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Researchers led by Kenichiro Itami at the RIKEN Pioneering Research Institute (PRI) / RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science (CSRS) have successfully used insects as mini molecule-making factories, marking a breakthrough in chemical engineering. Referred to as “in-insect synthesis,” this technique offers a new way to create and modify complex molecules, which will generate new opportunities for the discovery, development, and application of non-natural molecules, such as nanocarbons.
Molecular nanocarbons are super tiny structures made entirely of carbon atoms. Despite their minuscule size, they can be mechanically strong, conduct electricity, and even emit fluorescent light. These properties make them ideal for use in applications like aerospace components, lightweight batteries, and advanced electronics. However, the precision required to manufacture these tiny structures remains a major obstacle to their widespread use. Conventional laboratory techniques struggle with the fine manipulation needed to put these complex molecules together atom by atom, and their defined shapes make it especially difficult to modify them without disrupting their integrity.
“Our team has been conducting research on molecular nanocarbons, but along with that, we’ve also developed molecules that act on mammals and plants,” says Itami. “Through those experiences, we suddenly wondered — what would happen if we fed nanocarbons to insects?”
Quantum dots are microscopic semiconductor crystals developed in the lab that share many properties with atoms, including the ability to absorb or emit light, a technology that Los Alamos researchers have spent nearly three decades evolving. Through carrier multiplication, in which a single absorbed photon generates two electron-hole pairs, called excitons, quantum dots have the unique ability to convert photons more efficiently to energy.
“Our work demonstrates how purely quantum mechanical spin-exchange interactions can be harnessed to enhance the efficiency of photoconversion devices or photochemical reactions,” says Victor Klimov, the team’s principal investigator at the Lab. “This not only deepens our fundamental understanding of quantum mechanical phenomena but also introduces a new paradigm for designing advanced materials for energy applications.”
In this latest research, published in the journal Nature Communications, Los Alamos researchers improved this ability by introducing magnetic manganese impurities into quantum dots. This novel approach to highly efficient carrier multiplication leverages ultrafast spin-exchange interactions mediated by manganese ions to capture the energy of energetic (hot) carriers generated by incident photons and convert it into additional excitons.
Silicon is king in the semiconductor technology that underpins smartphones, computers, electric vehicles and more, but its crown may be slipping, according to a team led by researchers at Penn State.
In a world first, they used two-dimensional (2D) materials, which are only an atom thick and retain their properties at that scale, unlike silicon, to develop a computer capable of simple operations.
The development, published in Nature, represents a major leap toward the realization of thinner, faster and more energy-efficient electronics, the researchers said.
Lithium-ion batteries power everything from electric cars to laptops to leaf blowers. Despite their widespread adoption, lithium-ion batteries carry limited amounts of energy, and rare overheating can lead to safety concerns. Consequently, for decades, researchers have sought a more reliable battery.
Solid-state batteries are less flammable and can hold more energy, but they often require intense pressure to function. This requirement has made them difficult to use in applications, but new research from Georgia Tech could change that.
The research group of Matthew McDowell, professor and Carter N. Paden Jr. Distinguished Chair in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering and the School of Materials Science and Engineering, has designed a new metal for solid-state batteries that enables operation at lower pressures. While lithium metal is often used in these batteries, McDowell’s group discovered that combining lithium with softer sodium metal results in improved performance and novel behavior.
When the computer or phone you’re using right now blinks its last blink and you drop it off for recycling, do you know what happens?
At the recycling center, powerful magnets will pull out steel. Spinning drums will toss aluminum into bins. Copper wires will get neatly bundled up for resale. But as the conveyor belt keeps rolling, tiny specks of valuable, lesser-known materials such as gallium, indium and tantalum will be left behind.
Those tiny specks are critical materials. They’re essential for building new technology, and they’re in short supply in the U.S. They could be reused, but there’s a problem: Current recycling methods make recovering critical minerals from e-waste too costly or hazardous, so many recyclers simply skip them.
More people believe misinformation about electric vehicles (EVs) than disagree with it, according to surveys of four countries, including Australia, Germany, Austria, and the US. The survey found having a conspiracy mentality was the main factor influencing such beliefs, the authors say.
The main misinformation-related concerns for Australians included that EVs are more likely to catch fire, that EVs are intentionally complex to prevent DIY, and that batteries are deliberately non-upgradeable. The authors also found that fact sheets and dialogues with AI-chatbots helped reduce belief in misinformation and increased pro-EV policy support and purchase intentions.
A University of Queensland-led study published in the journal Nature Energy has found misinformation about electric vehicles (EVs) has taken root in society and is primarily fueled by mistrust and conspiracy theories.
As solar energy becomes more affordable and widespread, farmland has emerged as a prime location for large-scale solar development. But with this expansion comes a persistent question: Do nearby property values suffer when solar farms move in?
In a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers in Virginia Tech’s Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences looked at millions of property sales and thousands of commercial solar sites to shed some light on one of the most commonly cited downsides of large-scale solar adoption.
“As the U.S. scales up renewable energy, solar installations are increasingly being sited near homes and on farmland, and this often leads to pushback from residents worried about aesthetics or property value loss,” said Chenyang Hu, a graduate research assistant in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics and the paper’s lead author.
In a study published in Cell Reports Sustainability, researchers conducted the most comprehensive analysis to date on lithium supply and demand in China, Europe, and the U.S. Despite the fact that domestic lithium production in some of these regions could grow as much as 10 times by 2030, it would still fall short of the soaring demand for electric vehicles (EVs) without expanding imports or technological innovation.
“Lithium today is as important as gasoline in the industrial revolution,” says author Qifan Xia of East China Normal University in Shanghai. “While lithium reserves are substantial around the world, they are distributed unevenly across different countries. So, we were interested in whether the major EV markets could be self-sufficient.”
Together, China, Europe and the U.S. account for 80% of the world’s EV sales, and their demand is expected to increase further. The team estimated that China might need up to 1.3 million metric tons of lithium carbonate equivalent—a standard measure of lithium content—to produce new EVs. Europe might require 792,000 metric tons, followed by 692,000 metric tons for the U.S.
The government has announced a record £2.5 billion investment in fusion energy, which includes support for a prototype fusion energy plant in Nottinghamshire.
The new prototype plant, known as STEP (Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production) will be built at the site of the former West Burton A coal power station near Retford and Gainsborough. The site was chosen by the government in 2022 as the location for the project, with the project’s delivery expected to create over 10,000 jobs ranging from construction to operations. The announcement shows the government’s firm commitment to becoming a “clean energy superpower” by turbocharging innovation in an area that’s produced conventional power for generations.
The record funding for fusion research announced this week shows the UK government’s firm commitment to clean, sustainable energy.