The Elements of Innovation Discovered
The Elements of Innovation Discovered
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Exploring the mysteries of copper, researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have discovered yet another use for this "new oil" of the clean energy future – converting carbon dioxide and water into fuels and chemicals. But to witness this discovery, the scientists had to design an entirely new nanoimaging technology. The idea of water-powered engines has been waiting for its moment to jump from the pages of science fiction into the world of science reality. A...
As more and more companies answer the call to supply the materials needed to fuel the clean energy transition, American Battery Technology Company has been doing its part to establish a strong foundation to provide electric vehicle manufacturers and other renewable technology companies with critical battery metals for decades to come. Founded in 2011, ABTC (formerly known as American Battery Metals Corp.) began with a few mining claims out of Nevada. Spun out from a former...
Robust wireless network paired with autonomous mining equipment at diamond mine. Taking one step closer to the autonomous mine of the future, Rajant Corp.'s formidable Kinetic Mesh wireless network has been paired with Sandvik tele-remote and autonomous vehicles destined for De Beers' Venetia underground diamond mine in South Africa. Ordinarily, wireless networks require fixed infrastructure that covers a set range. Even with 5G wireless technology, signal penetration...
Keeping with its goal to support companies' endeavoring to establish a domestic battery materials supply chain for electric vehicles and associated technologies that will require the same minerals and metals, the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) loan program has conditionally committed to loaning Li-Cycle $375 million to expand its recycling efforts in the United States. As an industry leader in lithium-ion battery recovery and the...
As the demand for critical metals continues to rise, the need for efficient and accurate mineral exploration has never been greater. With the mining industry facing ever-increasing pressure to reduce the time from discovery to mineral extraction, Boart Longyear Group Ltd., a company well-known for its mineral exploration expertise, has repackaged its award-winning geological data services into a standalone entity – Veracio. Established over 130 years ago, Boart Longyear has w...
Loan will support US plant capable of producing EV battery materials at the giga-scale. Toward the White House's goal of zero-emission vehicles making up half of all car sales in the U.S. by 2030, the U.S. Department of Energy has conditionally committed to lend $2 billion to Redwood Materials Inc. to support the expansion and construction of a battery recycling and manufacturing complex in Nevada. Announced on Thursday via the DOE Loan Programs Office, Redwood will use the...
As technology begins to enter the realm of 1990s-era science fiction, researchers from Soft Machines Lab at Carnegie Mellon University have developed a miniature shapeshifting robot that can liquefy itself and reform – basically a prototype of Skynet's cool but terrifying T-1000 robot in "Terminator 2". With assistance from Sun Yat-sen University and Zhejiang University, this liquid metal robot is based on gallium that has been embedded with magnetic nanoparticles. Since g...
Leaders tour Ontario spoke facility to witness ongoing battery recycling efforts. Shortly after receiving approval for a US$375 million loan from the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing loan program, Li-Cycle Holdings Corp. was visited by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Joined by Li-Cycle co-founders Ajay Kochhar and Tim Johnston, the group observed lithium-ion batteries being...
Vulcan publishes feasibility study that checks off next milestone along path to 2025 production. With five offtake agreements with some of Europe's largest carmakers, such as Stellantis, Volkswagen, and Renault Group, as well as Umicore and Korea's LG Electronics, Vulcan Energy Resources Ltd. has announced the results of its definitive feasibility study for phase one of the company's Zero Carbon Lithium project in Germany's Rhine River Valley. Aiming to become the world's...
Marking a significant milestone in its role as a leading electric vehicle battery recycler, Electra Battery Materials Corp. announced the successful recovery of technical-grade lithium carbonate from a black mass recycling trial conducted at its refinery north of Toronto, Canada. Black mass, the material remaining once expired lithium-ion batteries are shredded and all casings removed, typically consists of some mix of lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese, copper, and graphite...
Pinning yet another magical property on the coat of the wonder material known as graphene begs the question – is there anything that graphene can't do? A team of researchers from the National Graphene Institute at the University of Manchester has discovered that imperfect graphene can exhibit qualities much like a catalyst, which is contrary to the general expectation that the carbon sheet is as chemically inert as the bulk graphite from which it is obtained. Published in t...
With another C$3 million in funding, but this time from the Government of Canada's Critical Minerals Research, Development and Demonstration program, Geomega Resources Inc. is well-financed to continue construction of its magnet recycling demonstration plant to help power the ongoing energy transition. Over a month since it received a C$3 million grant from Canada's Technoclimat Program, Geomega says funding is welcome considering the additional costs arising from the various...
