For all the promise they have shown in the lab, polymer solar cells still need to “get on a roll”—like the ones employed in printing newspapers so that large sheets of acceptably efficient photovoltaic devices can be manufactured continuously and economically.
In lithium-ion batteries, a singly charged lithium atom, or ion, flows between two electrodes while one electron is contributed to the electrical current in the external circuit.
Researchers from South Dakota State University, Brookings, are using biochar, an inexpensive carbon-rich material and a new method of creating the porous surface needed to capture electricity to reduce the cost of supercapacitors.
Bruker Nanoanalytics, Germany, introduces the e-FlashFS and e-FlashHD, two models of a new generation of detectors for electron backscatter diffraction analysis on scanning electron microscopes; and Esprit Qube, a new software package for advanced post-processing and visualization of 3D EBSD/EDS data cubes.
Instron, Norwood, Mass., has designed the Instron Torsion Add-On for simple simultaneous axial and torsional testing to ensure the performance of many consumer products, packaging, electronics, and medical devices.
