The possibilities are certainly

endless.Perhaps invisible phones.

July 29, 2011 – 11:28AM

Seeing clearly … Stanford’s transparent lithium-ion battery. Photo: LA Times

In the category of people making things you didn’t know you need, researchers at Stanford University have just created a thin, flexible, totally transparent lithium-ion battery. It is about the size and shape of a Listerine breath mint strip, and as clear as Glad Wrap.

According to an article on the university’ website, researchers were inspired to make a see-through battery partially because they want transparent Apple products to be a reality in the future.

“I want to talk to Steve Jobs about this. I want a transparent iPhone!” said Yi Cui, battery expert extraordinaire and an associate professor of materials science at Stanford who worked on the project.

Cui created the battery with graduate student Yuan Yang, who is the first author of the paper “Transparent Lithium-ion Batteries,” published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

The challenge of making a battery see-through is that certain key materials that make a battery work are fundamentally not transparent, and no good transparent substitutes could be found. The Stanford scientists found a way around the hurdle by making the non-transparent parts of the battery so small that they cannot be seen with the naked eye.

Here’s how the Stanford story explains it:

“If something is smaller than 50 microns, your eyes will feel like it is transparent,” said Yang, because the maximum resolving power of the human eye is somewhere between 50 to 100 microns.”

Yang and Cui devised a mesh-like framework for the battery electrodes, with each “line” in the grid being approximately 35 microns wide. Light passes through the transparent gaps between the gridlines; because the individual lines are so thin, the entire meshwork area appears transparent.

The battery is not strong enough to power a laptop yet, but it could power a camera. And Ciu is optimistic that it won’t be long before the battery gets stronger.

If you want to geek out, you can read more about the crazy science that went into this battery here.

- LA Times

Sourced & published by Henry Sapiecha

employs carbon prepreg

to reduce weight

23 May 2011

This year’s lower weight Brammo Empulse electric racing motorbike features structural components made from Amber Composites carbon fibre prepreg.

Manufactured by Oregon-based electric vehicle company Brammo Inc, the Empulse sports some design improvements this year, including a new seat assembly and tank made from UK composite materials manufacturer Amber Composites‘ 8020 prepreg.

Previous bikes had only used carbon fibre for cosmetic purposes, but this year Brammo created structural components from prepreg to significantly reduce the weight of the bike in order to increase performance.

“With the Amber Composites prepreg, we were able to shave 30% off the weight of the assembly versus the previous design,” reports Brian Wismann, Director of Product Development at Brammo.

“As an added bonus, the surface finish was so straight out of the mould that we didn’t have to clear coat or paint it, saving further weight.”

The Brammo Empulse won both races of the inaugural round of the TTXGP, a zero-emission race at the Infineon Raceway in California on 14-15 May.

The Empulse’s fastest lap time at Infineon Raceway was 1:55.150, almost 2 seconds faster than last year’s winning electric bike on the 2.5 mile track. Its average lap speed was within 20 seconds of the fastest qualifying lap time of a 1000cc internal combustion Superbike on the same track.

Brammo and Amber have a long working relationship both on the Empulse as well as Brammo’s award winning commuter bike, the Enertia.

Sourced & published by Henry Sapiecha

High school teacher

creates microfluidic devices

using a photocopier

A high school physics teacher has invented a method of producing microfluidic devices, using little else than a photocopier and transparency film

Microfluidic technology, in which liquid is made to pass through “microchannels” that are often less than a millimeter in width, has had a profound effect on fields such as physics, chemistry, engineering and biotechnology. In particular, it has made “lab-on-a-chip” systems possible, in which the chemical contents of tiny amounts of fluid can be analyzed on a small platform. Such devices are typically made in clean rooms, through a process of photolithography and etching. This rather involved production method is reflected in their retail price, which sits around US$500 per device. Now, however, a high school teacher has come up with a way of making microfluidics that involves little else than a photocopier and transparency film.

Joe Childs, who teaches physics at Massachusetts’ Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, collaborates with Harvard University’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), via the National Science Foundation’s Research Experience for Teachers program. As part of that program, he devised a quick, simple and inexpensive method of creating reusable labs-on-a-chip.

