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Nanotechnology and Energy

Page Description 

Directory of theories and practical applications, as well as companies that are utilizing nanotechnology for improving energy generation techniques as well as deriving new energy modalities altogether.

Applications to Energy

Nanotechnology could turn out to be the most important technological development for advancing energy technolgies in well over one hundred years. Nanotechnology, which means building technology on the molecular or nano (billionths) scale, has already started to impact solar energy and battery storage technology. Nanotechnology might someday allow for far more powerful, more efficient and less expensive solar and battery storage technology. Nanotechnology is a rather young field, only gaining acceptance in the late 1990s, so the potential for future nanotechnology-based energy advancements is very high in coming years.

Overviews

• Nanotechnology in the Energy Industry: Applications and Market Potential (http://www.energybusinessreports.com/shop/item.asp?itemid=1374&affillink=NEC) - Report covers the history, an overview of the basic concepts, prominent companies, and applications of Nanotechnology in the energy industry -- how the nano-scale platform opens opportunities for new energy modalities. (Energy Business Reports; Sept. 2007)
  

• Solar > Nanotech could make solar energy as easy and cheap as growing grass (http://www.physorg.com/news109253445.html) - Scientists are working to produce cheap, sustainable solar energy by imitating nature. Nanotechnology researchers like California Institute of Technology professor Nate Lewis are exploring nanoscale materials that mimic the architecture of grass and photosynthesis to capture and store the sun's energy. (PhysOrg; Sept. 17, 2007)

Directories

• Nanotechnology Energy (http://www.nanovip.com/nanotechnology-companies/energy) - companies, profiles and links by NanoVIP.com. Excellent listing.
• Google > nanotechnology+energy (http://www.google.com/search?q=nanotechnology+energy)

Example of Nanotechnology Affecting Energy Technology

An example of how nanotechnology affects energy technology is recent announcements by battery companies that indicate that by using nanotechnology to design new anodes and cathode materials, they are able to greatly increase the amount and rate of energy that can be transferred to a battery, and reduce the recharge times significantly as a result.

Battery companies have also introduced nanotechnology battery designs that are capable of storing more energy than previous designs, by making better use of a battery's storage potential.

Solar engineers have reported early nanotechnology-based breakthroughs in solar technology that might: allow a far wider spectrum of solar energy to be captured by future solar cells, allow solar cells to be able to convert solar energy to electricity far more efficiently, allow solar collectors to be painted on just about any surface, and could bring down the cost of solar technology significantly.

At PESWiki

• Nanosolar a leader in the drive to make solar affordable - Nanosolar has developed proprietary technology that makes it possible to simply roll-print solar cells with performance and durability similar to silicon-wafer cells, while cutting the costs, making solar affordable. The long-term limitation will be the growing scarcity of Indium. (PESWiki; April 6, 2008)
  

• Nanoflex can increase all lighting efficiencies - The nano optical coating on Nanoflex™ provides ideal diffusive and reflective surface to capture light rays from any light source including fluorescent lamps to enhance illumination by 50% on average, both for retrofits as well as new fixtures, enabling the reduction of the number of fixtures.
  

• Solar / Thermal Electric > Advanced Diamond Solutions amorphous nanostructures - Semiconductor industry company serendipitously developed thermionic solar cells using amorphous diamond nanostructures that offer potential efficiencies of 50% at half the cost of silicon solar cells. Also has good promise as a thermal electric generator.
  

• Nanotube Super Capacitor Battery - MIT researchers are developing a battery based on capacitors that utilize nanotubes for high surface area, enabling near instantaneous charging and no degradation. Estimating ~5 years to commercialization. (June 10, 2006)

• Power Chips™ Convert Heat to Electricity - Chips use thermionics to convert heat directly into electricity with a Carnot heat pump efficiency of up to 70-80%. This will be one of the first industrial applications of nanotechnology.

• Nansulate Paint Creates Efficient Thermal Barrier - Industrial Nanotech, Inc has a line of non-toxic paint products that integrate nanotechnology to provide insulative properties, corrosion resistance, mold resistance. They are also engineering a method to generate electricity from the thermal gradient to which the coating is exposed.
  

