The Elements of Innovation Discovered
The Elements of Innovation Discovered
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DOE funds R&D for recovering critical metals while creating clean water from fossil fuel waste. The Department of Energy's Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management is providing $17.5 million in funding for research and development projects focused on producing clean water and critical minerals from oil, gas, and coal production wastewater. Fossil fuel production and use produces wastewater, either pumped up with oil and gas or from the waste streams of production or...
In recent years a great deal of research has gone into creating revolutionary nanomaterials capable of self-assembling into a wide range of dimensional structures at an atomic level. Transition metal chalcogenide (TMC) nanofibers are structures consisting of transition metal atoms such as tungsten, compounded by an element from the oxygen family on the periodic table (like sulfur or tellurium), called chalcogenides. They are known for their unique electrical and optical...
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...
In spite of a robust collection of new hybrid and electric vehicle models coming out, Volkswagen's hottest project may not be a car. With batteries being the most expensive component in an EV, at roughly 40% of the overall cost, Europe's largest automaker is going straight to the source by investing in Canadian mines. For now, plans for what potential sites are being investigated and what investments are being made have not yet been disclosed. Partnerships between vehicle manu...
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...
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...
Tesla's 140 GWh plant will produce batteries for 1.5M EVs per year; need globally significant mineral supplies. Tesla Inc. set the standard for giga-scale lithium-ion battery manufacturing with the startup of its 35 gigawatt-hour-per-year Gigafactory in Nevada in 2016. Now, the pioneering company is setting a new benchmark for electric vehicle battery production with a massive 100 GWh expansion of its world-changing factory. The news that Tesla has committed to investing heavi...
Supply constraints slow installations; WoodMac expects li-ion batteries to dominate energy storage in US over next five years. The transition to clean electricity generated from intermittent sources such as solar and wind is energizing the energy storage sector in the United States. Supply chain constraints, however, are acting as an insulator to growth of battery installations that ensure the balance between energy supply and demand. According to the fourth quarter 2022 U.S....
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...
Over the last two decades, perovskite crystal lattices have been held as extremely promising materials in photovoltaic and light-emitting devices. This family of minerals exhibits unique electrical properties currently being utilized in solar cells. A Penn State-led team has created a faster, more cost-effective process to fabricate larger perovskite devices than previously possible. Their reported findings were published in the journal Nature Communications and have opened a...
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...
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,...
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...
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...
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...
