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ARPA-E awarding $39M to 16 projects to grow the domestic critical minerals supply chain

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The University of Texas at Arlington will develop acoustic stimulation and electrolytic proton production to produce lithium (Li) and nickel (Ni) from CO 2 -reactive minerals and rocks that contain calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg), while sequestering CO 2 in the form of carbonate solids. Travertine Technologies. from gangue minerals.

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Stanford researchers develop new electrolysis system to split seawater into hydrogen and oxygen

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Electrolysis of water to generate hydrogen fuel is an attractive renewable energy storage technology. The nickel foam acts as a conductor—transporting electricity from the power source—and the nickel-iron hydroxide sparks the electrolysis, separating water into oxygen and hydrogen. Image credit: Courtesy of H.

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Argonne researchers use X-rays to understand the flaws of speedy charging

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A team at Argonne National Laboratory has used spatially resolved energy dispersive X-ray diffraction to obtain a “movie” of lithiation and delithiation in different sections of a Li-ion battery cell and to quantify lithium gradients that develop in a porous graphite electrode during cycling at a 1C rate (full discharge in 1 hour).

Li-ion 186
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New coating for layered lithium transition metal cathodes addresses performance and safety issues

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Layered lithium transition metal oxide cathodes feature a relatively high capacity, making them of importance for Li-ion batteries. Building a protective skin at both secondary and primary particle levels of layered oxides offers a promising design strategy for Ni-rich cathodes towards high-energy, long-life and safe lithium-ion batteries.

Li-ion 191
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Researchers call for integration of materials sustainability into battery research; the need for in situ monitoring

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We need new storage technologies if more renewables are to be used on the electrical grid; similarly, the electrification of transport requires much cheaper and longer-lasting batteries. Under such a scenario, the production of Li-ion batteries should expand hugely over the years to come, hence reviving the issue of finite Li reserves.

Li-ion 150
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New Berkeley Lab spectroscopy technique for in situ measurement of charge dynamics in an operating battery electrode

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Taking advantage of the elemental, chemical and surface sensitivities of soft X-rays, they reported, in an open access paper in Nature Communications , distinct lithium-ion and electron dynamics in Li(Co 1/3 Ni 1/3 Mn 1/3 )O 2 and LiFePO 4 cathodes in polymer electrolytes. This research was performed at beamline 8.0.1

Batteries 286
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New direct borohydride fuel cell increases peak power density by factor of 1.7–3.7

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Much research has been conducted on the details of the transport of protons or ions through the polymer matrix and on novel methods of improving its properties, but the crossover has not yet been solved as well as the cost of the PEM4. Xiaodong Yang, Yongning Liu, Sai Li, Xiaozhu Wei, Li Wang & Yuanzhen Chen (2012).

Fuel 257