Showing 20 articles starting at article 281

< Previous 20 articles        Next 20 articles >

Categories: Chemistry: Thermodynamics, Energy: Fossil Fuels

Return to the site home page

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Pyroelectric catalysis (pyro-catalysis) can convert environmental temperature fluctuations into clean chemical energy, like hydrogen. However, compared with the more common catalysis strategy, such as photocatalysis, pyro-catalysis is inefficient due to slow temperature changes in the ambient environment. Recently, a team has triggered a significantly faster and more efficient pyro-catalytic reaction using localized plasmonic heat sources to rapidly and efficiently heat up the pyro-catalytic material and allow it to cool down. The findings open up new avenues for efficient catalysis for biological applications, pollutant treatment and clean energy production.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Multinuclear organometallic junctions might be the key to realizing high-performance thermoelectric devices at the nanoscale. The unique electronic structure of organometallic ruthenium alkynyl complexes allowed the researchers to achieve unprecedented heat-to-electricity conversion performance in molecular junctions, paving the way to molecular-scale temperature sensors and thermal energy harvesters.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new kind of solar panel has achieved 9% efficiency in converting water into hydrogen and oxygen--mimicking a crucial step in natural photosynthesis. Outdoors, it represents a major leap in the technology, nearly 10 times more efficient than solar water-splitting experiments of its kind.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Chemical engineers have invented a solar-powered artificial leaf, built on a novel electrode which is transparent and porous, capable of harvesting water from the air for conversion into hydrogen fuel. The semiconductor-based technology is scalable and easy to prepare.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have developed a new kind of heating and cooling method that they have named the ionocaloric refrigeration cycle. They hope the technique will someday help phase out refrigerants that contribute to global warming and provide safe, efficient cooling and heating for homes.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have shown how nitrogen fertilizer could be produced more sustainably. This is necessary not only to protect the climate, but also to reduce dependence on imported natural gas and to increase food security.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers analyzed the effects of decarbonization strategies by linking global resource inventories with demographic systems to generate a matrix showing the risks and benefits. The research suggests that increased demand for energy transition metals (ETMs) could be more disruptive to some communities than winding back production of thermal coal. The team calculated that while a complete phase-out of coal could disrupt mine-town systems with a minimum of 33.5 million people, an additional 115.7 million would be at risk from disruption by ETMs.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new study demonstrates a new, counterintuitive way to protect atomically-thin electronics -- adding vibrations, to reduce vibrations. By squeezing a liquid-metal gallium droplet, graphene devices are painted with a protective coating of gallium-oxide that can cover millimeter-wide scales, making it potentially applicable for industrial large-scale fabrication. The new technique improves device performance as well as protecting 2D materials from thermal vibration in neighboring materials.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have clarified the chemical compatibility between high temperature liquid metal tin (Sn) and reduced activation ferritic martensitic, a candidate structural material for fusion reactors. This discovery has paved the way for the development of a liquid metal tin divertor, which is an advanced heat-removal component of fusion reactors. A device called a divertor is installed in the fusion reactors to maintain the purity of the plasma. For divertors, there has been demand for liquid metals that can withstand extremely large heat loads from high-temperature plasma.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Two seemingly different areas of physics are related in subtle ways: Quantum theory and thermodynamics. How can the laws of thermodynamics arise from the laws of quantum physics? This question has now been pursued with computer simulations, which showed that chaos plays a crucial role: Only where chaos prevails do the well-known rules of thermodynamics follow from quantum physics.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have developed a new transparent gold nanocoating that harnesses sunlight to heat the lenses of glasses, thereby preventing them from fogging in humid conditions. This coating could potentially also be applied to car windshields.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

A polymer-based electrolyte makes for batteries that keep working -- and don't catch fire -- when heated to over 140 degrees F.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new study finds that the health benefits associated with wind power could more than quadruple if operators turned down output from the most polluting fossil-fuel-based power plants when energy from wind is available. However, compared to wealthier communities, disadvantaged communities would reap a smaller share of these benefits.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have discovered a way to chemically recycle PVC into usable material, finding a way to use the phthalates in the plasticizers -- one of PVC's most noxious components -- as the mediator for the chemical reaction.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Thermally conductive polymer composites consist of fillers oriented in certain directions that form pathways for heat flow. However, conventional methods to control the orientation of these fillers are energy-intensive and require surface modifications that can deteriorate the quality and properties of these materials. Now, researchers have developed an energy-efficient method to control the orientation of the fillers without the need for surface modification, resulting in improvement in thermal conductivity.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Scientists have devised a transparent coating for windows that could help cool the room, use no energy and preserve the view.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Too much sun and too much heat can reduce the efficiency of photovoltaics. A solar farm with optimally spaced panels facing the correct direction could cool itself through convection using the surrounding wind. Researchers explored how to exploit the geometry of solar farms to enhance natural cooling mechanisms.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

A research team has developed a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) piezoelectric vibration energy harvester, which is only about 2 cm in diameter with a U-shaped metal vibration amplification component. The device allows for an increase of approximately 90 times in the power generation performance from impulsive vibration. Since the power generation performance can be improved without increasing the device size, the technology is expected to generate power to drive small wearable devices from non-steady vibrations, such as walking motion.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

An interdisciplinary team of researchers has developed a potential breakthrough in green aviation: a recipe for a net-zero fuel for planes that will pull carbon dioxide (CO2) out of the air.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have found that boron arsenide, which has already been viewed as a highly promising material for heat management and advanced electronics, also has a unique property. After reaching an extremely high pressure that is hundreds of times greater than the pressure found at the bottom of the ocean, boron arsenide's thermal conductivity actually begins to decrease. The results suggest that there might be other materials experiencing the same phenomenon under extreme conditions.