Brian Westenhaus

Latest articles from Brian

• Proving That Magnesium Can Beat Out Lithium-ion Batteries

  Published 16 March 2023 | viewed 7,904 times

  Tokyo University of Science is researching magnesium as a promising candidate for an energy carrier in next-generation batteries. For now the cycling performance and capacity…

• Unlocking A New Low-Cost Biofuel

  Published 15 March 2023 | viewed 5,038 times

  Michigan State University researchers have solved a puzzle that could help switchgrass realize its full potential as a low-cost, sustainable biofuel crop and divert some…

• The Environmental Implications Of A Hydrogen Economy

  Published 14 March 2023 | viewed 8,342 times

  Often heralded as the clean fuel of the future, new hydrogen research suggests that a leaky hydrogen infrastructure could end up increasing atmospheric methane levels. Hydrogen’s…

• Can Double-Sided Solar Panels Help Meet Global Energy Demands?

  Published 12 March 2023 | viewed 5,279 times

  University of Ottawa’s laboratory in photonics and renewable energy has developed a new method for measuring the solar energy produced by bifacial solar panels. The double-sided solar…

• The Dawn Of A New Era In Superconductor Materials

  Published 11 March 2023 | viewed 39,798 times

  University of Rochester researchers have created a superconducting material at both a temperature and pressure low enough for practical applications. This is certainly a historical achievement…

• Lithium-Sulfur Battery Advancements Could Change The Game

  Published 25 February 2023 | viewed 15,941 times

  An Argonne National Laboratory research team has built and tested a new interlayer to prevent dissolution of the sulfur cathode in lithium-sulfur batteries. This new interlayer…

• New Copper Catalyst Could Pave The Way For Next-Gen Solar Fuels

  Published 23 February 2023 | viewed 3,822 times

  Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory researchers have made real-time movies of copper nanoparticles as they evolve to convert carbon dioxide and water into renewable fuels and…

• Scientists May Improve Perovskite Solar Cell Efficiency By Up To 250%

  Published 22 February 2023 | viewed 6,273 times

  A University of Rochester research team has proposed a novel, physics-based approach, using a substrate of either a layer of metal or alternating layers of…

• Tackling One Of Hydrogen Storage’s Biggest Bottlenecks

  Published 20 February 2023 | viewed 3,263 times

  Tohoku University researchers drilling into the magnesium hydride hydrogen storage concept are zeroing into the problems. Magnesium hydride has long been touted for its potential…

• Scientists Use Nano Carbons To Convert Methane Into Hydrogen

  Published 15 February 2023 | viewed 5,096 times

  University of Surrey researchers have found that a type of metal-free catalysts could contribute to the development of cost-effective and sustainable hydrogen production technologies. The…

• New Treatment Improves Lithium Ion Battery Performance By 20%

  Published 14 February 2023 | viewed 10,969 times

  A new North Carolina State University study shows that laser-induced defects in lithium-ion battery materials improve the performance of the battery. The work was performed…

• Scientists Successfully Split Seawater To Produce Green Hydrogen

  Published 12 February 2023 | viewed 37,129 times

  University of Adelaide’s Professor Shizhang Qiao and Associate Professor Yao Zheng from the School of Chemical Engineering led an international team that successfully split seawater…

• Engineers Reveal Flow Battery Cell Breakthrough

  Published 10 February 2023 | viewed 43,120 times

  Georgia Institute of Technology engineers have now developed a more compact flow battery cell configuration that reduces the size of the cell by 75%. That…

• Researchers Look To Turn Decommissioned Mines Into Batteries

  Published 09 February 2023 | viewed 3,964 times

  The International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) has offered a new technique called Underground Gravity Energy Storage that turns decommissioned mines into long-term energy…

• Scientists Come Up With New Process For Hydrogen Water Splitting

  Published 05 February 2023 | viewed 17,465 times

  A City University of Hong Kong research team has successfully mediated poor charge carrier transport at low voltage by adding phosphorus to a metal oxide…

• New Microbatteries Could Power Bug Sized Robots

  Published 02 February 2023 | viewed 1,207 times

  University of Illinois Grainger College of Engineering researchers have created a high-voltage microbattery (> 9 V), with high-energy and -power density, unparalleled by any existing…

• New Carbon Conversion Tech Could Boost Net-Zero Initiative

  Published 31 January 2023 | viewed 2,607 times

  The Ames Laboratory at Iowa State University has announced a new hybrid catalyst that converts carbon dioxide into ethylene in one pot. The catalyst was…

• A New Pathway To Create Scalable Perovskite Solar Cells

  Published 29 January 2023 | viewed 3,843 times

  The ARC Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science demonstrated a new pathway to creating durable, efficient perovskite photovoltaics at industrial scale. The process uses the…

• Sodium-Ion Batteries Just Got More Competitive

  Published 27 January 2023 | viewed 10,292 times

  Pusan National University researchers have invented a new sodium ion anode material. They are using a recently developed pyrolyzed quinacridones, new carbonaceous anode materials, that…

• Scientists Invent Hydrogen Producing Solar Cell

  Published 26 January 2023 | viewed 13,628 times

    Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne chemical engineers have invented a solar-powered artificial leaf, built on a novel electrode which is transparent and porous. The…