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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.

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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. Credit: Mindy Takamiya/Kyoto University iCeMS. —Ogawa et al.

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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.

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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 UT Austin technique is aimed at the latter.

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Rice U team creates low-cost, high-efficiency integrated device for solar-driven water splitting; solar leaf

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Rice University researchers have created an efficient, low-cost device that splits water to produce hydrogen fuel. The current flows to the catalysts that turn water into hydrogen and oxygen, with a sunlight-to-hydrogen efficiency as high as 6.7%. It utilizes water and sunlight to get chemical fuels. —Jun Lou.

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New photocatalytic system converts carbon dioxide to valuable fuel more efficiently than natural photosynthesis

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A joint research team from City University of Hong Kong (CityU) and collaborators have developed a stable artificial photocatalytic system that is more efficient than natural photosynthesis. The new system mimics a natural chloroplast to convert carbon dioxide in water into methane, very efficiently using light.

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Shell Gamechanger Accelerator Powered by NREL selects two green hydrogen startups for fourth cohort

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.) – Developing ion-exchange membranes (IEM) and polymers used for electrochemical applications in order to reduce the use of cost-prohibitive and toxic materials. Applications include green hydrogen production, hydrogen fuel cells and carbon capture and utilization (CCU).

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