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May 10, 2025
New Carbon Nanomaterials Boost Sodium Battery Performance to Match Lithium Batteries
New Carbon Nanomaterials Boost Sodium Battery Performance to Match Lithium Batteries
Lithium-ion batteries have long dominated the market, but they come with limitations including high cost, limited global supply, and environmental concerns. A Recent study offers a promising alternative through an innovative approach led by researchers at Rice University, in collaboration with Baylor University and the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Thiruvananthapuram.
The research team has developed a novel type of carbon material derived from oil and gas industry byproducts. These tiny carbon structures, shaped like cones and discs, are composed of pure graphite and manufactured using a scalable pyrolysis method. Unlike traditional graphite anodes, which fail to accommodate the larger sodium and potassium ions due to their tightly packed layers, the curved architecture of these new materials allows for efficient and reversible energy storage without the need for chemical doping.
"For years, we've known that sodium and potassium are attractive alternatives to lithium," explained Pulickel Ajayan, the study’s corresponding author. “But the challenge has always been finding carbon-based anode materials that can store these larger ions efficiently."
lab tests demonstrated the new carbon structures’ remarkable performance: storing up to 230 milliamp-hours per gram with sodium ions and retaining 151 mAh/g after 2,000 rapid charging cycles. This performance not only rivals current lithium-ion technologies but also highlights the durability and scalability of the approach. Importantly, the method repurposes industrial waste, adding a sustainability advantage to its list of benefits.
By focusing on morphology rather than chemical modification, this research marks a significant shift in battery design strategy. As Atin Pramanik, the study’s lead author, noted, “We’re not just developing a better battery material—we’re offering a pathway to energy storage that is cleaner, cheaper, and more widely accessible to all.” Learn more about this topic here.
The research team has developed a novel type of carbon material derived from oil and gas industry byproducts. These tiny carbon structures, shaped like cones and discs, are composed of pure graphite and manufactured using a scalable pyrolysis method. Unlike traditional graphite anodes, which fail to accommodate the larger sodium and potassium ions due to their tightly packed layers, the curved architecture of these new materials allows for efficient and reversible energy storage without the need for chemical doping.
"For years, we've known that sodium and potassium are attractive alternatives to lithium," explained Pulickel Ajayan, the study’s corresponding author. “But the challenge has always been finding carbon-based anode materials that can store these larger ions efficiently."
lab tests demonstrated the new carbon structures’ remarkable performance: storing up to 230 milliamp-hours per gram with sodium ions and retaining 151 mAh/g after 2,000 rapid charging cycles. This performance not only rivals current lithium-ion technologies but also highlights the durability and scalability of the approach. Importantly, the method repurposes industrial waste, adding a sustainability advantage to its list of benefits.
By focusing on morphology rather than chemical modification, this research marks a significant shift in battery design strategy. As Atin Pramanik, the study’s lead author, noted, “We’re not just developing a better battery material—we’re offering a pathway to energy storage that is cleaner, cheaper, and more widely accessible to all.” Learn more about this topic here.
May 31, 2025
MOCVD Improves Refrigeration Systems’ Efficiency and Compactability
MOCVD Improves Refrigeration Systems’ Efficiency and Compactability
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) have developed a new solid-state thermoelectric refrigeration technology that is twice as efficient as devices made with conventional bulk thermoelectric materials. utilizing nano-engineered materials this innovation offers a scalable and energy-efficient alternative to traditional compressor-based systems.
In collaboration with Samsung Electronics, APL demonstrated significant performance gains using their advanced Controlled Hierarchically Engineered Superlattice Structures (CHESS). Published in Nature Communications, the study highlighted nearly a 100% improvement in material-level efficiency at room temperature. When applied in devices, CHESS materials delivered a 75% efficiency increase at the device level in thermoelectric modules and a 70% improvement in a fully integrated refrigeration system.
CHESS is the result of a decade of APL research and was originally developed for national security and prosthetic cooling applications. The technology, which won an R&D 100 award in 2023, is compact and highly efficient, using only 0.003 cubic centimeters of material per refrigeration unit—about the size of a grain of sand. This allows for compatibility with semiconductor chip manufacturing processes such as metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD).
Researchers validated the results with thermal modeling and practical tests, replicating real-world refrigeration conditions. The study confirms that CHESS technology can be manufactured at scale using methods such as MOCVD, widely used in commercial electronics. Jon Pierce, a senior research engineer who leads MOCVD capabilities at APL said "We used metal-organic chemical vapor deposition to produce the CHESS materials, a method well known for its scalability, cost-effectiveness and ability to support large-volume manufacturing." Learn more about this topic here.
In collaboration with Samsung Electronics, APL demonstrated significant performance gains using their advanced Controlled Hierarchically Engineered Superlattice Structures (CHESS). Published in Nature Communications, the study highlighted nearly a 100% improvement in material-level efficiency at room temperature. When applied in devices, CHESS materials delivered a 75% efficiency increase at the device level in thermoelectric modules and a 70% improvement in a fully integrated refrigeration system.
CHESS is the result of a decade of APL research and was originally developed for national security and prosthetic cooling applications. The technology, which won an R&D 100 award in 2023, is compact and highly efficient, using only 0.003 cubic centimeters of material per refrigeration unit—about the size of a grain of sand. This allows for compatibility with semiconductor chip manufacturing processes such as metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD).
Researchers validated the results with thermal modeling and practical tests, replicating real-world refrigeration conditions. The study confirms that CHESS technology can be manufactured at scale using methods such as MOCVD, widely used in commercial electronics. Jon Pierce, a senior research engineer who leads MOCVD capabilities at APL said "We used metal-organic chemical vapor deposition to produce the CHESS materials, a method well known for its scalability, cost-effectiveness and ability to support large-volume manufacturing." Learn more about this topic here.
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