Companies & Technologies

• Cheap, Efficient Thermoelectrics via Nanomaterials (http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/20448/?nlid=955) - Researchers at MIT and Boston College have developed an inexpensive, simple technique for achieving a 40 percent increase in the efficiency of a common thermoelectric material, bringing the technology closer to becoming economically feasible for a wide range of waste heat recovery. (MIT Technology Review; March. 20, 2008) (MIT EI (http://web.mit.edu/mitei/research/spotlights/microchip.html))
  

• Piezoelectric > Power from Fabrics (http://www.technologyreview.com/Nanotech/20278/?nlid=876) - Researchers at Georgia Tech have made a flexible fiber coated with zinc oxide nanowires that can convert mechanical energy into electricity. The fibers, the researchers say, should be able to harvest any kind of vibration or motion for electric current. (MIT Technology Review; Feb. 14, 2008)
  

• Hydrogen > Buckyballs Can Store Concentrated Hydrogen (http://www.media.rice.edu/media/NewsBot.asp?MODE=VIEW&ID=10750&SnID=986985334) - Researchers from Rice University have discovered that it's possible to store hydrogen inside buckyballs. The buckyballs can contain up to 8% of their weight in hydrogen, and they are strong enough to hold it at a density that rivals the center of Jupiter. (Rice; Mar. 20, 2008)
  

• Solar > Hairy Solar Panels From Nanowire (http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/02/hairy_solar_panels_nanowire.php) - Researchers have grown light-absorbing nanowires on carbon-nanotube fabric, made from exotic materials that can absorb more energy from the sun than silicon. The aim is to produce flexible, affordable solar cells that will achieve efficiency of 20% within five years, and 40% longer term. (TreeHugger; Feb. 7, 2008)
  

• Thin Film Solar / Thermal Electric > New nanostructured thin film shows promise for efficient solar energy conversion (http://www.energytech-today.com/display_Story.asp?a=5957) - Researchers at Berkeley have demonstrated highly efficient thermoelectric behavior from arrays of silicon nanowires grown onto a silicon wafer. The technology is compatible with fabrication processes used in the large-scale silicon processing industry. A low-cost thermoelectric system could be used to generate electricity from heat lost from fossil-fuel based energy generation. (EnergyTech Today; Jan. 8, 2008)
  

• Batteries > Nanowire Battery Holds 10 Times The Charge (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071219103105.htm) - Stanford (http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2008/january9/nanowire-010908.html) researchers have found a way to use silicon nanowires to reinvent the rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that power laptops, iPods, video cameras, cell phones, and countless other devices. Could also be applied to electric vehicles. (Science Daily; Dec. 20, 2007) (See Slashdot (http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/12/19/169259))
  

• Piezoelectric > Nanowire Extracts Energy from Motion (http://www.technologyreview.com/Nanotech/19602/?nlid=616) - Researchers at the University of Illinois are working on making a nanogenerator out of barium titanate, which exhibits a greater piezoelectric effect than zinc-oxide, to convert miniscule mechanical energy into electricity for biosensors and tiny portable devices. (MIT Technology Review; Oct. 22, 2007)

• Virus-Built Electronics (http://www.technologyreview.com/Nanotech/19503/?nlid=619) - A new way to fabricate nanomaterials from harmless viruses as building blocks could mean batteries and solar cells woven into clothing. The programmed viruses coat themselves with the materials and then, by aligning with other viruses, assemble into crystalline structures useful for making high-performance devices. (MIT Technology Review; Oct. 23, 2007)
  

• Batteries > Weaving Batteries into Clothes (http://www.technologyreview.com/Nanotech/19487/?nlid=589) - A novel machine that makes nanostructured fibers could be the key to a new generation of military uniforms that take on active functions such as generating (e.g. solar) and storing energy. (MIT Technology Review; Oct. 9, 2007)
  

