The Elements of Innovation Discovered
The Elements of Innovation Discovered
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Following a commitment for a US$375 million loan from the U.S. Department of Energy and a visit from world leaders to its recycling facilities in Canada, the momentum keeps up for Li-Cycle Holdings Corp. with a newly signed definitive agreement with KION Group for the development of a lithium-ion battery recycling plant in France. As the leading lithium-ion battery recycler in North America, Li-Cycle has been advancing its spoke-and-hub system to recover lithium, nickel,...
U of T researchers begin to compile database for self-printing additive manufacturing. Tapping into the unlimited potential of additive manufacturing, University of Toronto researchers are reevaluating the processes of metal 3D printing to build the framework of a future system where production with printers is completely automated, down to each molecule. Experimenting at the university's first metal 3D printing laboratory, a team led by Professor Yu Zou in the Faculty of...
Under the lead of a doctoral aerospace engineering student at Missouri University of Science and Technology, a team of 12 undergraduates have come together to continue research on a project that is out of this world. In the fall of 2022, NASA announced its eighth annual Breakthrough, Innovation, and Game-Changing (BIG) Idea Challenge. You can read about the initial announcement of NASA's challenge at Latest NASA challenge tackles Moon forging in the August 17, 2022 edition of...
Highly promising startup reveals first commercial-scale rare earth element refinery in the US. Rising from the ashes, an American startup that was early in the field of rare earth element separation, Phoenix Tailings, has made a brilliant comeback with the announcement of the first rare earth refinery to begin production in the United States. Founded in 2018, Boston-based Phoenix Tailings had a significant head start at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Seeing the potential...
Leading through example, Electra Battery Materials Corp. has signed a memorandum of understanding with First Nation-owned and operated Three Fires Group to form a joint venture focused on the recycling of lithium-ion battery waste, underpinned by Electra's proprietary black mass processing expertise. "We are excited by the opportunity to work with the Three Fires Group and solve a pressing challenge of the EV battery supply chain, namely how to recycle and repurpose battery...
Setting up in one of North America's fastest-growing lithium-ion battery development zones, Volkswagen Group has foreseen the potential and has opted to build its next gigafactory outside of Europe in the city of St. Thomas, Ontario. The St. Thomas factory is a joint venture between VW and PowerCo SE, a new independent company created by the automaker to oversee its massive $20 billion battery initiatives. With two other gigafactories currently in development, this latest...
Inspired by some of history's greatest artistic geniuses, one company sought to emulate these peerless masters through the use of artificial intelligence. With the help of AI, coupled with its own cutting-edge technologies, Sandvik Coromant called upon five of humanity's most remarkable sculptors to engineer a never-before-seen combination of their works into an impossible masterpiece. While not as mainstream as other mediums, especially these days, sculpting has definitively...
Li-Cycle Holdings Corp. announced the signing of a letter of intent with Glencore plc, one of the world's largest natural resource companies, to jointly study the feasibility and eventual development of one of Li-Cycle's Hub recycling facilities in Portovesme, Italy. "The planned Portovesme Hub is a landmark project for Europe's battery recycling industry and is expected to be the largest source of recycled battery-grade lithium on the continent," said Li-Cycle Executive...
Foreseeing a green technologies hub emerging in the southeastern regions of Canada, Geomega Resources Inc. is centralizing all its operations into a single larger location within the town of Saint-Hubert, Quebec. This Quebec locale harkens back to Geomega's roots, as the critical metals recycling and extraction company originally began developing its innovative technologies while seeking a means to recover rare earths from its Montveil deposit in Quebec. The company, however,...
In a renewable technology breakthrough, the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, in collaboration with leading mobility technology company Magna, has unveiled a process that reshapes aluminum from automotive scrap and trimmings into material for new vehicle parts. This new manufacturing process, dubbed Shear Assisted Processing and Extrusion (ShAPE), reportedly reduces more than 50% of the energy consumed while simultaneously reducing more than 90% of...
Despite what their name may suggest, the suite of 15 elements known as rare earths is not all that scarce. One thing that is hard to come by, however, is technology up to the difficult task of efficiently separating this suite of tech metals into their lone elements – Cyclic Materials aims to change that. Founded in 2021, Canada-based Cyclic Materials has been working toward creating a sustainable, domestic supply chain for rare earths and other metals through an innovative r...
Forever scribed in the annals of scientific achievement, the U.S. Inertial Confinement Fusion program supported by the National Nuclear Security Administration has produced not one but two significant breakthroughs – the burning of plasma with a yield of 1.3 megajoules, then the legendary breakeven for nuclear fusion. With these results, the Department of Energy has announced a $45 million grant to continue this potentially utopia-creating work. "The exciting results from NIF...
