<h2 dir="ltr" id="isPasted">FREE REPORT: Reducing Human Driver Error and Setting Realistic Expectations with Advanced Driver Assistance Systems</h2>Thousands die or are injured each year in automobile crashes. Bringing automated driving systems technologies into the advanced driver assist systems (ADAS) and connected vehicle space will help humans drive more safely and better prepare us for automated vehicles (AVs).Learn more about ADAS and ADS implementation with the goal of reaching zero deaths and serious injuries by downloading this FREE report from SAE International (valued at $50).&nbsp;<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNzAwNzUzODIyNjYzLVJlZHVjaW5nIEh1bWFuIERyaXZlciBFcnJvciBhbmQgU2V0dGluZyBSZWFsaXN0aWMgRXhwZWN0YXRpb25zIHdpdGggQWR2YW5jZWQgRHJpdmVyIEFzc2lzdGFuY2UgU3lzdGVtcy5wbmciLCJlZGl0cyI6eyJyZXNpemUiOnsid2lkdGgiOjk1MCwiZml0IjoiY292ZXIifX19" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib"><h2><iframe width="540" height="740" src="https://c8056756.sibforms.com/serve/MUIFAMdP0A_OGmbm1FBUdHG4Kch9Yvcfk0o7_Lq0Ywvq_bW5DACvNKJTxu581PWdSkLw1Lzm_3zXkKgpDQ0qa9wZF0aMleCF9Dht6uXrWjeRGuMlIbLAG00tAE1k1Zj9J3qZyOnF08P7PZYck76ldPDyWzCbrD6Tvrokkm59XTxP7P4hV7Gz2fXT6er4g7NK0E8nq6obPbX1dAqy" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" allowfullscreen="" style="display: block;margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;max-width: 100%;" class="fr-draggable"></iframe>Battery Recycling Inevitable</h2>The efficient and economical recycling of EV batteries is not just possible, but inevitable, said a panel of battery-recycling experts at the 2023 Battery Show North America in Novi, Mich.&nbsp;Panelists indicated that although the business model is evolving – and is likely to remain comparatively fluid for the near term – the sector’s broad directionals are firming and at least a few aspects of the business have become certain – one being that EV batteries ending up in landfills “absolutely will not happen,” asserted Renata Arsenault, Technical Expert for Advanced Battery Recycling at Ford.Equally important, established recycling companies and startups understand that the EV battery recycling environment will be diverse and require a variety of players at various points and places in the recycling process, said Mike O’Kronley, CEO of Ascend Elements, a startup with a proprietary process focused on recycling material specifically for lithium-ion battery cathodes. He said there will be numerous companies with various specialties needed at different points – geographically and within the recycling process. Localization of both materials supply and operations will be vital as recycling matures, added Ford’s Arsenault.Initiating EV battery recycling will take time to reach the scale and efficiency of recycling entire vehicles, for example, because batteries are more complicated, said Ryan Melsert, CEO at American Battery Technology Company (ABTC), which has a system to recover the individual minerals in lithium-ion batteries. Melsert said the comparative newness of automotive lithium-ion batteries also means recycling processes have yet to reach the efficiencies and scale of established recycling, such as that for lead-acid batteries.Moreover, Melsert said, EV battery recycling must be much more “holistic” in its approach because it will be a requirement to recover more than the “token elements” sought by some systems. “As batteries get higher-performance and more complex, so will the recycling process,” he said.<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNzAwNjQzNTIzNTI1LTIwMjMtYmF0dGVyeS1zaG93LXJlY3ljbGluZy1hcmdvbm5lLWxpZmVjeWNsZS1jaGFydF9nYWxsZXJ5LmpwZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6OTUwLCJmaXQiOiJjb3ZlciJ9fX0=" style="width: 766px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Progression of an end-of-life EV battery through various current recycling processes.<h2>Open- and closed-loop approaches</h2>How automakers and recyclers eventually collaborate remains a question as recycling progresses through early stages of startup, but most panelists agreed that that eventual result is likely to be a “closed loop” process in which automakers form close partnerships with recyclers in what becomes a model in which the automaker “controls materials almost indefinitely, said ABTC’s Melsert. He added that closed-loop arrangements also will help to provide “security of supply” to automakers and their closely-aligned battery-manufacturing partners.A closed-loop system also will be essential, panelists believed, because of eligibility requirements connected to incentives from the federal government’s Inflation Reduction Act. Retaining control of domestically produced materials, from mining through recycling and reuse, will ease the burden of complying with IRA dictates and also allow manufacturers to retain a steady flow of materials not necessarily subject to the economics of the commodities market.“If you’re an OEM, you don’t want to sell that [recycled] material to the highest bidder,” confirmed Ascend’s O’Kronley, saying the material is too important to release to an open market. He said that although the industry will see elements of both open- and closed-loop systems for some time, EV battery recycling is almost certain to evolve to a mostly closed-loop environment.Ford’s Arsenault agreed, saying, “In the early years, we’re going to be somewhat more transactional.” But “the Holy Grail for all of us is to have the fully-closed loop. It seems it would be much more efficient for our customers, too.”<h2>Not much life for second-life</h2>Meanwhile, the panelists had a dim view of the potential for so-called “second-life” use of entire EV batteries once those batteries become too depleted for effective use in a vehicles. Second-life applications – often cited as a viable competitor for recycling – just won’t be the best use of the valuable battery materials, most panelists asserted.Second-life usage “has a lot of barriers,” said Gerardo Ramos-Vivas, Battery Lifecycle senior manager, Toyota Motor North America. “Right now, we’re thinking that’s way out there [in the future].”Ascend’s O’Kronley agreed, adding, “I think the second-life market is going to be a lot smaller than we think about. I truly believe that batteries will be for the life of the vehicle,” and that once a battery has reached the end of its useful life, it will be more efficient and economical to recycle its elements rather than keep the entire battery for a secondary purpose.Second-life usage is “going to be a smaller market than a lot of people are thinking,” said ABTC’s Melsert. He said there’s been an overestimation, as one example, of the stationary-source market’s potential use of second-life automotive batteries. He said it is becoming clearer that stationary sources likely will converge on the desire to use premium-performance batteries rather than make use of repurposed batteries.

Battery recycling experts at the 2023 Battery Show North America indicate a sustainable recycling business model is coming into focus.

EV Battery recycling still being defined

Tandem solar cells based on perovskite semiconductors can convert sunlight into electricity more efficiently than conventional silicon solar cells.&nbsp;In order to bring this technology to market, stability and production processes must be further improved.&nbsp;Researchers from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) as well as the Helmholtz Imaging platforms at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and Helmholtz AI have now found a way to predict the quality of the perovskite layers and thus the solar cells: using machine learning and new artificial methods Intelligence (AI) allows this to be recognized during production from variations in light emission.&nbsp;The team reports on the results from which improved production processes can be derived in Advanced Materials (DOI: 10.1002/adma.202307160).Perovskite tandem solar cells combine a perovskite with a conventional solar cell, for example based on silicon.&nbsp;They are considered next-generation technology because, with an efficiency of currently more than 33 percent, they are much more efficient than conventional silicon solar cells - with inexpensive starting materials and simple manufacturing methods.&nbsp;The prerequisite for achieving this level of efficiency is a very high-quality and extremely thin perovskite layer, which is only a fraction of the thickness of a human hair.&nbsp;“One of the biggest challenges is to produce these high-quality so-called multicrystalline thin films using cost-effective and scalable processes without defects and holes,” explains tenure-track professor Ulrich W. Paetzold from the Institute of Microstructure Technology and the Light Engineering Institute of KIT.&nbsp;Even under apparently perfect conditions in the laboratory, unknown influences lead to fluctuations in the quality of the semiconductor layers: “This ultimately prevents the rapid start of industrial production of these highly efficient solar cells, which we so urgently need for the energy transition,” says Paetzold.<h2>AI finds hidden signs of a good coating</h2>In order to find out which factors influence the coating, an interdisciplinary team of perovskite solar cell experts from KIT teamed up with machine learning and explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) specialists from Helmholtz Imaging (at the DKFZ in Heidelberg) and Helmholtz AI ( at KIT).&nbsp;The researchers have developed AI methods that train and analyze so-called neural networks using a large data set.&nbsp;The data set includes video recordings of the photoluminescence of the perovskite thin films during the manufacturing process.&nbsp;Photoluminescence refers to the radiant emission of the semiconductor layers after excitation by an external light source.&nbsp;“Since even experts couldn’t see anything remarkable on the thin films, the idea arose to train an AI for machine learning (deep learning) to find hidden indicators of a good or bad coating in the millions of data from the videos,” explain Lukas Klein and Sebastian Ziegler from Helmholtz Imaging at the DKFZ. &nbsp; In order to filter and analyze the very broad information provided by deep learning AI, the researchers subsequently used methods of explainable artificial intelligence.<h2>“Blueprint for follow-up research”</h2>The result: In the experiment, the researchers were able to see that the photoluminescence varies during production and this influences the coating quality. “What was crucial in our work was that we specifically used XAI methods to see which factors would have to change for a high-quality solar cell,” said Klein and Ziegler. That is usually not the case. Most of the time, XAI is only used as a kind of guardrail to avoid errors when building AI models: “This is a paradigm shift, and the fact that we can systematically gain highly relevant findings in materials science in this way is new.” Because the answer is based on the variation of the Photoluminescence enabled the researchers to go further. After appropriate training of the neural networks, the AI was able to predict whether the solar cell would achieve low or high efficiency, depending on when and what variation in light emission occurred during production. “These are extremely exciting results,” says Ulrich W. Paetzold. “Thanks to the combined use of AI, we have an idea of which adjustments we need to make first in order to improve production. We can carry out our experiments in a more targeted manner and no longer have to search for a needle in a haystack in the dark. This is a blueprint for follow-up research, including for many other aspects in energy research and materials science.”<hr><h3>Original publication</h3>Lukas Klein, Sebastian Ziegler, Felix Laufer, Charlotte Debus, Markus Götz, Klaus Maier-Hein, Ulrich W. Paetzold, Fabian Isensee, Paul F. Jäger: Discovering Process Dynamics for Scalable Perovskite Solar Cell Manufacturing with Explainable AI. Advanced Materials, 2023. DOI: 10.1002/adma.202307160