• Thermal Electric > Nansulate Paint May Soon Generate Electricity from Thermal Differences (http://pesn.com/2007/10/01/9500493_Electricity-Generating_Thermal_Insulation/) - With the application of a paint coating, the thermal difference between inside and outside temperatures could be used to generate electricity, in addition to saving energy through its insulating properties. (PESN; Oct. 1, 2007)
  

• Nanowire generates power by harvesting energy from the environment (http://www.physorg.com/news110115319.html) - As the sizes of sensor networks and mobile devices shrink toward the microscale, and even nanoscale, there is a growing need for suitable power sources. Because even the tiniest battery is too big to be used in nanoscale devices, scientists are exploring nanosize systems that can salvage energy from the environment. (PhysOrg; Sept. 27, 2007)

• Water + Sunlight = Solar Hydrogen (http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/08/water_sunlight.php) - Scientists are developing a cheap, viable photoelectrolytic technology that would split water into hydrogen and oxygen using sunlight. Using thin films of titanium iron oxide nanotube arrays, they reported a photoconversion rate of 1.5%, and are now optimizing to obtain closer to the theoretical maximum around 12.9%. (TreeHugger; Aug. 17, 2007)
  

• Self-Assembling Biological Nanobattery (http://www.newscientisttech.com/channel/tech/dn12270?DCMP=NLC-nletter&nsref=dn12270) - The iron-containing protein, ferritin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferritin), can hold either a positive or negative charge, and it self-assembles relatively easily into a uniform nanolayer. NASA has filed a patent (http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=%2220070134552%22.PGNR.&OS=DN/20070134552&RS=DN/20070134552) to create one layer of one charge, then cover it with another layer of the opposite charge. NASA reckons its battery is not only stable and robust, but can be produced easily and quickly too. (New Scientist Tech; July 16, 2007)

• Nanogenerator Provides Continuous Direct Current (http://pesn.com/2007/04/07/9500466_DC_Nanogenerator/) - Researchers have demonstrated a prototype nanometer-scale generator that produces continuous direct-current electricity by harvesting mechanical energy from such environmental sources as ultrasonic waves, mechanical vibration or blood flow. (PESN; April 7, 2007)
  

• Klean Industries Converts Scrap Tires In To Nano Carbons (http://www.kleanindustries.com) - The next wave of waste processing. Unique pyrolysis technology converts virtually all hydrocarbon waste streams into highly purified virgin hydrocarbon and advanced material nanocarbons.

• Nanotechnology and Photovoltaics (http://www.freeenergynews.com/Directory/Solar/Nanosys/) - Solar power for less than $1. Nanosys Inc. combines their nanocomposite photovoltaic technology with precisely engineered inorganic semiconductor nanocrystals, yielding light-weight, flexible host-matrix. (FreeEnergyNews feature)

• Hydrogen Storage Capability Published in Science (http://www.physorg.com/news1577.html) - Liverpool and Newcastle researchers inject hydrogen gas at high pressure into tiny pores (10^-9 Meters) of a specially-designed material to give a dense form of hydrogen, which can then be released per need. (PhysOrg; Oct. 14)

• Inexpensive, Easy To Produce Solar Panels (http://thefraserdomain.typepad.com/energy/2007/07/njit-researcher.html) - Researchers at NJIT have developed (http://www.njit.edu/publicinfo/press_releases/release_1040.php) an inexpensive solar cell that can be painted or printed on flexible plastic sheets. The process uses tiny carbon Buckyballs to trap electrons, combined with carbon nanotubes, which conduct current better than any conventional electric wire. (The Energy Blog; Jul. 19, 2007)
  

• Thin Film Batteries 40 Times More Efficient (http://www.nanotech-now.com/news.cgi?story_id=20587) - Micro-generation of energy is set to bring a worldwide economic revolution brought by the availability of thin film batteries that are more fuel-efficient, charge within minutes, and hold a charge 40 times longer than existing batteries. Thin film batteries can be charged from renewable energy sources and used to power the home and car. (Nanotechnology Now; Feb. 19, 2007)
  

