Stanford researchers have developed a water-based battery to store solar and wind energy
by Tom Abate, Stanford News, April 30, 2018
Stanford scientists have developed a manganese-hydrogen battery that could fill a missing piece in the nation’s energy puzzle by storing wind and solar energy for when it is needed, lessening the need to burn carbon-emitting fossil fuels. (Read more)
New battery could serve the grid
Manganese-hydrogen design boasts high capacity, long life, and the promise of low cost
by Prachi Patel, special to C&EN, MAY 1, 2018
During charging in the new battery, manganese ions (red) from the manganese sulfate electrolyte solution deposit on the carbon-fiber-based fabric (green) at the cathode while the platinum catalyst (yellow) at the anode fabric (purple) produces hydrogen gas from water. The process is reversed during discharge. (Read more)
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Related Paper:
Wei Chen#, Guodong Li#, Allen Pei, Yuzhang Li, Lei Liao, Hongxia Wang, Jiayu Wan, Zheng Liang, Guangxu Chen, Hao Zhang, Jiangyan Wang, Yi Cui, A Manganese-Hydrogen Battery with Potential for Grid-Scale Energy Storage, Nature Energy, 2018, 3, 428-435.
Researchers find new way to make hydrogen fuel and improve grid-scale batteries
by Mark Shwartz, JUNE 17, 2016
PRECOURT INSTITUTE FOR ENERGY
A Stanford University research lab has developed new technologies to tackle two of the world’s biggest energy challenges – clean fuel for transportation and grid-scale energy storage.
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Yongcai Qiu#, Wei Liu#, Wei Chen#, Wei Chen#, Guangmin Zhou, Po-Chun Hsu, Rufan Zhang, Zheng Liang, Shoushan Fan, Yuegang Zhang, Yi Cui, Efficient Solar-Driven Water Splitting by Nanocone BiVO4-Perovskite Tandem Cells, Science Advances, 2016, 2 (6), 1501764.
New fuel-cell materials could pave the way for practical hydrogen-powered cars
JULY 15, 2015 ACS CENTRAL SCIENCE
Hydrogen fuel cells promise clean cars that emit only water. Several major car manufacturers have recently announced their investment to increase the availability of fueling stations while others are currently rolling out new models and prototypes. However, challenges remain, including the chemistry to produce and use hydrogen and oxygen gas efficiently. (Read more)
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Wei Chen, Yayuan Liu, Yuzhang Li, Jie Sun, Yongcai Qiu, Chong Liu, Guangmin Zhou, Yi Cui, In Situ Electrochemically Derived Nanoporous Oxides from Transition Metal Dichalcogenides for Active Oxygen Evolution Catalysts, Nano Letters, 2016, 16 (12), 7588-7596.
Wei Chen, Haotian Wang, Yuzhang Li, Yayuan Liu, Jie Sun, Sanghan Lee, Jangsoo Lee, Yi Cui, In Situ Electrochemical Oxidation Tuning of Transition Metal Disulfides to Oxides for Enhanced Water Oxidation, ACS Central Science, 2015, 1 (5), 244-251.
High-performing supercapacitor electrodes made from self-organizing cobalt oxide nanowires
April 30, 2012, Nanowerk Spotlight
Commercially available supercapacitors store energy in two closely spaced layers with opposing charges and offer fast charge/discharge rates and the ability to sustain millions of cycles. Researchers have come up with various electrode materials to improve the performance of supercapacitors, focusing mostly on porous carbon due to its high surface areas, tunable structures, good conductivities, and low cost. (Read more)
Related Paper:
R. B. Rakhi, Wei Chen, Dongkyu Cha, H. N. Alshareef, Substrate Dependent Self-Organization of Mesoporous Cobalt Oxide Nanowires with Remarkable Pseudocapacitance, Nano Letters, 2012, 12, 2559-2567.
Carbon nanotube-coated sponge makes an excellent supercapacitor
DEC 06, 2011, Nanowerk Spotlight
Ultra- or supercapacitors are emerging as a key enabling storage technology for use in fuel-efficient transport as well as in renewable energy (for instance as power grid buffer). These devices combine the advantages of conventional capacitors – they can rapidly deliver high current densities on demand – and batteries – they can store a large amount of electrical energy. (Read more)
Related Paper:
Wei Chen, R. B. Rakhi, Liangbing Hu, Xing Xie, Yi Cui, H. N. Alshareef, High Performance Nanostructured Supercapacitors on a Sponge, Nano Letters, 2011, 11 (12), 5165–5172.