A Window that Washes Itself?
Nanosized "forest of peptides" can be used as the basis for self-cleaning windows and more efficient batteries.
TAU’s nanosized “forest of peptides” can be used as the basis for self-cleaning windows and more efficient batteries
A coating on windows or solar panels that repels grime and dirt? Expanded battery storage capacities for the next electric car? New Tel Aviv University research, just published in Nature Nanotechnology, details a breakthrough in assembling peptides at the nano-scale level that could make these futuristic visions come true in just a few years.
Operating in the range of 100 nanometers (roughly one-billionth of a meter) and even smaller, graduate student Lihi Adler-Abramovich and a team working under Prof. Ehud Gazit in TAU’s Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology have found a novel way to control the atoms and molecules of peptides so that they “grow” to resemble small forests of grass. These “peptide forests” repel dust and water — a perfect self-cleaning coating for windows or solar panels which, when dirty, become far less efficient.
“This is beautiful and protean research,” says Adler-Abramovich, a Ph.D. candidate. “It began as an attempt to find a new cure for Alzheimer’s disease. To our surprise, it also had implications for electric cars, solar energy and construction.” (more…)
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Silicon-Air Battery: Non-stop Power for Thousands of Hours?
Technion–Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, Israel.
Scientists at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have developed a new, environmentally friendly silicon-air battery capable of supplying non-stop power for thousands of hours without needing to be replaced. The findings are published in the October 2009 issue of Electrochemistry Communications.
Created from oxygen and silicon (the second most plentiful element in the earth’s crust), such batteries would be lightweight, have an unlimited shelf life, and have a high tolerance for both humid and extremely dry conditions. Potential uses include medical applications (for example, powering diabetic pumps or hearing aids), sensors and microelectronics structured from silicon.
“Silicon-air batteries will be used like the ones already in use today,” says lead researcher Prof. Yair Ein-Eli of the Department of Materials Engineering. “But by using silicon – a safe, non-toxic, stable and more common material – we can create very lightweight batteries with infinite shelf life and high energy capacity.” (more…)
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Paper Battery May Power Electronics in Clothing and Packaging Material
Batteries made of paper may power electronics in the future, researchers say. Shown are images from an experimental paper-based battery. (The American Chemical Society)
Imagine a gift wrapped in paper you really do treasure and want to carefully fold and save. That’s because the wrapping paper lights up with words like “Happy Birthday” or “Happy Holidays,” thanks to a built in battery — an amazing battery made out of paper. That’s one potential application of a new battery made of cellulose, the stuff of paper, being described in the October 14 issue of ACS’ Nano Letters, a monthly journal.
Albert Mihranyan and colleagues note in the report that scientists are trying to develop light, ecofriendly, inexpensive batteries consisting entirely of nonmetal parts. The most promising materials include so-called conductive polymers or “plastic electronics.” (more…)
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Troublesome Green Algae Makes Record-Setting Environmentally Friendly Batteries
Unwanted blooms of algae throughout the Baltic and in other parts of the world are not entirely without a positive side. A group of researchers at the Ångström Laboratory at Uppsala University have discovered that the distinctive cellulose nanostructure of these algae can serve as an effective coating substrate for use in environmentally friendly batteries. The findings have been published in an article in Nano Letters.
“These algae has a special cellulose structure characterised by a very large surface area,” says Gustav Nyström, a doctoral student in nanotechnology and the first author of the article. “By coating this structure with a thin layer of conducting polymer, we have succeeded in producing a battery that weighs almost nothing and that has set new charge-time and capacity records for polymer-cellulose-based batteries.” (more…)
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New Nanogenerator May Charge Ipods and Cell Phones with a Wave of the Hand
A schematic illustration shows the microfiber-nanowire hybrid nanogenerator, which is the basis of using fabrics for generating electricity. (Prof. Z.L. Wang and Dr. X.D. Wang, Georgia Institute of Technology.)
Imagine if all you had to do to charge your iPod or your BlackBerry was to wave your hand, or stretch your arm, or take a walk? You could say goodbye to batteries and never have to plug those devices into a power source again.
In research presented here today at the American Chemical Society’s 237th National Meeting, scientists from Georgia describe technology that converts mechanical energy from body movements or even the flow of blood in the body into electric energy that can be used to power a broad range of electronic devices without using batteries.
“This research will have a major impact on defense technology, environmental monitoring, biomedical sciences and even personal electronics,” says lead researcher Zhong Lin Wang, Regents’ Professor, School of Material Science and Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. The new “nanogenerator” could have countless applications, among them a way to run electronic devices used by the military when troops are far in the field. (more…)
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