• Nano Thin Film PV (http://www.renewableenergyaccess.com/rea/news/story;jsessionid=DD71793F50959CDB63017302DF2F7415?id=50176) - Liquidia (http://www.liquidia.com./) is developing high-efficiency, cost-effective patterned thin film photovoltaic solar cells based on their PRINT platform for precision nanomolding. It combines photolithographic precision with a scalable continuous manufacturing process. (Renewable Energy Access; Oct. 5, 2007)
  

• Incorporating Biological Energy Paradigms (http://freeenergynews.com/Directory/Biological/ATP_inspiration.htm) - Lessons from ATP and nanotechnology for possible energy storage and production solutions. Musings from Douglass A. White, Ph.D. (FreeEnergyNews; Aug. 9, 2004)

• mPhase will report on nanobattery (http://www.physorg.com/news3048.html) - mPhase Technologies Inc. (http://www.mphasetech.com/nanotechnology.htm) plans to fabricate nanotech-based batteries, which can generate electric current. (PhysOrg; Feb. 14, 2005)

• PolyFuel, Inc. (http://www.nanovip.com/cgi-bin/nanoengine/jump.cgi?ID=1366) - PolyFuel works to create engineered membranes that provide breakthrough performance in fuel cells for portable electronic and automotive applications. (NanoVIP.com)

• Pacific Fuel Cell Corp. (http://www.nanovip.com/cgi-bin/nanoengine/jump.cgi?ID=913) - Proprietary Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cell technology. Development of PEM Fuel Cell with Carbon Nanotube-Based Electrodes. (NanoVIP.com)

• DayStar Technologies, Inc. (http://www.nanovip.com/cgi-bin/nanoengine/jump.cgi?ID=1277) - Renewable energy/photovoltaic (PV) technology development and commercialization business. Plans to revolutionize solar power components by using nanotechnology to reduce their size and change their shape for a number of applications. (NanoVIP.com)

• Altair Nanotechnologies Achieves Breakthrough in Battery Materials (http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release_html_b1?release_id=80729) - New generation of batteries coming. Lithium-Ion batteries that charge in minutes and have three times the power -- at same price. (MarketWire; Feb. 10, 2005)

• Energy Consulting Group (http://www.nanovip.com/cgi-bin/nanoengine/jump.cgi?ID=999) - Provides worldwide access to critical nanotechnology intellectual property (IP), strategy, partners, sales channels development and financing that enable our clients to maximize their return on advanced energy / power and related initiatives. (NanoVIP.com)

• GEMZ Corp. (International Nanotechnology Corp) (http://www.nanovip.com/cgi-bin/nanoengine/jump.cgi?ID=1269) - Wants to Develop patented, commercial products using Nanotechnology to harness renewable energy. (NanoVIP.com)

• Headwaters, Inc. (http://www.nanovip.com/cgi-bin/nanoengine/jump.cgi?ID=967) - Provides technologies and service that maximize the value of fossil fuels while creating new sustainable energy technologies for the future. The company has developed a proprietary nano catalyst technology. (NanoVIP.com)

• Hydrocarbon Technologies, Inc. (http://www.nanovip.com/cgi-bin/nanoengine/jump.cgi?ID=785) - The term "nanocatalyst" is derived from "nanometer", meaning one-billionth of a meter, and is used by industry to describe catalysts which are engineered at nanometer-scale precision. HTI works at an even smaller scale, actually at the molecular level, to control the exact geometry of a catalyst's structure. (NanoVIP.com)

• Kainos Energy Corporation (http://www.nanovip.com/cgi-bin/nanoengine/jump.cgi?ID=307) - Kainos Energy combines established materials and fuel cell technologies with a revolutionary nanomaterials process technology to create commercially viable fuel cells. (NanoVIP.com)

• Konarka Technologies, Inc. (http://www.nanovip.com/cgi-bin/nanoengine/jump.cgi?ID=326) - Konarka develops and commercializes photovoltaic products that convert sunlight and indoor light into electricity. [how related to nano?] (NanoVIP.com)