He starts by designing the layout of the microchannels in PowerPoint, printing that image, then photocopying it onto a sheet of classroom-style transparency film. The same sheet is ran through the photocopier repeatedly, until the ink builds up sufficiently to create a raised relief model of the channels. That model serves as a negative mold, which is used to create the final working channels in a polymer chip.

Childs is now working with SEAS Director of Instructional Technology Dr. Anas Chalah, to perfect the system. Already, he says, they can design and build a chip in a single afternoon. Although the photocopier microfluidics are not as precise as their commercially-produced counterparts, they could prove to be an invaluable educational aid for physics students, who will be able to design and build their own microfluidic devices.

All photos courtesy Harvard University.

Sourced & published by Henry Sapiecha

boosts efficiency of solar cells

In order for a solar cell to be as efficient as possible, the last thing it should be is reflective – after all, light should be getting absorbed by it, not being bounced off. With that in mind, a few years ago a group of Japanese scientists set out to create an antireflective film coating for use on solar cells. What they ended up creating utilizes the same principles that are at work in one of nature’s least reflective surfaces: moth’s eyes.

The moth-eye film was developed by Noboru Yamada, a scientist at Nagaoka University of Technology Japan, who collaborated with researchers at Mitsubishi Rayon Co. Ltd. and Tokyo Metropolitan University. Using anodic porous alumina molds, they were able to nanoimprint the microstructure of moth’s eyes into acrylic resin – this provided a high throughput, large-area/low-cost method of producing the film.

Based on the results of indoor and outdoor tests of crystalline silicon solar panels coated with the film, the team’s computer models indicated that use of the film could boost the annual efficiency of solar cells by five percent in Tokyo, and six percent in the “sun belt” city of Phoenix. “People may think this improvement is very small, but the efficiency of photovoltaics is just like fuel consumption rates of road vehicles,” said Yamada. “Every little bit helps.”

They are now working on improving the durability of the film, and optimizing it for use on different types of solar cells. They are also looking into using it to reduce glare on surfaces such as windows and computer screens, although in that area they may be facing some competition – Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials has already developed an anti-reflective coating for use on displays and eyeglasses, which was also inspired by moth’s eyes. In Franuhofer’s case, the coating is incorporated into the viewing surface during the molding process, instead of being added afterward in the form of a film.

The reasons that moths have anti-reflective eyes, incidentally, is to allow them to gather as much light as possible in the dark, and to avoid being seen by predators.

The moth-eye film research was recently published in the journal Energy Express.

Sourced & published by Henry Sapiecha

Lithium-air batteries are currently in the works, and IBM predicts that batteries “that use the air we breath to react with energy-dense metal” will result in smaller, lighter rechargeable batteries that last ten times longer than today’s lithium-ion types. Whilst such batteries could be used in everything from cars to home appliances, it is also suggested that small items such as cell phones might not need batteries at all. IBM is trying to reduce the amount power required for such devices to less than 0.5 volts per transistor. At those rates, it is claimed, they could be powered via “energy scavenging” – like already-existing kinetic wrist watches that get their power from the user’s arm movements, or experimental piezoelectric devices.

Sourced & published by Henry Sapiecha

Source Of Biodiesel Fuel.

Drink & drive legally…!!

Science (Dec. 15, 2008) — Researchers in Nevada are reporting that waste coffee grounds can provide a cheap, abundant, and environmentally friendly source of biodiesel fuel for powering cars and trucks.

In the new study, Mano Misra, Susanta Mohapatra, and Narasimharao Kondamudi note that the major barrier to wider use of biodiesel fuel is lack of a low-cost, high quality source, or feedstock, for producing that new energy source. Spent coffee grounds contain between 11 and 20 percent oil by weight. That’s about as much as traditional biodiesel feedstocks such as rapeseed, palm, and soybean oil.

Growers produce more than 16 billion pounds of coffee around the world each year. The used or “spent” grounds remaining from production of espresso, cappuccino, and plain old-fashioned cups of java, often wind up in the trash or find use as soil conditioner. The scientists estimated, however, that spent coffee grounds can potentially add 340 million gallons of biodiesel to the world’s fuel supply.

To verify it, the scientists collected spent coffee grounds from a multinational coffeehouse chain and separated the oil. They then used an inexpensive process to convert 100 percent of the oil into biodiesel.

