Industry News

August 2020
Fuel Cells for Hydrogen Vehicles are Becoming Longer Lasting

The new electrocatalyst for hydrogen fuel cells consists of a thin platinum-cobalt alloy network and, unlike the catalysts commonly used today, does not require a carbon carrier.

Fuel cells are gaining in importance as an alternative to battery-operated electromobility in heavy traffic, especially since hydrogen is a CO2-neutral energy carrier if it is obtained from renewable sources. For efficient operation, fuel cells need an electrocatalyst that improves the electrochemical reaction in
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Date:
08/25/2020
Tool Offers Online Matchmaking Service for Battery Makers

CBI Battery Match is helping the energy storage sector find the best lead battery for their system

A ground-breaking new battery ‘match’ service is set to help utility companies choose the most suitable batteries as partners for their energy storage schemes.  CBI Battery Match has been designed and built by the Consortium for Battery Innovation (CBI) – the global advanced lead battery research
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Date:
08/24/2020
A Novel Four-State Magnetic Tunnel Junction for Spintronics
A tunnel junction is a device consisting of two conducting layers separated by an insulating layer. Classically, the resistance for driving current across an insulating layer is infinite; however, when the insulating layer is thin (~ 1-2 nanometers), charge carriers may tunnel through the insulating layer, due to
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Date:
08/24/2020
China's Energy Transition away from Coal will Yield Benefits

A coal transfer hub near Ordos, China.

China is the world's largest producer and consumer of coal. A team of international scientists led by Stony Brook University's Gang He, PhD, contend that China needs to transition away from coal to help the world achieve global decarbonization and improve the nation's environmental and human health. They outline steps
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Date:
08/24/2020
Large Tin Monosulfide Crystal for Next-Gen Solar Cells

SnS crystals grown by flux growth technique. Large single crystals were obtained by halogen addition to the flux.

Tin monosulfide (SnS) is a promising material used for next generation solar cells because of its nontoxic characteristics and abundance, in addition to its excellent photovoltaic properties. Sakiko Kawanishi and Issei Suzuki led a team that has succeeded in growing large single crystals of SnS, which can provide a
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Date:
08/21/2020
 UnitedSiC Signs Distribution Agreement with Macnica - Japan

Yalcin Bulut, VP of Global Sales and Marketing at UnitedSiC

UnitedSiC has announced it has entered into a distribution agreement with Macnica, Inc. Macnica will partner with UnitedSiC to distribute its product portfolio to Japanese customers in high-growth applications such as electric vehicles, battery charging, IT infrastructure, renewable energy and circuit protection.
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Date:
08/19/2020
NIST Scientists Build a Better Nanoscale LED

The fin LED pixel design includes the glowing zinc oxide fin (purple), isolating dielectric material (green), and metal contact (yellow atop green).

A new design for light-emitting diodes (LEDs) developed by a team including scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) may hold the key to overcoming a long-standing limitation in the light sources' efficiency. The concept, demonstrated with microscopic LEDs in the lab, achieves a d
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Date:
08/17/2020
AI Software Enables Real-Time 3D Printing Quality Assessment

Oak Ridge National Laboratory researcher Chase Joslin uses Peregrine software to monitor and analyze a component being 3D printed at the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at ORNL.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers have developed artificial intelligence software for powder bed 3D printers that assesses the quality of parts in real time, without the need for expensive characterization equipment. The software, named Peregrine, supports the advanced manufacturing "digital thread&qu
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Date:
08/17/2020
Calculating Properties of Quantum Materials More Quickly

Intelligent mathematical tools for the simulation of spin systems reduce the computing time required on supercomputers. Some of the fastest supercomputers in the world are currently located at Forschungszentrum Jülich (shown here is JUWELS).

