promising technology, known as radiative cooling. Best practice guidelines[1], outlined by KAUST leading radiative-cooling researcher Qiaoqiang Gan, could help set the research field back on track. Radiative-cooling devices offer electricity-free cooling by radiating heat within a narrow wavelength range called…
European project tackles first actions… Individual mobility must become greener – this could briefly summarize the requirements for the future development of vehicles. The European Union, with its Green Deal, has set a goal of net zero emission cars, which is driving the growing market for electric vehicles. However, electrical mobility is often criticized for the environmental impact of the battery value chain and insufficient recycling activities. The European HiQ-LCA project aims to change this situation by enabling more reliable…
In recent years, some car manufacturers have already presented the first vehicle models with photovoltaics integrated into the roof. The roof is the easiest surface to use for on-board solar power generation. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE have now gone one step further. As part of two publicly funded research projects, they have integrated solar cells into the standard sheet metal hood of a regular passenger car. Coupled with the research institute’s MorphoColor® technology, the…
… for faster charging electric vehicles. A new study led by Dr. Xuekun Lu from Queen Mary University of London in collaboration with an international team of researchers from the UK and USA has found a way to prevent lithium plating in electric vehicle batteries, which could lead to faster charging times. The paper was published in the journal Nature Communications. Lithium plating is a phenomenon that can occur in lithium-ion batteries during fast charging. It occurs when lithium ions…
…for a hundredfold reduction in the power consumption of future chips. Electronic devices are shrinking all the time. At the same time, the computer chips inside them are getting more and more powerful, but they are also using more energy, and running hotter. This makes it essential to find new ways to reduce the power consumption of high-performance computers. A new EU-funded project has brought together a high-profile consortium from science and industry to investigate how changes to the magnetic…
Based on the vanillin made usable for electricity storage in 2020, an AI-optimised prototype of an environmentally friendly electricity storage system is now being developed in an international project. In 2020, Stefan Spirk from the Institute of Bioproducts and Paper Technology at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) described the research achievement with which he and his team had succeeded as a “ground-breaking success in the field of sustainable energy storage technologies” to make redox flow batteries more environmentally friendly…
Device uses nano-sized polyoxometalates. Scientists are looking for ways to use the low-value energy widely distributed in natural environments to generate electricity. A research team has created a power generator that collects the natural atmospheric humidity and produces continuous electrical signals. This is the first humidity generator designed using a nano-sized material called polyoxometalates. It holds the potential of being a new research direction for polyoxometalates in the sustainable utilization of low-value energy. The team’s work is published in the…
…that function with minimal external pressure. New stand-alone thin-film version of the solid-state electrolyte called lithium phosphorus oxynitride (LiPON) shows promise in functional battery tests. A team of battery researchers led by the University of California San Diego and University of Chicago has developed a new methodology to produce the potentially game-changing thin-film solid-state electrolyte called lithium phosphorus oxynitride (LiPON). The team went on to implement their free-standing version of LiPON film in functional battery tests and found that it…
– but shortens their lifespans. Tinkering with the makeup of inexpensive LED lights boosted their brightness and efficiency, but the new lights only lasted a few minutes. Chances are, the screen you’re reading from glows thanks to light-emitting diodes – commonly known as LEDs. This widespread technology provides energy-efficient indoor lighting and increasingly illuminates our computer monitors, TVs, and smartphone screens. Unfortunately, it also requires a relatively laborious and expensive manufacturing process. Hoping to address this shortcoming, Stanford researchers tested…
New charging technology to make e-cars suitable for mass use as mobile power storage units. Bidirectional charging enables electric vehicles to be both charged and discharged as needed. E-cars can thus serve as mobile electricity storage units and contribute to increasing the flexibility of the energy system. To ensure that bidirectional charging can be used on a broad scale, a consortium led by Fraunhofer IAF is researching innovative charging technologies: In the recently launched project GaN4EmoBiL, the partners are developing…
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