With the support of AI methods, researchers want to improve the manufacturing processes for highly efficient perovskite solar cells (Photo: Amadeus Bramsiepe, KIT)

Artificial intelligence methods show researchers the way to improved manufacturing processes for highly efficient solar cells - a blueprint for other research fields

AI for Perovskite Solar Cells: Key to Better Production

When it comes to powering dynamic, high-power applications, batteries are inefficient and expensive. Luckily, there is a solution - supercapacitors. Supercapacitors are well-known for their ability to help batteries do more by storing large amounts of power by leveraging their extremely low internal resistance. This makes them ideal for demanding applications that require fast charging and discharging. In this blog post, we will discuss the shortcomings of batteries, supercapacitor technologies, advantages of pairing them with batteries to create the best of both worlds and explore popular supercapacitor solutions.<h2>Batteries Have Shortcomings </h2>Batteries, while commonly used in applications that require long-duration energy storage capacity, have several shortcomings that make them inefficient and expensive in dynamic, high-power applications. One major drawback is their limited power density. Batteries have a lower power density compared to supercapacitors, which means they cannot provide high bursts of power quickly. This can be a problem in scenarios where peak power capacity is crucial. Additionally, not all batteries are the same. Choosing battery chemistries and constructions that are more capable of high power comes at a cost, either in terms of energy storage capacity, cycle life, or price per kWh ($/kWh). Some chemistries, like lithium-titanium-oxide (LTO), are very capable of such high bursts of power but they store significantly less energy than mainstream chemistries like lithium iron phosphate (LFP) and cost 5x more per kWh. &nbsp;Additionally, batteries have a limited lifetime due to their chemical reactions. The constant charging and discharging cycles cause degradation over time, resulting in reduced capacity and performance. Another limitation of batteries is their slower charging and discharging rates. They take longer to charge, and discharge compared to supercapacitors, which can be a significant disadvantage in time-sensitive applications. Moreover, batteries rely on finite resources such as lithium, which may pose sustainability issues in the long run.&nbsp;Batteries have shortcomings when it comes to power density, lifetime, charging and discharging rates, and resource sustainability. Alternatively, supercapacitors have high power densities, long lifespans, fast energy transfers, and a more reliable supply chain. You probably already knew that, and it is likely why you are reading this article and searching for a "supercapacitor battery." You want to know if it’s possible to get the best of both worlds, and good news, it is.<h2>What are Supercapacitors?</h2>Supercapacitors, also known as ultracapacitors, are an energy storage technology that heavily relies on an electrostatic mechanism to store energy. This is why they are safe, reliable, and so capable of handling short bursts of power. Supercapacitors are essentially the opposite of a battery, which relies heavily on a chemical mechanism to store energy.&nbsp;Supercapacitors have a power density that is &gt;10x greater than batteries, allowing them to deliver more power per unit weight. This makes them ideal for applications that are dynamic, intermittent, and require high power capacities. Since supercapacitors do not rely on chemical reactions, they can charge and discharge much faster.&nbsp;<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNzAwMjE1OTQ2MDQ2LTE3MDAyMTU5NDYwNDYucG5nIiwiZWRpdHMiOnsicmVzaXplIjp7IndpZHRoIjo5NTAsImZpdCI6ImNvdmVyIn19fQ==" style="width: 766px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Cells like these are connected together to form modules that are connected together to meet requirements of a given applicationAnother advantage of supercapacitors is their longer lifespan. Batteries degrade over time due to the constant charging and discharging cycles, resulting in reduced capacity and performance. Supercapacitors, on the other hand, can withstand thousands, if not millions, of charge and discharge cycles without significant degradation.&nbsp;Supercapacitors are not perfect though. They are poor options for long-duration energy storage projects. A battery or fuel cell is a much better option if that is what you need. Batteries have an energy density that is &gt;10x greater than a supercapacitor, which shows up in the cost per kWh and is a major impediment to using supercapacitors in applications that require longer-duration storage. &nbsp;<h2>Supercapacitor for Dynamic, High-Power Scenarios</h2><img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1700216414438-waldemar-rHfTdK9YU2Q-unsplash.jpg" style="width: 766px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Photo by Waldemar on UnsplashSupercapacitors have found numerous applications in dynamic, high-power scenarios, offering superior performance compared to traditional batteries. One prominent application is in electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), where the high-power density of supercapacitors allows for rapid energy transfer during acceleration and regenerative braking. This enables faster charging and discharging cycles, optimizing the overall efficiency of the vehicle.Renewable energy systems, such as wind turbines and solar farms, can also benefit from the use of supercapacitors. Supercapacitors can help balance the intermittent nature of renewable energy sources and enable ancillary services like frequency response for the grid. This allows for a more stable and reliable power supply using renewable energy sources, which will become increasingly important as more renewable sources are connected to the grid.<h2>Supercapacitor Design Considerations&nbsp;</h2>When considering the design of a product that utilizes supercapacitors, there are several important considerations to keep in mind. One key aspect is the power requirements of the application. Supercapacitors are known for their high-power density, which means they can deliver quick bursts of power when needed. The key question is how much power is needed for how long before the supercapacitors can be recharged?&nbsp;Another factor to consider is the voltage rating of the supercapacitor. It is essential to choose a supercapacitor with a voltage rating that matches or exceeds the maximum DC voltage of the application where the supercapacitor will be connected. Unlike a battery, supercapacitors have a very wide operating voltage range and can discharge down to nearly 0V. It is important to consider the cutoff voltage of the application because the storage capacity of the supercapacitor is related to the voltage range of the application.<h2>The Road to a Supercapacitor Battery</h2>Here is the thing though, a supercapacitor-only energy storage system will have shortcomings just as a battery-only system would. They would be a different set of shortcomings and challenges, but there is no one-size-fits-all energy storage technology. A battery-only system will be oversized to meet peak power requirements while a supercapacitor-only system will be oversized to meet energy storage requirements.&nbsp;Instead, these technologies need to be working together as a team. Both batteries and supercapacitors have abilities and characteristics that the other does not have. To reach net zero goals in renewables and e-mobility, the war between batteries and supercapacitors must end. These technologies use different chemistries and are physically different.&nbsp;<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1700216283739-staff-engineer-job-description-4088x2725-20201127.jpeg" style="width: 766px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">That is not to say there will never be a Supercapacitor Battery. Just that there are a few words missing after it: Hybrid Energy Storage System. Pairing supercapacitors with batteries is a known solution to address shortcomings. As we have been saying, where one is strong the other is weak and vice versa. Working together as a team is the best solution we have short of waiting for the next Nobel Prize-winning breakthrough in chemistry.&nbsp;Batteries need supercapacitors. Supercapacitors need batteries. &nbsp;In many applications, we recommend pairing the most energy-dense batteries with power-dense supercapacitors. The batteries are sized for energy storage and steady-state power requirements while the supercapacitors are sized for peak power requirements. The result is the best of both worlds, a hybrid future. &nbsp;<h2>How to Choose the Right Supercapacitor for Your Battery</h2>There are different kinds of supercapacitors just like there are different kinds of batteries, one of their few similarities. When it comes to choosing the right supercapacitor for the project, there are a few factors to consider: the battery and available space.&nbsp;Complementing a battery with a supercapacitor may create more design flexibility with battery selection since the stress of peak power scenarios is taken off the battery by the supercapacitor. This may make it possible to use a less expensive battery or use a battery with a higher energy density that takes up less space. It is important to review the power profile and use case data ahead of selecting the battery and supercapacitor.&nbsp;The second major question is how much space is available. If the application is a solar farm in the middle of the desert where land is cheap and extra space is available - use a traditional supercapacitor energy storage system to pair with batteries. We recommend checking out products from Skeleton, AVX, and Maxwell. These companies are very good at what they do (making supercapacitor cells, modules, and systems).&nbsp;But what if space is not abundant? This is often the case for electric vehicle OEMs, solar car ports, EV charging systems, commercial and industrial energy storage systems, and even microgrids installed at the local park. We recommend our supercapacitor products for that. First, our supercapacitors come in a flexible, cable-like form factor and are an end-to-end solution specifically designed to complement batteries as a hybrid energy storage system. Just about every power application requires wires and cabling to move energy from one place to the other. When space is limited, it is time to add a new feature to that infrastructure and turn it into an energy storage asset. Our products connect renewables (sources) and long-duration storage (batteries or fuel cells) together and to their load (like the grid, an EV, or the motor inside an EV). &nbsp;<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1700216322113-1700216322113.png" style="width: 766px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib"><h2>Supercapacitor Battery Hybrid Energy Storage System Case Study&nbsp;</h2>Capacitech helped Red Bull power an event in the middle of the desert. Our job was to complement the battery and help it power an extremely dynamic and unpredictable load. Solar power was used to charge a 5kWh battery, which was then connected to the load through our supercapacitor-cable routed through the bushes to stay discreet and camera friendly. Thanks to the supercapacitors, our power electronics, and control algorithms, we were able to power the load successfully (something the battery could not do on its own).<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tNTM8jn3o64?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https://www.wevolver.com" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable" data-lf-form-tracking-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-yt-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-vimeo-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true">&nbsp;</iframe><hr><h2 id="isPasted">Frequently Asked Questions About Supercapacitors</h2>1. How do supercapacitors compare to batteries?Supercapacitors have several advantages over batteries. They have a higher power density, meaning they can deliver quick bursts of power when needed. They also have a longer lifespan, with the ability to endure thousands, if not millions, of charge and discharge cycles. Additionally, supercapacitors have faster charge and discharge rates compared to batteries, making them suitable for time-sensitive applications. Batteries also have several advantages over supercapacitors, such as their high energy density and ability to meet long duration requirements.&nbsp;2. Can supercapacitors replace batteries completely?Supercapacitors might replace batteries in a select few applications (such as in IoT devices that do not require energy to be stored for hours) but are not meant to replace batteries completely. Instead, batteries and supercapacitors should be working together as a team to get the best results.&nbsp;3. Are supercapacitors more expensive than batteries?Tough question. Batteries are cheaper per unit of energy ($/kWh) but supercapacitors are cheaper per unit of power ($/kW). However, supercapacitors have a long lifespan that can lead to cost savings in the long run.&nbsp;4. Why are supercapacitors not used more often? There have been two historical challenges facing supercapacitors. The first is that there are fewer off-the-shelf solutions available to integrate supercapacitors with batteries and renewables (Capacitech fixed that). The second is that space is limited and needs to be optimized for the priorities of the project, creating a competition between them and other energy storage technologies (Capacitech fixed that too with our cable form factor which makes it easy to hide supercapacitors inside wiring infrastructure).