Supercomputers around the world work around the clock on research problems. In principle, even novel materials can be simulated in computers in order to calculate their magnetic and thermal properties as well as their phase transitions. The gold standard for this kind of modelling is known as the quantum Monte Ca
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Date:
08/17/2020
Using Ears, Not Just Eyes, Improves Robot Perception
People rarely use just one sense to understand the world, but robots usually only rely on vision and, increasingly, touch. Carnegie Mellon University researchers find that robot perception could improve markedly by adding another sense: hearing. In what they say is the first large-scale study of the interacti
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Date:
08/17/2020
Enhancing the Mechanical Properties of Organic Solar Cells

Showcasing research from Professor Ganesh Balasubramanian's laboratory (Group for Interfacial and Nanoengineering), Department of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, USA.

Organic solar cells are ideal for use in flexible electronics because of the inherently malleable nature of semiconducting polymers. Recent research on the interplay between processing, thermodynamics and mechanical stability of typical photoactive layers in organic cells is providing a deeper understanding of
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Date:
08/13/2020
Pressure-Induced 2D-3D Conversion in Hybrid Lead Perovskite

2D-3D transition in hybrid perovskites.

Hydrostatic pressurization can effectively lead to new and improved material properties. However, most of the novel material properties are only retainable at high-pressure states, and therefore warrant no practical applicability at ambient conditions. Recently, a team of international scientists led by Dr. Li
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Date:
08/13/2020
Electronic Components Join to Take 10x Less Space on Chips

Mark Kraman, right, professor Xiuling Li, center, and Mike Yang led a study that integrates the multiple elements needed for the electronic filters found inside wireless devices into a single, self-assembling and space-saving computer chip component.

Electronic filters are essential to the inner workings of our phones and other wireless devices. They eliminate or enhance specific input signals to achieve the desired output signals. They are essential, but take up space on the chips that researchers are on a constant quest to make smaller. A new study demonstrates th
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Date:
08/11/2020
Investigating a Thermal Challenge for MOFs

An illustration of metal organic frameworks (MOFS).

To the naked eye, metal organic frameworks (MOFs) look a little like sand. But if you zoom in, you will see that each grain looks and acts more like a sponge--and serves a similar purpose. MOFs are used to absorb and hold gases, which is useful when trying to filter toxic gases out of the air or as a way to st
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Date:
08/11/2020
How Airplanes Counter St. Elmo's Fire During Thunderstorms
At the height of a thunderstorm, the tips of cell towers, telephone poles, and other tall, electrically conductive structures can spontaneously emit a flash of blue light. This electric glow, known as a corona discharge, is produced when the air surrounding a conductive object is briefly ionized by an electrically ch
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Date:
08/11/2020
TTI Announces Its Partnership with Gowanda
TTI, Inc., is pleased to announce the company is now an authorized distributor of Gowanda Electronics’ inductors and chokes designed for RF, microwave and power applications. For more than 50 years, Gowanda Electronics has been designing and manufacturing high performance components for demanding applicati
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Date:
08/09/2020
A Closer Look at Water-Splitting's Solar Fuel Potential

Francesca Toma (right) and Johanna Eichhorn developed a special technique using an atomic force microscope at Berkeley Lab's JCAP laboratory to capture images of thin-film bismuth vanadate at the nanoscale to understand how a material's properties can affect its performance in an artificial photosynthesis device.

In the fight against climate change, scientists have searched for ways to replace fossil fuels with carbon-free alternatives such as hydrogen fuel. A device known as a photoelectrical chemical cell (PEC) has the potential to produce hydrogen fuel through artificial photosynthesis, an emerging renewable energy te
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Date:
08/09/2020
Anode Material for Safe Batteries with a Long Cycle Life

Researchers hope that new materials help to build safe and durable high-performance cells.

Researchers at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and Jilin University in Changchun/China investigated a highly promising anode material for future high-performance batteries - lithium lanthanum titanate with a perovskite crystal structure (LLTO). As the team reported in the Nature Communications journal, LLT
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Date:
08/09/2020
Towards More Affordable Carbon-Free Electricity
As more states in the U.S. push for increased reliance on variable renewable energy in the form of wind or solar power, long-term energy storage may play an important role in assuring reliability and reducing electricity costs, according to a new paper published by Caltech researchers. Graduate student Jackie Do
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Date:
08/09/2020
Cadenza Li-ion Battery Achieves UL Safety Compliance

An example of Cadenza's Li-ion racks and batteries.

