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MIT engineers create 2D polymer that self-assembles into sheets

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Using a novel polymerization process, MIT chemical engineers have created a new two-dimensional polymer that self-assembles into sheets, unlike all other polymers which form one-dimensional chains. Until now, scientists had believed it was impossible to induce polymers to form 2D sheets. —Michael Strano.

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MIT Sequential Decomposition Synthesis process produces thin solid-state electrolytes without sintering

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A team from MIT has developed a new approach to fabricating oxide-based solid-state electrolytes that are comparable in thickness to the polymer separators found in current Li-ion batteries without sintering: sequential decomposition synthesis (SDS). Recent progress in solid-state battery (SSB) electrolytes such as Li garnets (e.g.,

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Study finds the wettability of porous electrode surfaces is key to making efficient water-splitting or carbon-capturing systems

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As water-splitting technologies improve, often using porous electrode materials to provide greater surface areas for electrochemical reactions, their efficiency is often limited by the formation of bubbles that can block or clog the reactive surfaces. As a result, there were substantial changes of the transport overpotential.

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MIT researchers propose mechanism for overcoming bottleneck in electroreduction of CO2

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Researchers at MIT have identified , quantified, and modeled a major reason for the poor performance of electroreduction processes to convert CO 2 to fuel or other useful chemicals. The research was supported by Shell, through the MIT Energy Initiative. A paper on their work is published in the ACS journal Langmuir. —Soto et al.

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A New Energy-Efficient Hydrogel Pulls Water From Air

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Using a new kind of hydrogel material, researchers at the University of Texas at Austin have pulled water out of thin air at temperatures low enough to be achieved with sunlight. Atmospheric water harvesting draws water from humidity in the air. The material is a hydrogel, a polymer network that naturally retains a lot of water.

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Directly-cooled lighter-weight EV motor made with polymer housing

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Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology ICT are working together with the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology KIT to develop a new cooling concept that will enable polymers to be used as EV electric motor housing materials, thereby reducing the weight of the motor and thus, the EV itself.

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3 MIT-led teams win DOE NEUP funding for next-gen nuclear technologies

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Three MIT-led research teams have won awards from the Department of Energy’s Nuclear Energy University Programs ( NEUP ) initiative to support research and development on the next generation of nuclear technologies. Fluoride-salt High-Temperature Reactor.

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