The resulting coffee-based fuel — which actually smells like java — had a major advantage in being more stable than traditional biodiesel due to coffee’s high antioxidant content, the researchers say. Solids left over from the conversion can be converted to ethanol or used as compost, the report notes. The scientists estimate that the process could make a profit of more than $8 million a year in the U.S. alone. They plan to develop a small pilot plant to produce and test the experimental fuel within the next six to eight months.

Biodiesel is a growing market. Estimates suggest that annual global production of biodiesel will hit the 3 billion gallon mark by 2010. The fuel can be made from soybean oil, palm oil, peanut oil, and other vegetable oils; animal fat; and even cooking oil recycled from restaurant French fry makers. Biodiesel also can be added to regular diesel fuel. It also can be a stand-alone fuel, used by itself as an alternative fuel for diesel engines.

Sourced & published by Henry Sapiecha

For Making Biodiesel Fuel From Algae

Science (Mar. 31, 2009) — Chemists reported development of what they termed the first economical, eco-friendly process to convert algae oil into biodiesel fuel — a discovery they predict could one day lead to U.S. independence from petroleum as a fuel.

The study was presented recently at the 237th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society.

One of the problems with current methods for producing biodiesel from algae oil is the processing cost, and the New York researchers say their innovative process is at least 40 percent cheaper than that of others now being used. Supply will not be a problem: There is a limitless amount of algae growing in oceans, lakes, and rivers, throughout the world.

Another benefit from the “continuously flowing fixed-bed” method to create algae biodiesel, they add, is that there is no wastewater produced to cause pollution.

“This is the first economical way to produce biodiesel from algae oil,” according to lead researcher Ben Wen, Ph.D., vice president of United Environment and Energy LLC, Horseheads, N.Y. “It costs much less than conventional processes because you would need a much smaller factory, there are no water disposal costs, and the process is considerably faster.”

A key advantage of this new process, he says, is that it uses a proprietary solid catalyst developed at his company instead of liquid catalysts used by other scientists today. First, the solid catalyst can be used over and over. Second, it allows the continuously flowing production of biodiesel, compared to the method using a liquid catalyst. That process is slower because workers need to take at least a half hour after producing each batch to create more biodiesel. They need to purify the biodiesel by neutralizing the base catalyst by adding acid. No such action is needed to treat the solid catalyst, Wen explains.

He estimates algae has an “oil-per-acre production rate 100-300 times the amount of soybeans, and offers the highest yield feedstock for biodiesel and the most promising source for mass biodiesel production to replace transportation fuel in the United States.” He says that his firm is now conducting a pilot program for the process with a production capacity of nearly 1 million gallons of algae biodiesel per year. Depending on the size of the machinery and the plant, he said it is possible that a company could produce up to 50 million gallons of algae biodiesel annually.

Wen also says that the solid catalyst continuous flow method can be adapted to mobile units so that smaller companies wouldn’t have to construct plants and the military could use the process in the field.

Sourced & published by Henry Sapiecha

Spray-on film turns windows into solar panels

Imagine if all the windows of a building, and perhaps even all its exterior walls, could be put to use as solar collectors. Soon, you may not have to imagine it, as the Norweigan solar power company EnSol has patented a thin film solar cell technology designed to be sprayed on to just such surfaces. Unlike traditional silicon-based solar cells, the film is composed of metal nanoparticles embedded in a transparent composite matrix, and operates on a different principle. EnSol is now developing the product with help from the University of Leicester’s Department of Physics and Astronomy. Read More

Sourced & published by Henry Sapiecha

The process of dissolving human remains

Has a lower carbon footprint than cremation.

You think you have bad acid reflux, then check this out>>>

Want to go green in death? Here’s a process that may allow you to do just that. Resomation involves an alkaline hydrolysis process that dissolves a body into both a liquid and a powdery white mass. Experts call it the green alternative to cremation, which notoriously releases nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere. The process is legal in several U.S. states, and one undertaker wants to bring it to Belgium. But as American Public Media Marketplace reports, resomation is being met with some trepidation in Europe.

Feasible Within 15 Years,

Researchers Predict

Science (Aug. 13, 2010) — Within 10 to 15 years, it will be technically possible to produce sustainable and economically viable biodiesel from micro-algae on a large scale. Technological innovations during this period should extend the scale of production by a factor of three, while at the same time reducing production costs by 90%. Two researchers from Wageningen UR (University & Research Centre) believe this to be possible.

