The 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to John Clarke, Michel Devoret and John Martinis “for the discovery of macroscopic quantum mechanical tunnelling and energy quantisation in an electric circuit”
Category: energy – Page 3
Low-grade heat from renewable sources could be used to desalinate water
A McGill University-led research team has demonstrated the feasibility of a sustainable and cost-effective way to desalinate seawater. The method—thermally driven reverse osmosis (TDRO)—uses a piston-based system powered by low-grade heat from solar thermal, geothermal heat and other sources of renewable energy to produce fresh water.
Though previous research showed promise, this study is the first to analyze TDRO’s thermodynamic limits. The results have brought researchers closer to realizing the technology which could improve access to water and increase the sustainability of infrastructure.
“Most desalination is done by reverse osmosis, which uses electricity to drive water through a membrane,” said Jonathan Maisonneuve, study co-author and Associate Professor of Bioresource Engineering.
Randomly aligned defects explain low thermal conductivity in some materials
QUT researchers have identified why some materials can block heat more effectively, which is a key feature for energy conversion, insulation and gas storage.
The research, published in Nature Communications, discovered a structural mechanism that explains why some materials with uneven composition exhibit exceptionally low thermal conductivity. This is a property vital for the conversion of heat into electrical energy.
The first author, Siqi Liu, said the findings challenged conventional models that overlook the role of microstructural features.
Atomic Structure of Mn-Doped CoFe2O4 Nanoparticles for Metal–Air Battery Applications
We discuss the atomic structure of cobalt ferrite nanoparticles doped with Mn via an analysis based on combining atomic pair distribution functions with high energy X-ray diffraction and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy measurements. Cobalt ferrite nanoparticles are promising materials for metal–air battery applications. Cobalt ferrites, however, generally show poor electronic conductivity at ambient temperatures, which limits their bifunctional catalytic performance in oxygen electrocatalysis. Our study reveals how the introduction of Mn ions promotes the conductivity of the cobalt ferrite electrode.
Dominican Republic hit with widespread power outage
A rare blackout hit the entire Dominican Republic on Tuesday, snarling traffic and paralyzing businesses in the country of nearly 11 million people.
Officials blamed a failure in the grid’s transmission system, although it wasn’t immediately clear what caused it.
Generation units in San Pedro de Macorís and the Quisqueya Power Plant shut down, triggering a cascade of failures at other transmission and generation plants, according to the Dominican Electricity Transmission Company, a decentralized state agency.
New Graphene Tech Powers Supercapacitors To Rival Traditional Batteries
Engineers have achieved a major milestone in the global effort to design energy storage systems that combine high speed with strong power output, opening new possibilities for electric vehicles, grid stabilization, and consumer electronics.
In a paper recently published in Nature Communications, the research team introduced a new type of carbon-based material that enables supercapacitors to store as much energy as traditional lead-acid batteries while delivering power at a much faster rate than conventional battery systems.