When it comes to powering dynamic, high-power applications, batteries are inefficient and expensive. Luckily, there is a solution - supercapacitors.

Looking for a Supercapacitor Battery?

Now that ChatGPT has revealed connections in meaning that can emerge from the simple premise of predicting the next word, a team of researchers led by the University of Michigan aims to do the same for atoms strung together to build molecules.The research is supported with a one-year grant from the Department of Energy providing 200,000 node hours on <a href="https://www.alcf.anl.gov/polaris" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Polaris, a 34-petaflop supercomputer</a> at Argonne National Laboratory. The team will build a foundational model for molecules, similar to the GPT models that support applications like ChatGPT. The new model will focus on small organic molecules with relevance to energy storage and conversion applications—mainly composed of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen.“What we’ve learned from language models is that size matters. The interesting behavior happens when you make it very big,” said <a href="https://aero.engin.umich.edu/people/viswanathan-venkat/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Venkat Viswanathan</a>, U-M associate professor of aerospace engineering and principal investigator of the award. “If you train on a small amount of data and ask it to write Shakespeare, it’s not good. But a larger data set is better, and when it’s big enough, text that sounds like Shakespeare emerges.”The team is planning to use their model to predict better battery electrolytes—the medium through which ions shuttle from one electrode to the other during charge and discharge cycles. Many electrode pairs offer the potential for higher energy densities than our current lithium-based batteries, but the electrolyte needs to work with both electrodes. That’s often a tall order, and the team is betting AI can help.As with GPT’s steady diet of text with no annotation, the chemical model will be fed text-based representations of atomic structures with no additional information like chemical properties.“There are several billions of molecules that are possible to make, and we have the text-based representation for them,” Viswanathan said. “Our slice of that will be synthesizable small molecules similar to those used in pharmaceuticals and electrolytes.”When the model is able to predict missing atoms in small organic compounds, the team will move on to fine-tuning—feeding it the properties of some compounds and asking it to predict the properties of others. Through iterative feedback, they intend to build an AI that can master small organic molecule chemistry.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1700105217509-model-diagram.jpg" style="width: 766px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">The diagram shows 2D representations of molecular structures on the left, simplified to text representations in the arrows and then mapped by the foundational model in a way that enables it to predict molecular properties and design molecules with the right properties. Credit: Viswanathan Group, University of Michigan“Deep Forest Sciences has built considerable expertise in applying molecular foundation models to drug discovery, and we are excited to apply that knowledge to batteries,” said Bharath Ramsundar, founder and CEO of Deep Forest Sciences, and a key collaborator in building the model.&nbsp;Once the model is up and running, the team will ask it to predict electrolytes suited to a particular pair of electrodes. It will then experimentally test each prescription in the lab with a robotic setup, Clio, that was developed by Viswanathan and collaborator&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cmu.edu/epp/people/faculty/jay-f-whitacre.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jay Whitacre</a>, professor of materials science, engineering and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University.They are also looking for new design rules that may emerge from the model—rules that humans haven’t been able to consider.“When we learn chemistry, we learn each rule, and then we learn about a dozen exceptions,” Viswanathan said. “Can this now help us learn better rules or be able to design with more sophisticated combined rules?”As an example, he said that it was easy for humans to add one atom to a structure and see whether it works or not. Adding pairs of atoms to the structure at different locations results in too many possibilities for humans to easily parse. But AI might be able to do it.The DOE’s&nbsp;<a href="https://science.osti.gov/ascr/Facilities/Accessing-ASCR-Facilities/INCITE/About-incite" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">INCITE program</a>, which provides the funding for this study, was conceived to seek out computationally intensive, large-scale research projects with the potential to significantly advance key areas in science and engineering.

Taking inspiration from the word-predicting large language models, a U-M team is kickstarting an atom-predicting model with 200,000 node hours on Argonne’s Polaris.

Building a chemical 'GPT' to help design a key battery component

In this episode, we dive into how MIT researchers have found a new way of efficiently leveraging the abundant carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to create clean, stable fuel capable of addressing Hydrogen’s shortcomings while still offering its core benefits!

