New Atlas

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Carbon capture system turns CO2 into electricity and hydrogen fuel

Michael Irving January 21, 2019

Inspired by the ocean’s role as a natural carbon sink, researchers at Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) and Georgia Tech have developed a new system that absorbs CO2 and produces electricity and useable hydrogen fuel.

Scientists have developed a new device that can absorb CO2 and produce electricity and hydrogen fuel

Energy

The most innovative battery designs of the year

Nick Lavars December 28, 2018

How we store that energy is a constant work in progress, and while scientists are making important but incremental advances with inventive new materials, others are out to entirely reinvent what we think of as a battery. Here are five of the most innovative examples from 2018.

Energy

Fluoride-based battery challenges lithium for stability and stamina

Michael Irving December 6, 2018

A new study shows how fluoride might be put to work in better batteries. Researchers at Caltech, JPL, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and the Honda Research Institute have developed fluoride-based batteries that could potentially last much longer than existing lithium-ion-based devices.

A fluoride ion (pink) floating in a liquid BTFE electrolyte

Energy Audio available

MIT's conceptual "sun-in-a-box" energy storage system plugs into molten silicon

Michael Irving December 6, 2018

Lithium-ion batteries aren't necessarily the best choice for grid-scale energy storage. Researchers at MIT have outlined a new system they call a “sun in a box,” which stores energy as heat in molten silicon and harvests it by tapping into the bright light it emits.

A render of MIT's new grid-scale energy storage system

Energy Audio available

Energy Vault to build grid-level, gravity-fed battery from a tower of concrete blocks

Michael Irving November 8, 2018

With a focus on storing energy from intermittent renewable sources such as wind and solar, Swiss company Energy Vault has just launched an innovative new system that stores potential energy in a huge tower of concrete blocks, which can be “dropped” by a crane to harvest the kinetic energy.

Energy

Nanotube film drowns out battery-killing lithium tentacles

Nick Lavars November 4, 2018

New research out of Rice University describes yet another promising possible solution to the problem of dendrite formation in lithium-based batteries, working a thin film of carbon nanotubes into the design as as way of drowning them out.

Rice University chemist James Tour, left, graduate student Gladys López-Silva and postdoctoral researcher Rodrigo Salvatierra have ...

Electronics

Can carbon fiber car panels double as energy storage materials?

Nick Lavars October 18, 2018

Carbon fiber as we know it is one of the most impressive materials in our toolkit, but could it also play a role in energy storage? One team of scientists has been exploring the possibilities, raising some interesting possibilities for weight-saving vehicle design.

Can carbon fiber store energy for electric vehicles, as well as serve as structural elements?

Outdoors

Origami-inspired portable lamp harnesses the power of the Sun

Michael Irving October 17, 2018

Practical as camping lights are, most aren’t much to look at by themselves. Solight Design is trying to change that with the Qwnn, an origami-inspired lantern that folds flat, charges via solar power and can also act as a power bank.

Qwnn is a folding portable light that's easy on the eyes

Mobile Technology

Sticky phone powerbank is a prelude to wireless charging on the go

Michael Irving October 8, 2018

Phone power banks can be a lifesaver, but it’s a pain to carry around what basically amounts to a second phone hanging off the bottom. Bezalel has now unveiled a power bank that sticks to the back of your phone and charges it up wirelessly.

Prelude is a wireless charger that sticks to a phone

Electronics

A sprinkle of sodium powder keeps salt-based batteries powering on

Nick Lavars September 27, 2018

While experimental sodium-ion batteries continue to show promise, there are a few kinks to be ironed out before we see them become commonplace. Researchers at Purdue University are claiming to have overcome one important shortcoming by first reducing the sodium to a powder form.

Purdue researcher Jialiang Tang was part of a team that came up with a new sodium ...