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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.

Polymer 435
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New solid polymer electrolyte outperforms Nafion; novel polymer folding

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Researchers, led by a team from the University of Pennsylvania, have used a polymer-folding mechanism to develop a new and versatile kind of solid polymer electrolyte (SPE) that currently offers proton conductivity faster than Nafion by a factor of 2, the benchmark for fuel cell membranes. —Trigg et al.

Polymer 250
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Researchers show coordination polymer glass membranes can produce as much energy as liquid-based counterparts in fuel cells

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Scientists at Kyoto University’s Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (iCeMS) have developed a new coordination polymer glass membrane for hydrogen fuel cells that works just as well as its liquid counterparts with added strength and flexibility. Adding zinc to this liquid led to the formation of a solid, elastic polymer glass.

Polymer 332
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New polymer membrane efficiently removes carbon dioxide from mixed gases; high permeability and selectivity

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A team of researchers from North Carolina State University, SINTEF in Norway and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, has developed a polymer membrane technology that removes carbon dioxide from mixed gases with both high permeability and high selectivity. A paper on their work is published in the journal Science.

Polymer 186
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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.

Water 418
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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.

Polymer 322
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New system for more efficient CO2 electrolysis to hydrocarbon products

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The researchers combined a copper electrocatalyst with an ionomer [polymers that conduct ions and water] assembly that intersperses sulfonate-lined paths for the H 2 O with fluorocarbon channels for the CO 2. Here, we present a catalyst:ionomer bulk heterojunction (CIBH) architecture that decouples gas, ion, and electron transport.

CO2 414