Podcast: Converting CO2 To Clean Fuel

The <a href="https://www.wevolver.com/article/connect-for-good-low-power-wireless-sustainability-challenge" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Connect for Good Challenge</a>, a joint initiative by Nordic Semiconductor, Mouser Electronics, Soracom, and Crowd Supply, united a global network of engineers, entrepreneurs, and developers.&nbsp;Their mission was clear: to devise low-power wireless solutions that contribute towards achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals while also utilizing the nRF9160 DK.This challenge attracted an impressive 116 entries, each entry a testament to the&nbsp;<iframe id="63dd10be17a2d300080113f2" width="250" class="specs-iframe" height="440" src="https://wevolver.com/iframe/specs/nrf9160-development-kit?iframe=true" frameborder="0" scrolling="false" data-lf-form-tracking-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-yt-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-vimeo-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true"></iframe> unwavering commitment towards sustainable development from innovators across the globe.From the extensive pool of innovative concepts, ten projects stood out as finalists. These projects presented a diverse range of solutions, from seismic sensor networks designed for earthquake-prone regions to cutting-edge bioreactors capable of carbon capture. The top ten entries met the challenge's high standards and exemplified the immense potential and impact of low-power wireless technology in tackling critical sustainability issues worldwide.With the stage set by these trailblazing finalists, we now turn our attention to presenting the Connect for Good Challenge winners.<h2 dir="ltr">Grand Winner - Ivan Araquistain from Tecnalia Project: Monitoring and Anomaly detection on sustainable logistics infrastructure</h2>Ivan Araquistain’s winning project presents an innovative solution for the green transport of perishable goods, eliminating the need for energy-intensive refrigerated cargo trailers. This achievement is significant for the logistics industry, offering a more sustainable method of transport while ensuring the cold chain's integrity.<img data-fr-image-pasted="true" src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/NshYbRl37Cb-aLTarym3rpMt35cPUxJs9lm3y6Mhqqufr2E7rQFo8bPFbbECXZTtVFdVtzvlbvXDv_3W5gF2TKCStdk8-7eNSmgiKxWUuxgKTPg0ZEIzzevOLQ_Hb7DKTuTeFquVBZLVjntP8I7ZyLw" width="602" height="401" id="isPasted" class="fr-fic fr-dii">Image credit: Ivan AraquistainThe project's core is an IoT device equipped with a suite of sensors and GPS, enabling efficient tracking and monitoring of goods. Key component of this project is the integration of the NRF9160-DK, chosen specifically for its low energy consumption and reliable cellular connectivity. By leveraging low-energy technology and incorporating mini solar panels, the device can operate autonomously, making it a model for sustainable transport in the logistics sector.<img data-fr-image-pasted="true" src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/B2V5gCBDYosXNk3swpt2I3jeqcKF0bl19narcvtPj5rqi8vIeBbP_Qz4c8SpnvaZ8wnGtJkosOl0CuLxLzkoLxxyIIE-buMk7k8sRrNOk7V_AL2Mr3ijuQIWVMMw3JSY5FqJEtcymFL83vlektHnm5Y" width="698" height="432" class="fr-fic fr-dii">Image credit: Ivan AraquistainThe practical implications of this project are immense, directly impacting Sustainable Development Goals 7, 11, and 13. It exemplifies a significant stride toward reducing energy consumption in logistics, offering an eco-friendly alternative that can reshape how goods are transported globally. This project's success could pave the way for a more sustainable logistics industry, significantly reducing carbon emissions and operational costs.<h2 dir="ltr">Second Place - Patrick Whetman’s Initiative: Ai Honey Bee Swarm Detector / Predictor System</h2>In second place, Patrick Whetman's project focuses on the conservation of the native bee species. This endeavor is crucial for ecological balance and biodiversity, as bees play a vital role in pollination. Whetman’s project utilizes LoRa radio technology for communication, specifically designed for rural and remote areas. The system's low power requirement, complemented by compact solar panels, ensures its sustainability and efficiency.<img data-fr-image-pasted="true" src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/BVm91tDSOoMs6upkJMV4AINayDJ8Zk-TXSVdtA8rMGZvRNIcdSDiYqZmcsMIx_76lVzdd02rxiv4qNifl_XG-iEj2bM19_4RxaB51VxtCuU4plfeFCkincgrLa_TFGR3xA_QX-RxxvqwPJ1VUK8SK8o" width="602" height="501" class="fr-fic fr-dii">Image credit: Patrick WhetmanAddressing Sustainable Development Goal 15, this project is pivotal in conserving life on land. It not only protects a vital species but also educates and raises awareness about the importance of biodiversity. The potential for adaptation in various regions, especially those with similar ecological concerns, is vast, making it a scalable solution for global bee conservation efforts.<h2 dir="ltr">Third Place - Aris Maaniq’s Carbonbox Bioreactor</h2>Securing the third position, Aris Maaniq’s project, the Carbonbox Bioreactor, targets a crucial environmental concern – industrial CO2 emissions. This biological reactor utilizes microorganisms for carbon capture, converting CO2 from industrial flue gas into oxygen. The project integrates the Nordic nRF9160 for monitoring and controlling the bioreactor environment, ensuring optimal conditions for the microorganisms.&nbsp;<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjk5OTY5NzcyMzEzLUlNR18yMDIzMTExNF8wNzEwMDBfNTI0LmpwZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6OTUwLCJmaXQiOiJjb3ZlciJ9fX0=" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Image credit: Aris MaaniqThis bioreactor directly contributes to Sustainable Development Goal 13 (Climate Action), offering a novel approach to fighting climate change. It represents a significant step towards sustainable industrial practices, potentially transforming how industries manage their carbon footprint.<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjk5OTcwMDU3ODAyLUlNR18yMDIzMDMzMF8wMDUzNDMuanBnIiwiZWRpdHMiOnsicmVzaXplIjp7IndpZHRoIjo5NTAsImZpdCI6ImNvdmVyIn19fQ==" style="width: 246px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Image credit: Aris Maaniq<h2 dir="ltr">A Step Towards a Sustainable Future</h2>The Connect for Good Challenge has successfully showcased the significant role that engineering and technology play in solving environmental issues. The winners, Ivan Araquistain, Patrick Whetman, and Aris Maaniq, have each offered unique and effective solutions that promise a more sustainable future by addressing complex sustainability challenges.&nbsp; These projects, along with the other finalists, serve as inspiring examples of how focused innovation and hard work in the field of engineering, paid with low power wireless IoT solutions, can lead to meaningful environmental progress. Thank you all for participating in this amazing challenge and we are looking forward to seeing you around to next endeavours!

Spotlighting Innovation: Celebrating the Connect for Good Challenge Winners


Connect for Good Challenge Winners: Logistics Infrastructure Monitoring, Smart Bees and Bioreactors

In this episode, we discuss a novel approach from ETH Zurich to remove a design bottleneck from solar reactors that enables power generation output that is 2X the current state of the art!

Podcast: Solar Fuel Reactor Generates Energy Out of Thin Air

With a slew of impressive properties, transition metal carbides, generally referred to as MXenes, are exciting nanomaterials being explored in the energy storage sector. MXenes are two-dimensional materials that consist of flakes as thin as a few nanometers. Their outstanding mechanical strength, ultrahigh surface-to-volume ratio, and superior electrochemical stability make them promising candidates as supercapacitors—that is, as long as they can be arranged in 3D architectures where there is a sufficient volume of nanomaterials and their large surfaces are available for reactions.During processing, MXenes tend to restack, compromising accessibility and impeding the performance of individual flakes, thereby diminishing some of their significant advantages. To circumvent this obstacle. <a href="https://engineering.cmu.edu/directory/bios/panat-rahul.html" target="_blank">Rahul Panat</a> and <a href="https://engineering.cmu.edu/directory/bios/ozdoganlar-burak.html" target="_blank">Burak Ozdoganlar</a>, along with Ph.D. candidate Mert Arslanoglu, from the Mechanical Engineering Department at Carnegie Mellon University have developed an entirely new material system that arranges 2D MXene nanosheets into a 3D structure. This is accomplished by infiltrating MXene into a porous ceramic scaffold, or backbone. The ceramic backbone is fabricated using the freeze-casting technique, which produces open-pore structures with controlled pore dimensions and pore directionality.<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjk5NDk4OTY1NTUzLTExMDItZW0tMi1teGVuZS1iYWNrYm9uZS5wbmciLCJlZGl0cyI6eyJyZXNpemUiOnsid2lkdGgiOjk1MCwiZml0IjoiY292ZXIifX19" style="width: 766px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">A MXene infiltrated porous silica sample with a zoomed in 3D figure showing the thin-layer coating of internal pore surfaces by MXene flakes while preserving the structural porosity. A high-magnification back-scattered SEM image of an infiltrated sample shows the thin-layer MXene coating“We are able to infiltrate MXene flakes dispersed in a solvent into a freeze-cast porous ceramic structure,” explained Panat, a professor of <a href="https://www.meche.engineering.cmu.edu/index.html" rel="noopener" target="_blank" id="isPasted">mechanical engineering</a>. “As the system dries, the 2D MXene flakes uniformly coat the internal surfaces of the interconnected pores of the ceramic without losing any essential attributes.”<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjk5NDk4OTk0NjQ0LTExMDItZW0tbXhlbmUtYmFja2JvbmUucG5nIiwiZWRpdHMiOnsicmVzaXplIjp7IndpZHRoIjo5NTAsImZpdCI6ImNvdmVyIn19fQ==" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">“Sandwich-type” two-electrode MXene supercapacitor powers LED light.As described in <a href="https://engineering.cmu.edu/news-events/news/2022/08/02-3d-ice.html" target="_blank">their earlier publication</a>, the solvent used in their freeze-casting approach is a chemical called camphene, which produces tree-like dendritic structures when frozen. Other types of pore distributions can also be obtained by using different solvents.To test the samples, the team constructed “sandwich-type” two-electrode supercapacitors and connected them to an LED light with an operating voltage of 2.5V. The supercapacitors successfully powered the light with higher power density and energy density values than previously obtained for any MXene-based supercapacitors.“Not only have we demonstrated an exceptional way to utilize MXene, we’ve done so in a way that is reproducible and scalable,” said Ozdoganlar, also a professor of mechanical engineering. “Our new material system can be mass-manufactured at desired dimensions to be used in commercial devices. We believe this can have a tremendous impact on energy storage devices, and thus, on applications such as electric vehicles.”<blockquote>Our new material system can be mass-manufactured o be used in commercial devices. We believe it can have a tremendous impact on energy storage devices.<cite>Burak Ozdoganlar, <cite id="isPasted">Professor<cite>, Mechanical Engineering</cite></cite> </cite></blockquote>With outstanding experimental results and electrical conductivity that can be finely tuned by controlling the MXene concentration and the porosity of the backbone, this material system, recently described in an article published in <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adma.202304757" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Advanced Materials</a>, has far-reaching potential for batteries, fuel cells, decarbonization systems, and catalytic devices. We may even see an MXene supercapacitor power our electric vehicles one day.“Our approach can be applied to other nano-scale materials, like graphene, and the backbone can be built from materials beyond ceramics, including polymers and metals,” Panat said. “This structure could enable a wide range of emerging and novel technology applications.”

