Making batteries greener and better with algae

Existing batteries are not known for their environmentally friendly components, since most contain heavily toxic chemicals. The much used lithium-ion batteries, best known for their use in cell phones and electric cars, for instance can contain pollutants that may decrease … Continue reading

Graphene and water: another perfect mix

We’ve said it before and we will say it again: graphene is here to stay. This time researchers of the Monash University Department of Materials Engineering seem to have lived up to one of graphene’s long due promises: an extremely … Continue reading

Graphene wins Nobel Prize

We recently reported on Andre Geim, the Dutch physicist (positions at Manchester, Nijmegen, Delft) of Russian descent, who discovered the one-atom-thick carbon-based material graphene – together with his colleague Konstantin Novoselov. Today the Nobel Prize Committee awarded the Nobel Prize … Continue reading

Rare earth getting rarer

State-backed holding company Chinalco – China, Aluminum, Corporation – yesterday announced it will invest 1.5 billion dollars in ‘rare earth’, the collection of 17 trace elements like scandium, yttrium and the lanthanides, which include the densest of metals: iridium – … Continue reading

Graphene: researchers jump chemical prodigy

Improved battery technology may be an important step towards increased electrification of road transport, and may one day, through a network of on-grid EVs, help create the dreamed global storage facility for green electricity – alleviating the problems the straggling … Continue reading