In their article in Science (published 13 August), they provide a detailed explanation of the route that needs to be taken.

By producing microscopically small algae in bulk in large-scale installations, Europe should be able to become independent of fossil fuels in a sustainable way. Algae could even contribute to the sustainable production of food. To cultivate algae on a large scale, fertilisers (nitrogen and phosphates) could be extracted from manure surpluses and wastewater, with CO₂ coming from industrial residues. The energy source for algae is sunlight. Biodiesel and an almost unlimited quantity of protein and oxygen are the sustainable products of this process. The amount of fresh water consumed in algal cultivation is minimal because seawater can be used.

In a nutshell, that is the idea put forward by Professor René Wijffels and Dr Maria Barbosa of Wageningen UR in their perspective article An Outlook on Microalgal Biofuels in Science.

Sunlight and wastewater

Both authors demonstrate in their article that, according to calculations on energy consumption in transport in Europe, almost 0.4 billion m³ biodiesel would be needed to replace all transport fuels. The cultivation of micro-algae requires 9.25 million hectares of land — equal to the surface area of Portugal — assuming a yield of 40,000 litres of biodiesel per hectare, to supply the European market.

Algae produce the maximum quantity of oily substances when growing under stress. Such conditions can for instance be induced by a shortage of nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphate.

Algae are much more efficient at converting sunlight and fertilisers into usable oily substances than agricultural crops such as oilseed rape. It is not even necessary to have full sunshine for algal cultivation, which is why it is possible to design reactors that look like vertical plates, on to which the light shines from one side. In this way, it is possible to produce 20-80,000 litres of oil per hectare. In comparison, one hectare of oilseed rape or oil palm yields only 1500 or 6000 litres, respectively.

Financial aspects

The 5000 tonnes of algae (dry matter) now produced annually in the whole world has a value of €250/kg. The price is so high because algae can make rare (and therefore expensive) substances like carotenoids and omega 3 fatty acids that are converted into high-quality products such as food supplements. That is extremely expensive when compared with the palm oil (cost price €0.50 /kg) used as a fuel. However, palm oil and other fuel crops are controversial. To investigate whether the use of algae as biofuels is feasible, a feasibility study was carried out on scale enhancement in algal cultivation. This showed that presently the cost price could be reduced to €4/kg. By making use of residues such as wastewater and CO₂ from exhaust gases, by improving the technology and by shifting production to sunnier countries, it would even be possible to reduce the price to one-tenth of that level, namely, €0.40 /kg.

Even then, however, the production of bioenergy from algae would not be financially viable. To achieve that goal, the whole algal biomass would have to be utilised. This consists of roughly 50% oil (40 cents/kg, thus), 40% proteins (yielding 120 cents/kg) and 10% sugars (100 cents/kg). This causes the value to rise to €1.65/kg which is enough to run production on a large scale.

Proteins

Algal proteins offer interesting possibilities. If all transport fuels were to be replaced by algal oil on a European scale, 0.3 billion tonnes of protein would become available as well. That is 40 times more than the amount of protein in the soya that Europe imports each year. Thus, algae would allow us to produce food and feed proteins as well as sufficient quantities of biofuel.

In order to manufacture biofuels from agricultural crops such as oilseed rape, 10,000 litres of fresh water are required to produce each litre of fuel. This is an incredibly large volume. By cultivating algae in seawater, it is possible to achieve the same result with just 1.5 litres of fresh water/kg of product.

With the aid of sunlight, algal growth requires 1.3 billion tonnes of CO₂ (Europe produces 4 billion tonnes/year, mainly from fossil fuels) and 25 million tonnes of nitrogen (wastewater and fertilisers contain 8 million). In other words, algal cultivation would not normally compete with food production.

A sustainable pilot-study facility AlgaePARC (Algae Production and Research Centre) will soon be starting up in Wageningen. Here it will be possible to study the scaling up of algal production and to compare various technologies, taking into account energy costs for building, production and logistics during the production of biofuels from algae.

Algae need to be interesting as a food source for fish and shellfish farming within five years. Five years after that, it should be possible to achieve applications such as providing protein sources in foods as well as basic chemicals for the manufacturing industries. Then, in 10-15 years’ time, biofuels should be available.

Sourced & published by Henry Sapiecha