For the first time, researchers have arranged 2D MXene nanosheets into a 3D structure without compromising performance—a technology with the potential to have a tremendous impact on energy storage devices for applications like electric vehicles.

From 2D to 3D: MXene's path to revolutionizing energy storage and more

This article was discussed in our <a href="https://www.wevolver.com/profile/the.next.byte" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Next Byte podcast</a>.&nbsp;<iframe height="200px" width="100%" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://player.simplecast.com/1b7aa39d-b7fc-4b88-8961-8bb4db9d0f41?dark=false" class="fr-draggable" data-lf-form-tracking-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-yt-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-vimeo-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true"></iframe>The full article will continue below.<hr>The search is on worldwide to find ways to extract carbon dioxide from the air or from power plant exhaust and then make it into something useful. One of the more promising ideas is to make it into a stable fuel that can replace fossil fuels in some applications. But most such conversion processes have had problems with low carbon efficiency, or they produce fuels that can be hard to handle, toxic, or flammable.Now, researchers at MIT and Harvard University have developed an efficient process that can convert carbon dioxide into formate, a liquid or solid material that can be used like hydrogen or methanol to power a fuel cell and generate electricity. Potassium or sodium formate, already produced at industrial scales and commonly used as a de-icer for roads and sidewalks, is nontoxic, nonflammable, easy to store and transport, and can remain stable in ordinary steel tanks to be used months, or even years, after its production.The new process, developed by MIT doctoral students Zhen Zhang, Zhichu Ren, and Alexander H. Quinn; Harvard University doctoral student Dawei Xi; and MIT Professor Ju Li, is described this week in an <a href="https://www.cell.com/cell-reports-physical-science/fulltext/S2666-3864(23)00485-X" target="_blank">open-access paper in Cell Reports Physical Science</a>. The whole process — including capture and electrochemical conversion of the gas to a solid formate powder, which is then used in a fuel cell to produce electricity — was demonstrated at a small, laboratory scale. However, the researchers expect it to be scalable so that it could provide emissions-free heat and power to individual homes and even be used in industrial or grid-scale applications.<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjk4NzM2MzM3MjQ3LU1JVC1GdWVsZnJvbS0wMS1wcmVzcy5qcGciLCJlZGl0cyI6eyJyZXNpemUiOnsid2lkdGgiOjk1MCwiZml0IjoiY292ZXIifX19" style="width: 766px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">A schematic shows the formate process. The top left shows a household powered by the direct formate fuel cell, with formate fuel stored in the underground tank. In the middle, the fuel cell that harnesses formate to supply electricity is shown. On the lower right is the electrolyzer that converts bicarbonate into formate. Image: Shuhan Miao, Harvard Graduate School of DesignOther approaches to converting carbon dioxide into fuel, Li explains, usually involve a two-stage process: First the gas is chemically captured and turned into a solid form as calcium carbonate, then later that material is heated to drive off the carbon dioxide and convert it to a fuel feedstock such as carbon monoxide. That second step has very low efficiency, typically converting less than 20 percent of the gaseous carbon dioxide into the desired product, Li says.By contrast, the new process achieves a conversion of well over 90 percent and eliminates the need for the inefficient heating step by first converting the carbon dioxide into an intermediate form, liquid metal bicarbonate. That liquid is then electrochemically converted into liquid potassium or sodium formate in an electrolyzer that uses low-carbon electricity, e.g. nuclear, wind, or solar power. The highly concentrated liquid potassium or sodium formate solution produced can then be dried, for example by solar evaporation, to produce a solid powder that is highly stable and can be stored in ordinary steel tanks for up to years or even decades, Li says.Several steps of optimization developed by the team made all the difference in changing an inefficient chemical-conversion process into a practical solution, says Li, who holds joint appointments in the departments of Nuclear Science and Engineering and of Materials Science and Engineering.The process of carbon capture and conversion involves first an alkaline solution-based capture that concentrates carbon dioxide, either from concentrated streams such as from power plant emissions or from very low-concentration sources, even open air, into the form of a liquid metal-bicarbonate solution. Then, through the use of a cation-exchange membrane electrolyzer, this bicarbonate is electrochemically converted into solid formate crystals with a carbon efficiency of greater than 96 percent, as confirmed in the team’s lab-scale experiments.These crystals have an indefinite shelf life, remaining so stable that they could be stored for years, or even decades, with little or no loss. By comparison, even the best available practical hydrogen storage tanks allow the gas to leak out at a rate of about 1 percent per day, precluding any uses that would require year-long storage, Li says. Methanol, another widely explored alternative for converting carbon dioxide into a fuel usable in fuel cells, is a toxic substance that cannot easily be adapted to use in situations where leakage could pose a health hazard. Formate, on the other hand, is widely used and considered benign, according to national safety standards.Several improvements account for the greatly improved efficiency of this process. First, a careful design of the membrane materials and their configuration overcomes a problem that previous attempts at such a system have encountered, where a buildup of certain chemical byproducts changes the pH, causing the system to steadily lose efficiency over time. “Traditionally, it is difficult to achieve long-term, stable, continuous conversion of the feedstocks,” Zhang says. “The key to our system is to achieve a pH balance for steady-state conversion.”To achieve that, the researchers carried out thermodynamic modeling to design the new process so that it is chemically balanced and the pH remains at a steady state with no shift in acidity over time. It can therefore continue operating efficiently over long periods. In their tests, the system ran for over 200 hours with no significant decrease in output. The whole process can be done at ambient temperatures and relatively low pressures (about five times atmospheric pressure).Another issue was that unwanted side reactions produced other chemical products that were not useful, but the team figured out a way to prevent these side reactions by the introduction of an extra “buffer” layer of bicarbonate-enriched fiberglass wool that blocked these reactions.The team also built a fuel cell specifically optimized for the use of this formate fuel to produce electricity. The stored formate particles are simply dissolved in water and pumped into the fuel cell as needed. Although the solid fuel is much heavier than pure hydrogen, when the weight and volume of the high-pressure gas tanks needed to store hydrogen is considered, the end result is an electricity output near parity for a given storage volume, Li says.The formate fuel can potentially be adapted for anything from home-sized units to large scale industrial uses or grid-scale storage systems, the researchers say. Initial household applications might involve an electrolyzer unit about the size of a refrigerator to capture and convert the carbon dioxide into formate, which could be stored in an underground or rooftop tank. Then, when needed, the powdered solid would be mixed with water and fed into a fuel cell to provide power and heat. “This is for community or household demonstrations,” Zhang says, “but we believe that also in the future it may be good for factories or the grid.”“The formate economy is an intriguing concept because metal formate salts are very benign and stable, and a compelling energy carrier,” says Ted Sargent, a professor of chemistry and of electrical and computer engineering at Northwestern University, who was not associated with this work. “The authors have demonstrated enhanced efficiency in liquid-to-liquid conversion from bicarbonate feedstock to formate, and have demonstrated these fuels can be used later to produce electricity,” he says.

An electrolzyer configuration with a bicarbonate cathode, intermediate buffer layer, cation exchange membrane and a water anode. Image: Shuhan Miao, Harvard Graduate School of Design

The approach directly converts the greenhouse gas into formate, a solid fuel that can be stored indefinitely and could be used to heat homes or power industries.

