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IMAGE: The BP copolymer offers several advantages that put it miles ahead of the conventional PVDF binder in terms of stability and durability view more
Credit: Noriyoshi Matsumi from JAIST
Anyone who has owned a smartphone for over a year is most likely aware that its built-in lithium (Li)-ion battery does not hold as much charge as when the device was new. The degradation of Li-ion batteries is a serious issue that greatly limits the useful life of portable electronic devices, indirectly causing huge amounts of pollution and economic losses. In addition to this, the fact that Li-ion batteries are not very durable is a massive roadblock for the market of electric vehicles and renewable energy harvesting. Considering the severity of these issues, it is no surprise that researchers have been actively seeking ways to improve upon the state-of-the-art designs of Li-ion batteries.
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IMAGE: At the COSMIC Microscopy beamline, researchers probed the oxidation state of the chemical element cerium using scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM) under operando conditions. It was a first demonstration of. view more
Credit: Chungnam National University
COSMIC, a multipurpose X-ray instrument at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory s (Berkeley Lab s) Advanced Light Source (ALS), has made headway in the scientific community since its launch less than 2 years ago, with groundbreaking contributions in fields ranging from batteries to biominerals.
COSMIC is the brightest X-ray beamline at the ALS, a synchrotron that generates intense light - from infrared to X-rays - and delivers it to dozens of beamlines to carry out a range of simultaneous science experiments. COSMIC s name is derived from coherent scattering and microscopy, which are two overarching X-ray techniques it is designed to carry out.
Credit: Piqsels (creative commons)
New energy tariffs could leave people on bad deals even worse off despite the potential benefits for everyone, research has found.
The study, led by the University of Leeds, found new types of energy contracts designed for a low carbon future could benefit all types of customer, with opportunities to sell excess energy from solar panels or incentives for using energy at off-peak times.
However, many people were unlikely to choose them because they were disengaged from the energy market, didn t trust energy companies, or already feel satisfied with their current tariffs. Those likely to adopt them first are younger, with higher incomes and higher education.
Newly designed gold-black phosphorus nanosheets by scientists are capable of converting nature gas into greener energy methanol with selectivity as high as
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A foundational study conducted by scientists at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) shows for the first time that white-rot fungi are able to use carbon captured from lignin as a carbon source.
The research confirms a hypothesis from Davinia Salvachúa Rodriguez, the senior author of a newly published paper. Until now, scientists were unsure whether white-rot fungi the most efficient lignin-degrading organisms in nature actually consume the products generated from breaking down lignin. What we have demonstrated here is that white-rot fungi can actually utilize lignin-derived aromatic compounds as a carbon source, which means they can eat them and utilize them to grow, Salvachúa said. That is another strategy for carbon sequestration in nature and has not been reported before.