Innovation Pipeline

A group of researchers at Carnegie Mellon University are working on a new type of sodium-ion battery that could prove to be a practical option for storing power from wind and solar farms, says Jay Whitacre, a professor of materials science and engineering at Carnegie Mellon. Whitacre’s startup, 44 Tech, based in Pittsburgh, will receive [...]

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The efficiency and elegance of materials occurring in nature have always been an inspiration to researchers. Trying to achieve similar results via nanoengineering, scientists are now working on nanoscale particles that automatically orient themselves into unique materials with powerful properties.
It makes sense, this self-assembly approach, because it’s simply too difficult to manipulate nanoparticles with lab [...]

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One big problem of converting to solar generated electricity is what to do when the sun goes down. To ensure electrical current on the grid doesn’t sharply fall off, requires an industrial-scale electrical storage system to smooth out short term fluctuations. It’s a problem at the heart of realizing a renewable energy economy.
There’s an [...]

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