Validating the safety features of its patented lithium-ion (Li-ion) technology, Cadenza Innovation announced that UL9540A testing verifies that the company’s supercell battery architecture stops propagation when thermal runaway is induced inside the battery itself. By doing so, Cadenza’s technology solves a
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Date:
08/06/2020
eTruck reduces CO₂ emissions at Infineon's Regensburg site
Just in time for the World Environment Day, an electric truck was commissioned at the Regensburg site after two weeks of testing. The vehicle of the logistics partner Kühne+Nagel will drive the distance between the factory premises and an external warehouse in the east of the city four times per working day. Thu
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Date:
08/05/2020
COVID-19 hits automotive power semiconductor revenue in 2020
Worldwide revenue for power semiconductors used in automotive applications will fall to $9.1 billion in 2020, down from $10.8 billion in 2019, according to Omdia’s Power Semiconductors in Automotive Report – 2020. “The year 2020 had been expected to bring a rebound for the automotive power semiconductor
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Date:
08/05/2020
University of Limerick and ADI Announce Scholarship Programs
The scholarships will be awarded to students in the United States who are pursuing a PhD and undergraduate degrees at the University of Limerick. The Peter Real Analog Devices Bernal Fulbright PhD Scholarship will be awarded in partnership with the Bernal Institute at UL and the Fulbright Commission. The schol
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Date:
08/05/2020
EPC and VPT Announce Joint Venture – EPC Space
The venture will be focused on designing and manufacturing rad hard GaN-on-silicon transistors and ICs packaged, tested, and qualified for satellite and high-reliability applications. EPC Space will provide advanced, high-reliability, power conversion solutions for critical spaceborne environments in applications including power supplies, lig
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Date:
08/05/2020
Analyzing Pros, Cons of Two Composite Manufacturing Methods

Comparing bulk and frontal polymerization.

Airplane wings, wind turbine blades, and other large parts are typically created using bulk polymerization in composite manufacturing facilities. They are heated and cured in enormous autoclaves and heated molds as big as the finished part. Frontal polymerization is a new out-of-autoclave method for composite ma
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Date:
08/05/2020
Crank GUI Design Platform Helps Ventec Produce Ventilators
In an effort to increase production of respiratory care products in the war against COVID-19, Crank Software teamed with Ventec Life Systems to enable rapid design improvements to the VOCSN critical care ventilator. Crank Software’s Storyboard embedded graphical user interface (GUI) development platform made it
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Date:
08/05/2020
USU Launches Research Center for Electrified Transport
The National Science Foundation has awarded Utah State University a five-year, $26 million grant, renewable to 10-year, $50.6 million, to develop an international research center dedicated to advancing sustainable, electrified transportation. The center is expected to raise more than $200 million over the next decade in government and industry support. The grant establishes an Engineering Research Center focused on developing new infrastructure that facilitates widespread adoption of electric vehicles. The center is named ASPIRE — Advancing Sustainability through Powered Infrastructure for Roadway Electrification. “ASPIRE represents the very best of what a research university brings to the state and community,” said USU President Noelle E. Cockett. “The center will provide unprecedented opportuniti
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Date:
08/04/2020
'Drawn-on-Skin' Electronics for Wearable Monitor Breakthrough

A new form of electronics known as "drawn-on-skin electronics" allows multifunctional sensors and circuits to be drawn on the skin with an ink pen.

A team of researchers led by Cunjiang Yu, Bill D. Cook Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Houston, has developed a new form of electronics known as "drawn-on-skin electronics," allowing multifunctional sensors and circuits to be drawn on the skin with an ink pen. The advance,
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Date:
08/03/2020
Emerson and MHPS Collaborate Power's Digital Transformation

The Emerson and MHPS alliance brings together technology leaders to develop next-generation digital software and solutions that optimize power plant performance and reliability through AI-driven strategies and automated decision-making.

Emerson and Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Americas are joining forces again to develop digital technologies, software and services to help utility customers drive operational excellence in North America. The companies will collaborate on digital solutions to optimize performance and reliability, enable predictive
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Date:
08/03/2020
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