• mPhase Technologies Inc. (http://www.nanovip.com/cgi-bin/nanoengine/jump.cgi?ID=1122) - Partnership with Lucent Bell Laboratories for commercializing nano technology creating intelligent power sources. (NanoVIP.com)

• Nanosolar, Inc. (http://www.nanovip.com/cgi-bin/nanoengine/jump.cgi?ID=299) - Bringing to market a new generation of solar electricity cells with unprecedented cost/performance and ease of handling. (NanoVIP.com)
  • Nanosolar Inc, of California (http://www.hindu.com/seta/2005/02/03/stories/2005020300431600.htm) - plan to produce solar energy for less than 5 cents per kilowatt-hour using 3D nanocomposite ultra-thin-absorber cells. (The Hindu, India; Feb. 3, 2005)

• Nuclear Solutions, Inc. (http://www.nanovip.com/cgi-bin/nanoengine/jump.cgi?ID=1332) - Business objective includes development of licensable product technologies for use in products and services intended for homeland security, defense, nanotechnology, and environmental technology applications. (NanoVIP.com)

• Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute (ONAMI) (http://washingtontimes.com/business/20050209-113142-9504r.htm) - say they have made significant breakthroughs in a power source that essentially turns 20 pounds of batteries into 8 ounces of fuel the size of a cigarette lighter. (Washington Times; Feb. 10, 2005)

• US Nanocorp (USN) (http://www.nanovip.com/cgi-bin/nanoengine/jump.cgi?ID=626) incorporated as a vehicle to identify, develop, and commercialize value-added products in the field of energy storage and energy conversion devices which exploit the extraordinary properties of nanostructured materials. (NanoVIP.com)

Water Desalinization

• Nanotubes Produce Desalination Breakthrough (http://www.llnl.gov/pao/news/news_releases/2006/NR-06-05-06.html) - Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is developing a nanotube membrane on a silicon chip the size of a quarter that may offer a cheaper way to remove salt from water, offsetting energy costs of desalination by as much as 75 percent. (LLNL.org; May 19, 2006)

Non-energy but could be helpful in energy devices

• DNA Makes Nanotube Transistors (http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/04/12/rnb_120304.asp?trk=nl) - A new DNA assembly methodology may allow scientists to create transistors from carbon nanotubes, a first step in harnessing these structures for commercial circuits. (MIT Technology Review; Dec. 3)

• Mechanical Valve Design Goes Nano (http://technologyreview.com/articles/04/10/rnb_101504.asp) - Combining molecular ing with old-fashioned mechanics yields a design for a nanoscale valve that controls the flow of minute amounts of fluids. (MIT Technology Review; Oct. 14, 2004)

Environmental Concerns

• Nanotech > Nano Safety Alert (http://www.technologyreview.com/NanoTech/17954/) - Decades of research have brought these materials to a stage where they can provide real value to the world, including several energy applications. However, worker safety, consumer health, and the environmental impacts of such materials have to a large degree been ignored. (MIT Technology Review; Jan. 2,. 2007)

In the News

• High-Performance Thermoelectric Capability in Silicon Nanowires (http://www.greencarcongress.com/2008/01/two-research-gr.html) - Researchers have shown that the thermoelectric properties of silicon—a material that can be processed on a large scale but has poor thermoelectric properties—can be vastly improved by structuring it into arrays of nanowires and carefully controlling nanowire morphology and doping. (Green Car Congress; Jan. 11, 2008)
  

• New Solar Panel Design Traps More Light (http://www.physorg.com/news95520809.html) - A new solar panel design at Georgia Tech features an array of nano-towers -- like microscopic blades of grass -- that add surface area and trap more sunlight. The team is working on the voltage end of the equation to make the 60-x increase in current meaningful. (PhysOrg; Apr. 11, 2007)

• The Nanopowers of Spinach (http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/09/09/225224) - Ohio University physicists have developed a complex nanobiological switch using a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) to image chlorophyll-a and then inject it with a single electron to manipulate the molecule into four positions. The researchers say this biological switch might be used in future applications for green energy, technology and medicine. (Slashdot; Sept. 9, 2006)
  