Engineers develop an efficient process to make fuel from carbon dioxide

This article was discussed in our <a href="https://www.wevolver.com/profile/the.next.byte" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Next Byte podcast</a>.&nbsp;<iframe height="200px" width="100%" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://player.simplecast.com/04a7796d-d07b-4053-b5ac-8fe98f73d311?dark=false" class="fr-draggable" data-lf-form-tracking-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-yt-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-vimeo-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true"></iframe> The full article will continue below.<hr>In recent years, engineers at ETH Zurich have developed the technology to produce liquid fuels from sunlight and air. In 2019, they demonstrated the entire thermochemical process chain under real conditions for the first time, in the middle of Zurich, on the roof of ETH Machine Laboratory. These synthetic solar fuels are carbon neutral because they release only as much CO2 during their combustion as was drawn from the air for their production. Two ETH spin-offs, Climeworks and Synhelion, are further developing and commercialising the technologies.At the heart of the production process is a solar reactor that is exposed to concentrated sunlight delivered by a parabolic mirror and reaches temperatures of up to 1500 degrees Celsius. Inside this reactor, which contains a porous ceramic structure made of cerium oxide, a thermochemical cycle takes place for splitting water and CO2 captured previously from the air. The product is syngas: a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, which can be further processed into liquid hydrocarbon fuels such as kerosene (jet fuel) for powering aviation.Until now, structures with isotropic porosity have been applied, but these have the drawback that they exponentially attenuate the incident solar radiation as it travels into the reactor. This results in lower inner temperatures, limiting the fuel yield of the solar reactor.Now, researchers from the group of André Studart, ETH Professor of Complex Materials, and the group of Aldo Steinfeld, ETH Professor of Renewable Energy Carriers, have developed a novel 3D printing methodology that enables them to manufacture porous ceramic structures with complex pore geometries to transport solar radiation more efficiently into the reactor’s interior. The research project is funded by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy.Hierarchically ordered designs with channels and pores that are open at the surface exposed to the sunlight and become narrower towards the rear of the reactor have proven to be particularly efficient. This arrangement enables to absorb the incident concentrated solar radiation over the entire volume. This in turn ensures that the whole porous structure reaches the reaction temperature of 1500°C, boosting the fuel generation. These ceramic structures were manufactured using an extrusion-based 3D printing process and a new type of ink with optimal characteristics developed specifically for this purpose, namely: low viscosity and a high concentration of ceria particles to maximise the amount of redox active material.<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjk4NDgwNjU3NzkwLWltYWdlLmltYWdlZm9ybWF0LjEyODYuMTk0NDY1Mjc1My5qcGciLCJlZGl0cyI6eyJyZXNpemUiOnsid2lkdGgiOjk1MCwiZml0IjoiY292ZXIifX19" style="width: 766px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">3D digital representation (upper right) and photographs (side and top view) of the porous ceramic structure with hierarchically channelled topology. The solar reactor (bottom right) contains an array of these graded structures, which are directly exposed to concentrated solar radiation. (Photographs: ETH Zurich)<h2 id="isPasted">Successful initial testing</h2>The researchers investigated the complex interplay between the transfer of radiant heat and the thermochemical reaction. They were able to show that their new hierarchical structures can produce twice as much fuel as the uniform structures when subjected to the same concentrated solar radiation of intensity equivalent to 1000 suns.The technology for 3D printing the ceramic structures is already patented, and Synhelion has acquired the license from ETH Zurich. “This technology has the potential to boost the solar reactor’s energy efficiency and thus to significantly improve the economic viability of sustainable aviation fuels,” Steinfeld says.<hr><h2 id="isPasted">Reference</h2>Sas Brunser S., Bargardi F., Libanori R., Kaufmann N., Braun H., Steinfeld A., Studart A. Solar-driven redox splitting of CO2 using 3D-printed hierarchically channelled ceria structures, Advanced Materials Interfaces, 2300452, 2023. DOI: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/admi.202300452" target="_blank">external page10.1002/admi.202300452</a>

The artwork illustrates a 3D-​printed ceria structure with hierarchically channeled architecture. Concentrated solar radiation is incident on the graded structure and drives the solar splitting of CO2 into separate flows of CO and O2. (Graphic: Advanced Materials Interfaces, Vol 10,Nr. 30, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1002/admi.202300452)

Using a new 3D printing technique, researchers at ETH Zurich have developed special ceramic structures for a solar reactor. Initial experimental testing show that these structures can boost the production yield of solar fuels.

3D printed reactor core makes solar fuel production more efficient

Early this year, Nordic Semiconductor, in partnership with Mouser Electronics, Soracom, and Crowd Supply, introduced the "Connect for Good: Low Power Sustainability Challenge." This initiative invited engineers, inventors, entrepreneurs, and developers from all corners of the world to design solutions that address the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, specifically focusing on goals related to cities and sustainability.The challenge garnered a whopping 116 entries, a testament to the global community's unwavering commitment to sustainable solutions. From this impressive pool, ten projects have emerged as finalists, exemplifying a blend of technological ingenuity and a dedication to a greener future. Here's a deep dive into these pioneering projects:<h3 dir="ltr">Seismic Sensor Nodes Network by Aleksei Bokov</h3>Aiming to mitigate the devastating consequences of unexpected earthquakes, Aleksei Bokov proposes a network of seismic sensor nodes. These nodes are strategically placed in earthquake-prone areas, ensuring rapid alerts and potentially saving countless lives. Designed to protect public services and the general population, this project stands as a testament to technology's potential in disaster risk reduction.<h3 dir="ltr">Carbonbox Bioreactor by Aris Maaniq</h3>At the intersection of biology and technology lies the Carbonbox bioreactor. This system captures carbon dioxide from industrial exhaust while producing oxygen, thanks to the photosynthetic abilities of microorganisms like cyanobacteria. The real-time monitoring and cloud connectivity make it a robust solution for industries aiming for net-zero emissions.<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjk4MTQwODIyMDI4LUFyaXMgTWFhbmlxLmpwZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6OTUwLCJmaXQiOiJjb3ZlciJ9fX0=" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">The Carbonbox bioreactor. Image credit: Aris Maaniq<h3 dir="ltr" id="isPasted">Sustainable Logistics Infrastructure by Ivan Araquistain</h3>Redefining the logistics of perishable goods transport, Ivan Araquistain introduces a sustainable transport mechanism. By eliminating the need for refrigerated cargo trailers and integrating AI-driven anomaly detection, this solution not only preserves the cold chain but also curtails operational costs significantly.<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjk4MTQwODUzMzE4LUl2YW4gQXJhcXVpc3RhaW4uanBnIiwiZWRpdHMiOnsicmVzaXplIjp7IndpZHRoIjo5NTAsImZpdCI6ImNvdmVyIn19fQ==" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Sustainable refrigerated transport. Image credit: Ivan Araquistan<h3 dir="ltr" id="isPasted">SouldNat: The Forest Ears by Marcelo Vieira</h3>Brazil's forests are under constant threat from illegal deforestation and mining activities. Marcelo Vieira's SouldNat leverages AI-powered sound detection to identify potential threats, such as chainsaw noises and unauthorized conversations, enabling timely intervention and preservation of these critical ecosystems.<h3 dir="ltr">Mountain Road Monitoring System by Mayukh Shubhra Saha</h3>Avalanches and landslides in mountainous terrains often lead to prolonged road blockages, stranding travelers. Mayukh Shubhra Saha’s solution employs motion sensors overlooking major mountain roads, allowing real-time detection of landslides and facilitating quick response by authorities.<h3 dir="ltr">ForestGuard by Muhammed Ali Ornek</h3>Forest fires pose a dual threat – both to the environment and to the communities that live close by. ForestGuard, developed by Muhammed Ali Ornek, is a mesh network of IoT devices that monitor atmospheric conditions in forests, providing early detection and risk assessment capabilities for forest fires.<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjk4MTQwOTA1OTgzLU11aGFtbWVkIEFsaSBPcm5lay5wbmciLCJlZGl0cyI6eyJyZXNpemUiOnsid2lkdGgiOjk1MCwiZml0IjoiY292ZXIifX19" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">ForestGuard. Image credit: Muhammed Ali Ornek<h3 dir="ltr" id="isPasted">Landslide Alert System by Omkar Khair</h3>With a rise in landslides in regions like Maharashtra, India, Omkar Khair’s Landslide Alert System stands out as a beacon of hope. The system is designed to provide early warnings against extreme weather conditions in landslide-prone zones, potentially saving lives and infrastructure.<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjk4MTQwOTM2NjYzLU9ta2FyIEtoYWlyLmpwZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6OTUwLCJmaXQiOiJjb3ZlciJ9fX0=" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">A prototype of the Landslide Alert System. Image credit: Omkar Khair<h3 dir="ltr" id="isPasted">Ai Honey Bee Swarm Detector by Patrick Whetman</h3>Bee conservation is crucial for our ecosystems, and Patrick Whetman's project aims to conserve the native bee species, Apis Mellifera Mellifera. His solution ensures minimal energy consumption while optimizing communication, ensuring the safety of these essential pollinators.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1698141608336-Patrick+Whetman.JPG" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Ai Honey Bee Swarm Detector. Image credit: Patrick Whetman<h3 dir="ltr" id="isPasted">Mikoko by Ryan Kiprotich Cheruiyot</h3>Ryan's AI-driven solution, Mikoko, stands at the forefront of mangrove conservation. Recognizing the vital role of mangroves in coastal protection and carbon sequestration, this project employs sensors to monitor the mangrove ecosystem's environmental parameters, ensuring their protection and sustainable management.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1698141646525-Ryan+Kiprotich.jpg" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Render of Mikoko. Image credit: Kiprotich Cheruiyot<h3 dir="ltr" id="isPasted">Range Based Deforestation Monitoring by Vybhav Nag</h3>In a unique approach to forest conservation, Vybhav Nag’'s project uses sound and vibration data to detect potential deforestation activities. This real-time monitoring solution offers an efficient alternative to traditional methods, proving instrumental in the conservation of forests and their inhabitants.<hr>These ten finalists represent the zenith of engineering innovation, driven by a shared commitment to sustainable change. Their projects are more than just technological marvels—they are beacons of hope in our collective journey towards a sustainable future. We commend all participants for their outstanding contributions and look forward with great anticipation to the announcement of the winners on November 8th, 2023. To the finalists, best of luck, and to our vast community of engineers and innovators, let's continue to connect for good!Follow the <a href="https://www.wevolver.com/profile/nordic.semiconductor" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nordic Semiconductor</a> profile to get alerts when new content about the challenge is published.&nbsp;

From seismic sensors to bioreactors, the top ten finalists of the Connect for Good Challenge showcase the power of low-power wireless technology in addressing global sustainability challenges.


