August 2024 Vacuum Deposition Blog
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August 11, 2024
Carbon Nanotubes are Found to Store 3 Times more Energy Than Lithium Batteries  
A study carried out by researchers at UMBC found that twisted carbon nanotubes can store 3 times more energy than lithium-ion batteries. This could lay the foundation for safe lightweight implants and sensors. Carbon nanotubes are typically made of a single layer of carbon atoms and they have many interesting properties. Carbon nanotubes are essentially a sheet of graphene rolled into a cylinder, and they are stronger than steel while also being extremely light. Due to their superior properties, they have applications in aerospace, automotive, and several other fields. Researcher Sanjeev Kumar Ujjain came to the University of Maryland Baltimore County, where he and his team discovered the impressive energy storage capabilities of twisted carbon nanotubes. He and his team at the Center for Advanced Sensor Technology (CAST) took a unique approach to optimizing the energy storage capabilities of carbon nanotubes. First, they bundled carbon nanotubes into ropes and then twisted them until they became a single strand, the thread was then coated with several different substances to improve its strength and flexibility. Then they tested the material and compared its energy output to other materials. Surprisingly, they found that the twisted carbon nanotubes were able to hold 15,000 times more energy than steel springs per unit mass. Impressed by the results they decided to compare the new material to lithium-ion batteries, and found that twisted carbon nanotubes had an energy storage density that is three times higher than a standard lithium-ion battery. What's more they found that the twisted carbon nanotubes offered more consistent energy storage through a wider range of temperatures. Learn more about this topic here. 
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August 27, 2024
World’s Whitest Paint Could Eliminate the need for Air Conditioning   
After 7 Years Purdue University finally managed to create the world’s whitest paint. Apparently, it is so reflective that it could reduce or eliminate the need for air conditioning. The main objective of creating the paint was to curb global warming and reduce energy consumption. Essentially, they wanted to create a paint that would reflect sunlight away from a building and thereby cause it to retain less heat. But it turns out that making a highly reflective paint meant that the paint had to be extremely white. In fact, the paint is so white that it made it into the Guinness Book of World Records as the whitest paint ever created. According to Purdue University scientists the paint is able to reflect 98.1% of solar radiation and emit infrared heat. The result is that any surface coated with this paint is able to stay cooler than the surrounding temperature all without air conditioning or any other type of energy consumption. It was through the paint's ability to absorb less heat than it emits that scientist looked to save energy and combat climate change . To give an idea of how much energy could be saved, researchers estimated that coating a roof of a 1000 square foot building with the paint would result in cooling power of 10 kilowatts, which is more powerful than the air conditioners used by most houses, according to researchers . But it's important to note that this isn't just any regular white paint, as regular paints in the market meant to reflect heat cannot make coated objects cooler than their surroundings. The two main attributes that make the newly developed paint different are high concentrations of Barium sulfate and differing particle sizes of barium sulfate. Learn more here.