The Elements of Innovation Discovered
The Elements of Innovation Discovered
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Climate-tech firm Is locking up CO2 into a next-gen carbon material that outperforms energy-intensive building products. Texas-based climate-tech startup DexMat is transforming greenhouse gases into a carbon nanomaterial that is stronger than steel, lighter than aluminum, and as conductive as copper. Boasting many of the superlatives of its carbon cousin graphene, this new wonder material called Galvorn has the earmarks of a futuristic climate-saving building material that can...
Green energy startup MGA Thermal and its long-duration energy storage solution rose above a field of dozens of quality applicants to win a $400,000 grant from Shell GameChanger, an initiative sponsored by the global energy giant to support startups and businesses on unproven early-stage ideas that have the potential to impact the future of energy. "I am excited that Shell can support MGA Thermal's pilot project and their ambitions to enable the storage of renewable energy. We...
Aims to curb industrial heat's CO2 footprint, which is more than cars and planes combined. Climate tech company DexMat and Rice University have received $1.5 million in U.S. Department of Energy funding on a project to replace aluminum or copper fins in heat exchangers with a thermal conductivity-enhanced version of DexMat's flagship product, Galvorn – a high-performance, carbon nanomaterial that is stronger than steel, lighter than aluminum, and as conductive as copper. T...
H2 infrastructure - Nikola builds out, Shell pulls back, and passenger cars lag heavy vehicles. Shell's withdrawal from passenger-vehicle hydrogen refueling operations has ignited debates on the developing industry's overall timing and viability. However, automakers and governments are still backing hydrogen fuel cells due to growing concerns about the slow pace and environmental expense of new critical mineral mines needed for lithium-ion batteries currently powering most...
Chance graphene discovery leads to tech company pushing forward next generation of K-State research. In a similar serendipitous fashion that enabled the original discovery of graphene, scientists from Kansas State University were astounded when an experiment predicted to create aerosol gel failed, leaving their material in a smoldering pile. Instead, the researchers were left with a sooty black substance that would result in an explosive new way to produce the wonder...
A team of researchers led by chemists at San Jose State University has solved the puzzle of how silica-coated nanodiamonds are formed and acquire properties that make them useful in an increasing number of scientific applications. In an article published in the Sept. 15 edition of ACS Nanoscience Au, the researchers described the results of their investigation into the chemistry of silica coatings on nanodiamonds. The study was aimed at helping scientists improve the shells...
Australian startup, its underground renewable energy tech, selected to join Shell-backed accelerator studio. Economical Energy's potentially game-changing Viper underground renewable energy storage system has joined Studio X, a global energy and climate technology innovations accelerator program powered by Shell. "The Studio X accelerator program is excited to have Economical Energy as part of the 2023 cohort," said Max Gray, director of the Studio X accelerator program....
Gallium is a key ingredient of this self-healing and pliable circuit for next-generation wearables, other smart devices. Flexibility, durability, and efficiency are some of the key functions scientists are trying to narrow down for wearable tech, soft robotics, or smart devices. In comparison, there have been numerous advances in this field, but the recipe for something as pervasive as the cellphone has yet to meet the mark. That may change with a novel liquid metal circuit de...
As the cracks in the wall continue to chill the bones of an ill-prepared American clean-energy economy, attention has been paid to nearly every facet imaginable to obtain the minerals critical to fuel a zero-carbon future; however, all has seemingly been quiet on the unconventional front. Repeated time and time again during the ongoing transition, U.S. policymakers are becoming increasingly concerned about the overreliance on China for the minerals and metals essential to...
Collaborative investment of C$1.2 billion into future battery cathode facility. Coming out of the region that will hold one of the more prominent footholds for battery-related industries, Ford Motor Company announced an investment of C$1.2 billion (US$885,660) to build a battery cathode manufacturing facility in Becancour, Quebec, for future Ford electric vehicles. Becancour is a small town along the shores of the St. Lawrence River about halfway between Montreal and Quebec...
In 2019, Exxon chemist Stanley Whittingham won the Nobel Prize for developing an early iteration of the lithium-ion battery while working at ExxonMobil's Clinton, New Jersey, corporate research lab back in 1973. Exxon even began a short run of manufacturing them in 1976, with early applications including camcorders, laptops, and cell phones. In 1972, the consensus among scientists was that we'd run out of oil in 50 years and had better find new technologies by the year 2000,...
Latest RFI for unconventional sources and possible desire for critical minerals "matchmaking." Much like its requests for information on clean energy projects, lithium recycling, and critical minerals, the United States Department of Energy is once again seeking input, this time to further solidify domestic critical minerals supply through the use of unconventional and secondary sources. Aimed at supporting its ongoing Carbon Ore, Rare Earth, and Critical Minerals (CORE-CM)...
