An impressive new solar-powered sterilization system — capable of converting as much as 80% of the energy found in sunlight into sterilization heat — was recently created by nanotechnology researchers at Rice University. The researchers think that the new “solar steam” sterilization system could be of great utility to those … [continued]
A research team from Harvard University’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering together and Harvard Medical School is on track to transform the common bacteria E. coli into a jack-of-all-trades producer of biofuels, pharmaceuticals, plastics and just about anything else that is presently made from petroleum precursors. The trick is … [continued]
Tina about one year ago wrote about Rice University research exploring the benefits from the use of boron in batteries. Rice has an update for us, reposted below (with minor changes). Frustration led to revelation when Rice University scientists determined how graphene might be made useful for high-capacity batteries. Calculations by … [continued]
Researchers from Rice University have created a ‘seamless’ graphene and nanotube hybrid. The material is probably the best electrode interface material possible for energy storage usages and other related electronics applications, according to the researchers. The new hybrid material appears as “forests of carbon nanotubes that rise quickly from … [continued]
Rice University researchers have developed yet another li-ion (lithium-ion) silicon battery anode, but this time it is a crushed, porous silicon anode. The researchers “have refined silicon-based lithium-ion technology by literally crushing their previous work to make a high-capacity, long-lived and low-cost anode material with serious commercial potential for … [continued]
A new way to create the flexible components of rechargeable lithium-ion (LI) batteries from discarded silicon has been developed by researchers at Rice University and the Université catholique de Louvain in Belgium. Silicon is able to absorb roughly 10 times more lithium than the carbon that is typically used in … [continued]
Rice University researchers have developed an unusual type of lithium-ion battery. It is a liquid that can be painted or sprayed onto any surface. The research team mixed various paints to determine which were best for the construction of the 5-layered components of a lithium-ion battery. Those components are: … [continued]
Paintable and printable solar cells are lowering the cost of solar power, and now researchers at Rice University have come up with a battery to match. They have developed a new paintable lithium-ion battery that can be applied to almost anything from beer mugs and bathroom tiles to plastics, glass … [continued]
The U.S. Navy is behind a push to exploit one of the “hottest” areas of the electromagnetic spectrum, the terahertz band. The Office of Naval Research contributed to a breakthrough project at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory last fall with the help of graphene nanoribbons, and just last month a team … [continued]
Coincidentally, or not, researchers at Rice University and Tsinghua University have come to essentially the same conclusion as researchers at the A*STAR Institute of Materials Research and Engineering — carbon nanotubes can help improve dye-sensitized solar cells and cut their costs. Here’s more detail on the matter from a Rice University news … [continued]