Connect for Good: Top 10 Finalists of the Low Power Wireless Sustainability Challenge

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) stand at the forefront of solar energy innovation, and have drawn a lot of attention for their power-conversion efficiency and cost-effective manufacturing. But the way to commercialization of PSCs still has a hurdle to overcome: achieving both high efficiency and long-term stability, especially in challenging environmental conditions.The solution lies in the interplay between the layers of PSCs, which has proven to be a double-edged sword. The layers can enhance the cells’ performance but also cause them to degrade too quickly for regular use in everyday life.Now, a collaboration between the labs of Michael Grätzel at EPFL and Edward Sargent at Northwestern University, has made a significant leap in designing PSCs with record stability and power-conversion efficiency surpassing 25% addressing two of the most pressing challenges in the solar energy sector. The research is published in&nbsp;Nature.The researchers focused on designing inverted PSCs, which have previously shown promise in terms of operational stability. They introduced a unique, “conformal self-assembled monolayer on textured substrates”, which describes a special, single layer of molecules that spontaneously and uniformly coats the irregular surface of a textured substrate.The new design tackles the problem of “molecular agglomeration”, which occurs when molecules clump together instead of spreading out evenly. When this happens on the textured surfaces of solar cells, it can seriously affect their performance.To address this, the researchers introduced a special molecule called 3-mercaptopropionic acid (3-MPA) into the solar cells’ self-assembled monolayer (SAM) formed by a molecular layer of phosphonic acids substituted by carbazole, which selectively extracts the positive charge carriers (“holes”) that are produced under illumination in the perovskite films.However, this role is compromised by the aggregation of the PAC molecules. Adding 3-MPA enhances the contact between the perovskite material and the solar cell's textured substrate to improve performance and stability, allowing it to disassemble molecular carbazole clusters, and ensuring a more even distribution of the molecules in the self-assembled monolayer. With this addition, the molecules on the solar cell's surface spread out more uniformly, avoiding those problematic clumps and enhancing the PSC’s overall stability and efficiency.The new design enhanced light absorption while minimizing energy losses at the interface between layers, leading to a lab-measured power-conversion efficiency of an impressive 25.3%. In terms of stability, the inverted PSCs showed remarkable resilience. The device maintained 95% of its peak performance even after being subjected to rigorous conditions of 65°C and 50% relative humidity for over 1000 hours. This level of stability, combined with such high efficiency, is unprecedented in the realm of PSCs.This breakthrough design is a significant step forward in putting PSCs into the market; addressing both their efficiency and stability issues, combined with their lower manufacturing costs compared to current solar cells, can lead to widespread adoption. The new method can also go beyond solar cells, benefiting other optoelectronic devices that require efficient light management, such as LEDs and photodetectors.<hr>Other contributors:<ul><li>University of Toronto</li><li>Peking University</li><li>University of Kentucky</li><li>North Carolina State University</li></ul>ReferencesSo Min Park, Mingyang Wei, Nikolaos Lempesis, Wenjin Yu, Tareq Hossain, Lorenzo Agosta, Virginia Carnevali, Harindi R. Atapattu, Peter Serles, Felix T. Eickemeyer, Heejong Shin, Maral Vafaie, Deokjae Choi, Kasra Darabi, Eui Dae Jung, Yi Yang, Da Bin Kim, Shaik M. Zakeeruddin, Bin Chen, Aram Amassian, Tobin Filleter, Mercouri G. Kanatzidis, Kenneth R. Graham, Lixin Xiao, Ursula Rothlisberger, Michael Grätzel, and Edward H. Sargent. Low-loss contacts on textured substrates for inverted perovskite solar cells. Nature October 19, 2023. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-023-01377-7

Researchers at EPFL and Northwestern University unveil a groundbreaking design for perovskite solar cells, creating one of the most stable PSCs with a power-conversion efficiency above 25%, paving the way for future commercialization.

New design solves stability and efficiency of perovskite solar cells

This article originally appeared in&nbsp;<a href="https://ethz.ch/en/news-and-events/eth-news/news/2023/10/heavy-trucks-likely-not-zero-emission-in-the-near-future.html" target="_blank" id="isPasted" rel="noopener noreferrer">ETH Zurich</a> and has been republished with permission.<hr>What will power lorries in the future? Climate-damaging diesel, or emission-free technologies such as batteries or hydrogen? Whether the international community achieves the Paris climate target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 also depends on whether it succeeds in decarbonising heavy goods traffic. This is because these account for almost one-third of annual global emissions in the transport sector, which is responsible for around one-fifth of CO2 emissions worldwide.Researchers at ETH Zurich have now developed a model to investigate which technologies will prevail in truck traffic by 2035. The results are sobering: a large proportion of heavy lorries will continue to be powered by diesel or liquefied natural gas (LNG). “Without political measures to decarbonise heavy goods traffic, green technologies have no chance,” explains Tobias Schmidt, Professor of Energy and Technology Policy at ETH Zurich and coauthor of the study, which has just been published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).<h2>Focus on overall costs</h2>In their model, the researchers consider three weight classes with different driving profiles: on average, vans weighing roughly 3.5 tonnes and covering 75 kilometres a day without loading or refuelling; medium goods vehicles weighing roughly 7.5 tonnes and covering 200 kilometres a day; and heavy goods vehicles weighing roughly 32 tonnes and covering 600 kilometres a day.The adoption of zero-emission trucks powered by batteries or green hydrogen hinges on their cost relative to traditional internal combustion engine vehicles. The researchers assume that investors focus on total costs incurred over the lifetime of a truck.These costs consist of procurement and operating costs such as the cost of fuel, wages, maintenance, insurance and tolls. The researchers further assume that companies will partly invest in the recharging and refuelling infrastructure of battery and hydrogen trucks themselves. These costs are charged to an electric truck for the use of the infrastructure over its lifetime.<h2>Operating costs are decisive</h2>“When all lifetime costs are taken into account, battery-powered vans and medium goods vehicles are already cheaper than diesel lorries in many European countries,” says Bessie Noll, a postdoctoral researcher in Schmidt’s research group and the study’s lead author. This is due to their lower operating costs over the entire service life. Hydrogen lorries are by far the most expensive in these two weight classes, the reason being high prices for fuel cells and green hydrogen.It’s a different story for heavy lorries: diesel and LNG remain the cheapest fuels, with green hydrogen the most expensive option. Only in Switzerland are heavy goods vehicles powered by batteries or green hydrogen already cheaper today. The reason for this is the high toll costs that diesel lorries incur due to the country’s distance-related heavy vehicle fee (HVF). Emission-free vehicles over 3.5 tonnes are exempt from this toll.“Whether CO2-free lorries are competitive currently depends on whether their higher purchase price is offset by lower operating costs over their entire service lifetime,” Noll says. The researchers show that fuel prices and toll expenses play a significant role in this regard.<h2>No progress on heavy goods traffic</h2>Moreover, the model calculations show that the electrification of goods traffic by 2035 is progressing only for light and medium goods vehicles. New battery-powered vehicles will achieve a global market share of over 50 percent in these two vehicle classes by 2035. In Europe and China, they will even account for 70 percent of the total. “We estimate that by 2035, around one-third of new lorries purchased worldwide in the small and medium weight segments will be diesel vehicles,” Noll says.Things look worse for heavy trucks over 32 tonnes, where the global market share of new lorries that are CO2-free will remain below 10 percent in 2035. For the researchers, one thing is clear: without effective policies that support green powertrain technologies, the majority of heavy lorries will continue to be powered by diesel engines in 2035.A comparison of different measures also shows that lower toll costs for zero-emission lorries, as practiced in Switzerland, would be the most effective policy instrument to help green technologies achieve a breakthrough in heavy goods traffic.<h2>Hydrogen is not competitive</h2>According to the ETH Zurich study, small vans and medium-sized lorries are being electrified almost exclusively with batteries. Hydrogen-powered lorries are simply too expensive in most countries or regions. But there is one exception: in the EU, hydrogen lorries over 32 tonnes could gain some degree of market share. This is mainly related to the assumption that the EU will subsidise green hydrogen in the future, making it cheaper than in other parts of the world.One reason that batteries are more competitive than green hydrogen for lorries is that a hydrogen-powered truck requires about three times as much renewable electricity as a battery-powered one. “The operating costs are significantly higher with green hydrogen because a lot of energy is lost in the production, distribution and conversion of green hydrogen into electricity,” Schmidt says.What’s more, it can be assumed that the costs for battery-powered lorries will fall faster than those for hydrogen ones. The reason for this is that the global market share of battery-powered vehicles (cars and lorries) is already significantly higher, leading to greater economies of scale. Added to this is the fact that fuel cells that run on hydrogen are a more complex technology: they require extensive heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems and are generally higher maintenance. “Batteries already have a head start over hydrogen,” Professor Schmidt adds, “and they’re constantly extending their lead thanks to a steeper learning curve.”<hr><h2 id="isPasted">How to estimate future costs</h2>To find out which technology will prevail by 2035, the researchers simulated the potential purchasing decisions of heavy goods transport investors worldwide. The challenge is to predict how the total costs of different technologies will change over time. Based on historical data, the study authors make use of the correlation that the more widely a technology is deployed, the faster its costs decline. For example, based on a technology’s increased market share this year, they can estimate its cost next year and its market share the following year.However, the speed at which economies of scale materialize also depends on the complexity of the technology. “The more complex a technology is, the slower its costs fall,” Schmidt explains. The researchers also assume that switching from an established technology to a new technology results in conversion costs that make the new technology less attractive. They model these conversion costs with a calibrated markup on the purchase price.<hr><h2 id="isPasted">Reference</h2>Noll B, Steffen B, Schmidt T, The effects of local interventions on global technological change through spillovers: a modeling framework and application to the roadfreight sector, The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), doi: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2215684120" target="_blank">external page10.1073/pnas.2215684120</a>Noll B, del Val S, Steffen B, Schmidt T, Analyzing the competitiveness of low-carbon drive-technologies in road-freight: A total cost of ownership analysis in Europe, Applied Energy, Volume 306, Part B, 15 January 2022, doi: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.118079" target="_blank">external page10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.118079</a>