While air conditioning was a marvel of its time, concerns over the Earth's climate has led to the pursuit of more efficient energy consumption and management. Now, researchers at the University of Chicago's Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering have designed a chameleon-like building material made with copper that changes its infrared color – and how much heat it absorbs or emits based on outside temperature. "We've essentially figured out a low-energy way to treat a b...
Becoming the frontrunner of battery recyclers, Electra Battery Materials Corp. announced that it has successfully completed the first plant-scale recycling of black mass material in North America, recovering critical metals such as nickel, cobalt, and manganese needed for the electric vehicles of the low-carbon future. Colloquially known as black mass, it is essentially the remains of pulverized lithium-ion battery anode and cathode materials. Imperative toward the...
The U.S. Department of Energy has published a portfolio of research and development projects on the commercialization of aluminum-cerium alloy that offers a possible solution to the overabundance of the most abundant rare earth element. The clean energy transition depends on critical materials like rare earth elements that power wind turbine generators, electric vehicles, and other clean energy technologies, materials, and processes. Typically, REEs are found together in...
Aiming to improve energy efficiency to any degree, the Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory has found that perovskite materials – the very same active component that has been implemented in some of the most efficient solar panels on the market – can be applied to windows to decrease energy costs. According to the NREL, using thermochromic windows or dynamic windows in office buildings improves energy efficiency across all climate zones in the United Sta...
With the final report for its Phase 2 testing of ZenGUARD for use in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning filtration from the National Research Council of Canada, Zentek Ltd. is priming itself to begin integrating its sterilizing ZenGUARD-treated filters to help mitigate risks from airborne viral transmission such as COVID-19. "We believe our patented technology platform, ZenGUARD, is a disruptive technology for the HVAC industry, giving us the ability to help filter...
With the need for electric vehicle batteries continuing to grow, a solution to the demand for battery materials may come from an unexpected source – coal. Now, for the first time ever, X-BATT has built an 18650 battery using coal. After spending the better part of two decades supplying precision plastic-engineered components to a broad range of industries, Semplastics expanded with its X-MAT research, focusing on the recycling, reuse, and rediscovery of the vast stockpiles o...
In the pursuit of improving portable power, new lithium metal batteries with solid electrolytes tick off every box in next-gen battery technology – lightweight, higher capacity, faster charging, and inflammable. This game-changing tech, however, has been slow to develop due to a mysterious failure that causes it to short-circuit. Now, researchers at Stanford University and the school's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory say they have discovered the culprit. Turns out, s...
Developer of clean technologies for the mining, refining, and recycling of rare earths and other critical materials, Geomega Resources Inc. announced it has been awarded a C$3 million grant from the Technoclimat Program toward the construction of a magnet recycling demonstration plant. "We are very grateful to the Quebec Government for their support of our project," said Geomega Resources President and CEO Kiril Mugerman. "Furthermore, the Quebec Government understands that to...
Deepens alliance with Solid Power to commercialize next-gen cell tech. Under an expanded joint development agreement, BMW Group and Solid Power have added a research and development license as a basis for their common next steps, showing how much the luxury car maker believes in this next-gen technology of solid-state batteries. Spun out of a program at the University of Colorado in 2011, Solid Power is a U.S.-based battery developer that has been advancing solid-state...
Chinese scientists' success crosses threshold that has opened way for grabbing tech. Despite their influence on science fiction and even the occasional conspiracy theory, tractor beams, in reality, have not yet lived up to fantastical expectations. While it seems we are still far from capturing a spaceship that can do the Kessel Run in twelve parsecs, Earthlings have managed to use this light vacuum device to move about nano- and atomic-sized things – until now. Perhaps disreg...
Shortly after signing a memorandum of understanding with Korean electronics manufacturer Sonid Inc., RecycLiCo Battery Materials Inc. announced that a Korean manufacturer used cathode material upcycled with the RecycLiCo to create battery cells that are comparable to those made with virgin cathode materials. According to RecycLiCo, the unnamed Korean cathode manufacturer reported that the battery cells using its recycling-upcycled nickel-manganese-cobalt oxide (NMC811)...
Seeking to achieve the next echelon of battery, Solid Power announced it has been awarded US$5.6 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy to continue developing its ground-breaking solid-state battery technology, which could significantly help lower the price of batteries across the board. Spun out of a program at the University of Colorado in 2011, Solid Power is a U.S.-based battery developer that specializes in solid-state, sulfide-based electrolyte technology...
Struggling to overcome the inevitable shortcomings of miniaturizing digital technologies due to the inherent limits of silicon, Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers have potentially reinstated Moore's Law with the synthesis of 2D materials on silicon wafers. True to Moore's Law, the number of transistors on a microchip has doubled every year since its origination in 1965; however, this trajectory is predicted to soon plateau because silicon – the backbone of m...