• Body Movement Generates Electricity in Miniature Device (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,191827,00.html) - A new class of devices aims to convert energy created from body movement, the stretching of muscles or the flow of water to power future nanoscale components. (Fox News; Apr. 14, 2005)

• MIT researchers introduce nanotech battery (http://pesn.com/2006/02/09/9600232_MIT_Battery/) - Nanotube ultracapacitors would store energy on atomic level, providing what is said to be the first technologically significant and economically viable alternative to conventional batteries in more than 200 years. (PESN; Feb. 9, 2006)

• Single molecule motor inspired by natural energy conversion (http://www.physorg.com/news10125.html) - The cycle of oxidation and reduction causes soft/hard transitions within the molecule. The associated stretching and shrinking gives the mechanical energy. Published in Macromolecular Rapid Communications (http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/jhome/10003270). (PhysOrg; Jan. 23, 2006)

• First solar-powered nano motor (http://www.physorg.com/news10198.html) - When one of the dumbbell's stoppers absorbs sunlight, it transfers an electron to one of these ports of call, driving the ring to then shuffle over to the other station. The ring returns to the old site after the electron transfers back to the stopper, allowing the cycle to begin all over again. (PhysOrg; Jan. 24, 2006)

• Nanobatteries Power Artificial Eyes (http://sandia.gov/news-center/news-releases/2006/comp-soft-math/eye.html) - A team of researchers at Sandia National Laboratories is developing a nano-size battery to be implanted in the eye to power artificial retina. Applications also include nanomedical devices based on natural and synthetic ion transporters. (Sandia; Jan. 12, 2006) (See Slashdot (http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/01/17/0021204) discussion)

• Carbon Nanotubes Improve Efficiency of Extracting Hydrogen from Water (http://www.zpenergy.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1539) - Scientists at North Carolina State University have discovered a nanoscale method for extracting hydrogen from water that requires only half the energy of current hydrogen production methods. (ZPEnergy; Sept. 29, 2005)

• Nanotechnology for Recovery and Reuse of Spilled Oil (http://www.physorg.com/news6358.html) - The recent hurricane Katrina disaster has included significant oil spills. Interface Science Corporation has announced that the company is launching its proprietary oil remediation and recovery application. (PhysOrg; Sept. 9, 2005)

• Method slashes quantum dot costs by 80 percent (http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-09/ru-msq090705.php) - Scientists at Rice University have developed a new method of replacing the pricey solvents used in fluorescent quantum dot synthesis with cheaper oils that are commonplace at industrial chemical plants. (EurekAlert; Sept. 7, 2005)

• Inexpensive oxidation catalyst could reduce diesel emissions (http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-08/dnnl-ioc082305.php) - A new application of silver hollandite could make a big impact in diesel emissions control, according to researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, who have developed an inexpensive method of synthesizing nano-sized silver hollandite. (EurekAlert; Aug. 31, 2005)

• New Source of Energy Using Nanotechnology (http://www.zpenergy.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1463) - Solid state energetic material consisting of fuel and oxidizer creates high amounts of mechanical and thermal energy which can be converted energy into electrical energy using the thermoelectric and piezoelectric conversions. (PhysOrg; Aug. 15, 2005)

• Purdue simulation to help merge molecules with silicon electronics (http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-08/pu-pst081605.php) - Engineers at Purdue University have created a nanotech simulation tool that shows how current flows between silicon atoms and individual molecules to help researchers design "molecular electronic" devices for future computers and advanced sensors. Details are appearing in the current issue of Physical Review Letters. (EurekAlert; Aug. 15, 2005)

• $2 Billion Market in Nanopore (http://www.physorg.com/news5208.html) - Sponges with pores only nanometers in diameter could help lead to advanced fuel cells in hydrogen-powered cars, as well as super-coolants to keep perishable drugs fresh and devices to clean out toxins in the body. (PhysOrg; July 15, 2005)

• Nanotechnology holds promise for new hydrogen fuel technologies (http://www.physorg.com/news4843.html) - Jin Zhang, of the University of California, to receive $535,000 in grants from the U.S. DOE for two research projects aimed at developing new technologies for the production (solar hydrogen) and storage (hydrates) of hydrogen fuel. (PhysOrg; June 29, 2005)

