Ferromagnets are among the most common forms of magnetism and a well-researched phenomenon in physics. Their properties have been harnessed a series of inventions which, in turn, have led to a series of further ground-breaking inventions, including electromagnets and generators. Ferromagnets have a positive susceptibility and magnetism that align parallel with an applied external field. This can enhance the total amount of magnetism...
Ethane and particularly CO2 are gases which have long been recognised for their potential value as sustainable sources of energy. However, the processes to convert them into the desired products can be quite challenging to control. This is mainly due to the potentially unpredictable course of the reaction. Therefore, a suitable catalyst is of utmost importance for the correct progress of the reaction. However, so far scientists have...
Ferromagnets are among the most common forms of magnetism and a well-researched phenomenon in physics. Their properties have been harnessed a series of inventions which, in turn, have led to a series of further ground-breaking inventions, including electromagnets and generators. Ferromagnets have a positive susceptibility and magnetism that align parallel with an applied external field. This can enhance the total amount of magnetism...
Designing the perfect battery can be a challenging task, if you want to not only create a device which can store a lot of energy but is also safe. Liquid electrolytes, for example, work reliably over many cycles; however, chances are high that the battery might catch fire at some point. Therefore, scientists have turned their attention towards lithium batteries consisting entirely of solid components, so-called solid-state batteries,...
Many modern technologies, such as solar panels, cameras, biosensors and fiber optics, use photodetectors and sensors to transform light into electricity. Although these photodetectors have witnessed an overall increase in efficiency and decrease in cost lately, as they are becoming smaller, this reduction in size can also lead to problems concerning the efficiency of devices. Moreover, the chip manufacturing process poses its own set...
Carbon fibre is a very versatile material which can be used for many different applications. The material is light, but compact at the same time making it a very suitable material for passenger cars and even racing cars. Its only drawback is that it is very expensive, energy intensive to produce and also releases a lot of CO2 into the atmosphere. Moreover, until recently no sustainable processes existed to recycle carbon fibre. Now...
The ability of plants to convert sunlight, water and carbon dioxide into carbohydrates and oxygen has fascinated scientists for many years, serving as an inspiration to emulate nature and design similar processes to turn sunlight into sustainable fuels. These processes are summarised under the term artificial synthesis, including, for example, photocatalytic water splitting, and refer to systems which can capture and store the energy...
Geothermal energy is among the most sustainable sources of energy found on this planet. The hot water which can be found in the earth crust at a depth of about 5000 metres already has a temperature of about 200 degrees Celsius and can be pumped to the surface where it may be used to generate electricity via a steam turbine or to heat buildings with the help of heat pumps. The spent water is then returned to the earth crust through a...
Electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide is one of the possibilities to produce fuels or other chemicals by converting CO2 into organic feedstocks, including formic acid, carbon monoxide, methane or ethanol. To do so, various catalysts are used depending on the desired resulting product. Some of the more effective metallic catalysts for this process are made of tin, silver or copper. The process was first applied in the 19th...
Solid-state batteries are batteries which use solid electrolyte materials instead of electrochemical gels and liquids to power devices. They have high safety efficiency and energy density as well as function under a wide variety of operating temperatures. Despite their overall good efficiencies, they contain certain elements which may cause a disturbance in the free flow of electrons between the cathode and the ion-conducting layer,...