Similar to some International Space Station experiments for mining in space, the University of Waterloo in Southern Ontario has been using microorganisms as an environmentally friendly means of breaking down tailings here on Earth, reclaiming critical resources and cleaning up the leftovers of yesteryear at the same time. A common byproduct of mining, tailings are typically fine-grained waste material left after extracting a target ore mineral. Stored in various media such as...
Tech giant is also boosting recycled rare earths, gold, and tin going into Apple products. As a technology giant at the vanguard of the green transition, Apple Inc. is accelerating its work to expand recycled materials going into its famed devices, which includes a new 2025 target to use 100% recycled cobalt in all Apple-designed batteries. Last year, the company significantly expanded its use of key recycled metals, sourcing two-thirds of all aluminum, nearly three-quarters...
Researchers out of China and Singapore have discovered that zinc oxide nanoparticles may be the secret to finally achieving high-resolution 3D holograms that are often promised in science fiction but yet to be delivered in reality. Although rudimentary 3D light shows that play off particles in the air, reflections to trick the eye, spinning lights, or projectors to present an illusion of depth have become more prevalent in recent years, a true-blue 3D hologram has seemingly...
In an interesting turn, Ultra Safe Nuclear Corp. has signed a three-way memorandum of understanding with SK ecoplant Co., Ltd. and Hyundai Engineering Co. to conduct research and development for carbon-free hydrogen production. Seattle-based Ultra Safe Nuclear is a leader in vertical integration of nuclear technologies and services, including its micro modular reactor (MMR), fully ceramic micro-encapsulated nuclear fuel, and nuclear power and propulsion for space exploration....
While lithium-ion batteries have become omnipresent for nearly all portable energy needs, we have quickly found that they are ultimately limited in what they are capable of. Enter Vienna University of Technology, where German scientists have found a way to harness the most abundant element on earth to breathe new life into the future of energy storage. Exploring new battery chemistries for the green energy transition, researchers at Vienna University of Technology, or TU Wien,...
Throwing a curveball at the scientific community, an international team of researchers headed by the University of Geneva, Switzerland, has designed a quantum material that allows the control of electrons within its structure by essentially curving the fabric of space in which they occupy. Expanding into the fields of information and communication technologies presents scientists and industry with new hurdles to overcome, especially if they want to breach into the cutting...
When examining additive manufacturing solutions, the military requires technology that can quickly produce parts from well-known metal alloys to address real-time needs and in the field wherever armed services are typically located – this is where Australia-based SPEE3D enters the battlefield. Founded in 2015, SPEE3D spun out of a successful engineering venture that provided the capital necessary for the founders to explore their next undertaking – additive manufacturing. What...
Already pushing the boundaries of portable energy storage technology through its development of solid-state batteries, Energy Exploration Technologies Inc. or EnergyX, announced a US$50 million funding from General Motors Co. to help the company develop its lithium extraction and refinery technology. EnergyX's direct lithium extraction (DLE) technology can extract lithium metal directly from brine and potentially in anode-ready form for electric vehicle batteries, enabling a...
A research team at The University of Manchester led by Nobel Prize-winning Professor Andre Geim has discovered yet another superlative capability for graphene. Materials that strongly change their resistivity under magnetic fields are highly sought for various applications. Such materials are rare, and most metals and semiconductors change their electrical resistivity only by a tiny fraction of a percent at room temperature and in practically viable magnetic fields...
An international team of researchers led by Drexel University has found that a thin coating of MXene could enhance a material's ability to trap or shed heat. The discovery, which is tied to the 2D material's ability to regulate the passage of ambient infrared radiation, could lead to advances in thermal clothing, heating elements, and new materials for radiative heating and cooling. "This research reveals yet another facet of MXene materials' versatility," said research lead...
Researchers from the University of Chicago have discovered the secret recipe for creating MXene. Much like a croissant with its individual layers painstakingly kneaded twixt generous amounts of butter, this breakthrough results in a beautiful flakey 2D material that could usher in a new era of electronics. Until recently, MXenes (pronounced "max-eens") were as labor-intensive as good croissants in a French bakery. Involving several stringent chemical engineering steps,...
Foreseeing the importance of a presence in space, the Minister for Industry and Science, Australian parliament member Ed Husic, along with dignitaries from the Australian Space Agency and NASA, announced the EPE and Lunar Outpost Oceania consortium as one of two successful groups to receive stage-one funding under Australia's Moon to Mars Trailblazer Initiative. The Trailblazer program was launched in late 2021 as part of the Moon to Mars Initiative, which seeks to progress...
After partnering together mid-2022, Volkswagen Group of America, Inc., has expanded its existing collaboration with Redwood Materials Inc. by adding Redwood recycling bins at participating Volkswagen dealerships to conveniently recycle rechargeable devices or lithium-ion batteries. "Volkswagen's goal is to provide more accessible and more sustainable electric mobility for American drivers," said Andrew Savvas, executive vice president, chief sales and marketing officer,...