To support American production of graphite active anode material, the single largest ingredient in most lithium-ion batteries powering electric vehicles, the U.S. Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office has allotted $107 million to fund the expansion of Syrah Resources Ltd.'s Vidalia graphite processing facility in Louisiana. With this and further expansions to follow, Vidalia is expected to produce enough natural graphite-based active anode material, also known as coated...
Investing C$3.6M into sustainable graphite anode materials tech being advanced by the company. To further solidify Quebec as a vital link in North America's lithium-ion battery supply chain, the provincial government is providing Nouveau Monde Graphite Inc. with up to C$3.6 million (US$2.7 million) to further develop technologies to sustainably transform mined graphite into battery-grade anode material for electric vehicles. "The funding announced today will boost our...
Coal is the most polluting of all fossil fuels. When burnt, it emits greenhouse gasses, causes acid rain, and pollutes the environment. With all the talk about hydropower, nuclear energy, as well as biofuels, one might be forgiven for assuming that filthy coal is on its way out. But that is not the fact in reality. What comes into the entire scenario here is the huge amounts of carbon emissions. With the increasing carbon emissions, particularly from industrial activities, the...
Rare earth elements suffer from a crisis of identity. Often referred to and treated as one commodity, REEs are actually a group of 15 elements – each with its own individual and seemingly magical qualities. "There are literally hundreds of uses for rare earths – they are unique materials, almost alchemistical magic," said Michael Silver, CEO of American Elements, a Los Angeles-based distributor of rare earths and thousands of other advanced materials. The almost mystical pro...
To bolster supplies of the lithium-ion battery materials needed for America's transition to electric vehicles, the U.S. Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office is loaning Syrah Resources Ltd. $102.1 million to expand Vidalia, a processing facility in Louisiana that upgrades mined graphite into a material needed in the lithium-ion batteries powering electric vehicles and modern electronics. "Securing critical materials, such as lithium and graphite, is essential to...
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey and Congressman Mike Rogers joined other state and local government officials and business leaders during the groundbreaking ceremony at the site of a $202 million processing facility being developed by Westwater Resources Inc. that will produce the high-quality graphite needed for the lithium-ion batteries that power electric vehicles. Being built at Kellyton, which is about 50 miles north of Montgomery, this graphite refinery will transform Alabama into...
Syrah Resources Ltd. has installed the furnace at its Vidalia plant in Louisiana, the final component needed to begin upgrading graphite mined at its Balama operation in Mozambique into the active anode material for lithium-ion batteries in the United States. The anodes in lithium-ion batteries are packed full of graphite that has been rolled into potato-shaped spheres and coated in a hard carbon shell that must be thermally treated. With the installation of the furnace at...
Syrah Resources Ltd. Feb. 22 announced the decision to restart production at the Balama Mine, a globally significant graphite mine in Mozambique. Syrah achieved commercial production at Balama early in 2019 but decided to suspend operations there due to COVID-19. Pandemic related travel restrictions on the Balama workforce weakened graphite demand due to lockdowns; and electric vehicle sales uncertainty were among the reasons the Australia-based miner decided to curtail...
Toward its mission to be a carbon-neutral supplier of the graphite needed in the anodes of lithium-ion batteries, Nouveau Monde Graphite Inc. is advancing the development of a coated spherical purified graphite production facility in Quebec. To increase the durability and energy density of lithium-ion batteries powering electric vehicles and storing renewable energy, the graphite that goes into the anodes is rolled into potato-shaped spheres and coated in a hard carbon shell....
Now that masks made with its patented ZENGuard antimicrobial graphene coating are being commercially produced, Zentek Ltd. is looking at other ways to leverage the superlative qualities of the graphene it produces to make the world a better place. This includes research into making better lithium batteries with graphene-coated silicon as the anode. As an anode material, silicon has shown the ability to have up to 10 times more storage capacity than the graphite that is...
Scientists at the California Institute of Technology have created a nano-architected material that exhibits a property that was previously only theoretically possible – refract light backward, regardless of the angle at which the light strikes the material. This unique and previously theoretical property, known as negative refraction, could have major technological applications. "Negative refraction is crucial to the future of nanophotonics, which seeks to understand and m...
Tesla Inc. has cut a deal with Syrah Resources Ltd. to supply the single largest ingredient in most lithium-ion batteries powering electric vehicles – graphite. More specifically, the renowned electric automaker has entered into an offtake agreement for natural graphite active anode material, also known as coated spherical graphite, from Syrah's Vidalia processing facility in Louisiana. The anodes in lithium-ion batteries that power most EVs are packed full of graphite that h...
The global transition to electric vehicles plugged into renewable energy sources is powering enormous demand for graphite, the single largest ingredient in lithium-ion batteries. "Graphite demand increases in both absolute and percentage terms since graphite is needed to build the anodes found in the most commonly deployed automotive, grid, and decentralized batteries," the World Bank penned in a 2020 report, "The Mineral Intensity of the Clean Energy Transition." According...
