Research

Glasgow University researchers have found a new way to use diamond as the basis of a transistor that remains switched off by default – a development crucial for ensuring safety in devices which carry a large amount of electrical current when switched on. “The challenge for power electronics is that the design of the switch needs to be capable of ...

The ISS National Lab releases its annual report outlining the research work done on the international space station over the past year. The headline figures for space-based R&D include sponsoring 103 payload deliveries resulting in 51 published, peer-reviewed papers. Of the payloads launched to the space station, 80 percent were from commercial entities, reports CASIS, which manages the space lab ...

Modern technology has been revolutionised by the use of lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries, but they still have some significant drawbacks that, as yet, are unresolved, write two specialists at Withers & Rogers. From electric vehicles to mobile phones, Li-ion batteries are used across many industry sectors. However, as they near the end of their life, the battery cells can rapidly degrade ...

Researchers (pictured) from KERI (Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute) have developed large-area, high-capacity lithium-sulphur battery prototypes that deliver an energy density eight times higher than a lithium-ion battery. The researchers created a system that controls the dissolution and diffusion of lithium polysulfides which had been a hurdle in the development of lithium-sulphur batteries on a commercial scale. Lithium polysulfides are produced ...

Aqueous zinc-ion batteries are one potential solution to cost-effective grid-scale energy storage, as the raw materials are cheaper than needed for lithium-ion cells, and the extra weight of zinc is not much of a penalty in static applications. However, as zinc-ions electroplate onto and off of the anode, several destructive processes can occur, including the growth off needle-like ‘dendrites’ (think ...

Aiming to add function to weight-constrained cube-sats, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have integrated flexible electronics into a self-deploying boom, adding only 0.25g of mass. “It’s difficult to get commercial electronics integrated into these super thin structures,” said Illinois professor Xin Ning, who added that anything the team made had to be “able to withstand the harsh environment ...

Argonne National Laboratory has got to the bottom of one of the failure modes of sodium-ion batteries – which suffer structural damage as the large sodium ions move back and forth. Under study were sodium-ion oxide cathodes made from transition-metal core-shell particles – a nickel-rich core surrounded by a cobalt and manganese-rich shell. “The manganese-rich surface gives the particle its ...

3D printing objects in zero-gravity environments could pave the way for orbital fabricators and the University of Glasgow is highlighting the success of its research in this area. Dr Gilles Bailet, of the university’s James Watt School of Engineering, has been awarded a patent for a new system which overcomes the challenges of 3D printing in such an environment. A ...

A quantum-technology-based atomic clock has been developed at the UK’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) to help improve surveillance and reconnaissance by decreasing reliance on GPS technology. GPS can be disrupted or blocked by adversaries and the new system could help conduct more secure and precise operations, said the government agency. The clock – using quantum technology – records ...

Electric vehicle charger location app company Zapmap has published an analysis of road-side chargers in the UK, which indicates a total of 73,699 at the end of 2024, with more than 20,000 of these installed in the preceding 12 months – a year-on-year increase of 38%. The rate of installation grown from an average of 1,400 chargers a month in ...