• A giant step toward tiny functional nanowires (http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-06/nu-ags062305.php) - Northwestern University chemists have developed a new method that can routinely and cheaply produce nanowires with gaps as small as five nanometers wide. (EurekAlert; June 29, 2005)

• Going nano boosts thermoelectrics (http://zpenergy.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1330) - International team of university researchers have come up with a designed that could increase maximum efficiency from today's 10% to 50%, whereby dissimilar metal heating/cooling generates electricity. (ZPEnergy; May 27, 2005)

• Quantum dot materials can reduce heat, boost electrical output (http://www.physorg.com/news4214.html) - "Nanocrystals," also known as "quantum dots," produce as many as three electrons from one high energy photon of sunlight. In comparison today's photovoltaic solar cells produce less than one electron, the rest is lost as heat. (PhysOrg; May 23, 2005)

• 'Metal-decorated' nanotubes hold hydrogen (http://www.physorg.com/news3983.html) - New quantum calculations and computer models show that carbon nanotubes "decorated" with titanium or other transition metals can latch on to hydrogen molecules in numbers more than adequate for efficient hydrogen storage. (PhysOrg; May 4, 2005)

• Energy, Farms, Water Seen Aided by Nanotechnology (http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/30346/story.htm) - energy storage, production and conversion would be the top use of nanotechnology in a decade, including more efficient solar cells, hydrogen fuel cells and new hydrogen storage. (Reuters; April 13, 2005)

• Toshiba's New Rechargeable Lithium-Ion Battery Recharges in Only One Minute (http://www.toshiba.co.jp/about/press/2005_03/pr2901.htm) - A breakthrough technology applied to the negative electrode uses new nano-particles to prevent organic liquid electrolytes from reducing during battery recharging. The nano-particles quickly absorb and store vast amount of lithium ions, without causing any deterioration in the electrode. (Toshiba.com; March 29, 2005)

• Nanotechnology could promote hydrogen economy (http://www.physorg.com/news3534.html) - Researchers at Rutgers impose a finely textured surface on the metal iridium creating millions of pyramids with facets as tiny as five nanometers across, onto which ammonia molecules can nestle like matching puzzle pieces for complete and efficient decomposition. (PhysOrg; March 29, 2005 / Journal of the American Chemical Society, April 20, 2005)

• Nanotechnologies could slash cost of solar energy (http://www.physorg.com/news2916.html) - "Nanopatterning" can artificially change the optical properties of materials to allow light to be trapped in solar cells. (PhysOrg; Feb. 3, 2005)

• Moving electrons at the molecular and nonometer scales (http://www.physorg.com/news3369.html) - Learning how to control the movement of electrons on the molecular and nanometer scales could help scientists devise small-scale circuits for a wide variety of applications, including more efficient ways of storing and using solar energy. (PhysOrg; March 14, 2005)

• Method Captures, Converts Heat (http://www.physorg.com/news3613.html) - Using extremely thin nanowires could more than doubles the efficiency of thermoelectric materials, enabling a more effective capturing of thermal sources such as the waste heat in a car or geothermal heat. (PhysOrg; March 31, 2005)

• Nanoscience solutions for energy technologies advocated (http://www.physorg.com/news3341.html) - Breakthroughs in nanotechnology are introducing technologies that are more efficient, inexpensive and environmentally sound, including technologies for storing and transmitting electricity. (PhysOrg; March 10, 2005)

• Carbon Nanotube Enhanced Ultracapacitors (http://lees.mit.edu/lees/projects/cnt_ultracap_project.htm) - Our analysis shows that the utilization of a matrix of vertically aligned Carbon Nanotubes as electrode structure, can lead to an ultracapacitor characterized by a power density greater than 100kW/kg (three orders of magnitude higher than batteries), a lifetime longer than 300,000 cycles, and an energy density higher than 60Wh/kg.

See also

• PowerPedia:Nanotechnology

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