Without political measures for zero-​emission technologies, a significant proportion of heavy goods vehicles will still run on diesel in 2035. This result is shown in a new ETH Zurich study on the decarbonisation of truck traffic.

Heavy trucks likely not zero-emission in the near future

In this episode, we delve into the exciting world of energy modeling and its critical role in shaping a decarbonized future

Podcast: Decarbonizing with Energy Modeling

In this episode, we embark on a journey to the red planet and unveil the remarkable success of the NASA JPL MOXIE (Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment) mission on Mars.

Podcast: Breathing on Mars: MOXIE's Astounding Success

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energy

Flow batteries have emerged as a transformative technology, offering unique advantages for storing renewable energy and balancing power grids.


What is a Flow Battery: A Comprehensive Guide to Understanding and Implementing Flow Batteries

Electric machinery parts manufacturing in industry 

This guide delves into DFM's principles, implementation process, impacts, and challenges, aiming to provide readers with a comprehensive understanding of this integral concept.

Enhancing Industrial Processes through Design for Manufacturing: A Comprehensive Guide

Smart city IoT transforms urban living by providing creative solutions that improve efficiency, sustainability, and quality of life. This article provides in-depth information on smart cities, the internet of things, and how it is revolutionizing urban living.
It also addresses challenges such as data privacy, security, scalability, and interoperability that must be handled in smart city IoT. Regardless of the limitations, the Internet of things has enormous potential benefits for cities and their citizens. 

Smart City Internet of Things: Revolutionising Urban Living

Different electronic devices that we use in everyday life, such as smartphones, LED lights, computers, and robots use different electronic circuits and processors for their operation. The utility supplies AC to different households and industries in order to transfer power efficiently over long distances. A stable DC power supply can be obtained using electronic circuits that can be internal or external in nature. Smartphones and laptops power external power supplies, while devices like computers, robots, and servers have power supplies integrated within them.&nbsp;Power supplies can be regulated or unregulated, wherein in regulated power supplies, changes in the input voltage profile do not affect the output of the power supply. On the other hand, in an unregulated power supply, the output depends on the input.&nbsp;To illustrate the general structure of a DC power supply we can consider it to consist of four basic blocks. Each block represents a particular function that is performed. The basic blocks are described below:<ul><li dir="ltr">Transformer: Since the input supply to the transformer is AC, the transformer converts high voltage AC into low voltage AC or converts a low voltage AC to high voltage AC. The transformer also acts as an isolator preventing high-frequency signals from going into the input side.</li><li dir="ltr">Rectification - This is the process of conversion of AC to DC. Switching converters are used to rectify the voltage. The output of the rectifier circuit is DC along with ripples. These ripples need to filter out before connecting them to the load.</li><li dir="ltr">Filter - The rippled DC output of the rectifier is filtered out using filter circuits. These filter circuits are generally capacitors connected in parallel with the load.</li><li dir="ltr">Voltage regulator - These devices are used to regulate the voltage with certain limits as desired by the load that is connected.</li></ul>DC power supplies are available in switch-mode (also known as switching) or linear configurations. While both types provide DC power, the method by which this power is generated differs. Each type of power supply has advantages over the other depending on the application. Let&#39;s take a look at the differences between these two technologies, as well as the benefits and drawbacks of each design.Recommended reading:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wevolver.com/article/new.power.supply.unit.lets.electrical.devices.live.longer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">New power supply unit lets electrical devices live longer</a><h2 dir="ltr" id="isPasted">What is a linear power supply?</h2>Linear power supplies, also known as series power supplies, are low-frequency power supplies that do not use any switching component in their conversion process. Due to the low frequency of operation, the transformers used are bulkier as compared to switching mode power supplies.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1657808107912-AC_current_supply.jpg" style="width: 800px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Linear Power Supply">Linear Power Supply<div style='pointer-events: none; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 2px; z-index: auto; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 625.7px; height: 39px; width: 766px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: 100%; font-size: 14px; font-family: "PT Serif", serif; text-align: center; text-transform: none; letter-spacing: normal; word-spacing: 0px; tab-size: 8;'> </div> <h3 dir="ltr" id="isPasted">How does it work?</h3>In a linear power supply, an alternating current transformer with an iron core and coil is used first to reduce the voltage of the incoming alternating current (AC). The voltage is then rectified by a diode in a rectifier circuit and smoothed to a stable voltage by a capacitor in a smoothing circuit.The rectifier circuit produces a series of positive peaks of a sine wave, which is not a stable Direct current. As a result, the voltage is converted to a constant level via a smoothing circuit comprised of a capacitor, followed by a stabilizing circuit (control circuit). Control circuits are classified into two types&ndash; shunt and series. To maintain a constant output DC voltage, both methods monitor and control it.<h3 dir="ltr">Preferred Applications</h3>A linear power supply requires a dedicated AC power transformer depending upon the input/output voltage and power demand. Each device has a fixed power demand and hence each application requires a dedicated transformer.A linear power supply is resistant to noise and electromagnetic interference and also does not cause RF interference with other devices. They also have a faster response as compared to switching power supply. Hence, they are used in audio frequency, RF applications, and places where excellent regulation and low-ripple output are required. Some of the common applications are mentioned below.<ul><li dir="ltr">Low noise amplifiers</li><li dir="ltr">Signal processing</li><li dir="ltr">Data acquisition - including sensors, multiplexers, A/D converters, and sample &amp; hold circuits.</li><li dir="ltr">Automatic test equipment</li><li dir="ltr">Laboratory test equipment</li></ul><h3 dir="ltr">Advantages &amp; Disadvantages</h3>The benefits of linear mode power supplies include simplicity, reliability, low noise levels, and low cost. A linear power supply has simple construction and design making them less complex as compared to a switching power supply. The simple design makes it easier to operate and maintain. The relatively simpler construction also prevents chances of failure making them more reliable. Linear power supply is resistant to EM interference and does not cause RF interference to other devices, making them ideal for high-frequency operations.Along with the numerous advantages of linear power supply, there are some disadvantages. Because linear regulators are ideal for low-power applications, the disadvantages are understood when higher power is required. When compared to a switch-mode power supply, the disadvantages of a linear power supply include size, high heat loss, and lower efficiency levels. When used in a high-power application, linear power supply units require a large transformer and other large components to handle the power as the frequency of operation is low. Using larger components increases the overall size and weight of the power supply, which can make weight distribution within a given application difficult. It also makes the power supply bulky and less portable. High heat losses occur while regulating a high power demand by the load, this makes the process inefficient.Recommended reading:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wevolver.com/article/flexibility-will-be-key-to-a-large-scale-rollout-of-solar-power" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Flexibility will be key to a large-scale rollout of solar power</a><h2 dir="ltr" id="isPasted">What is a switching power supply?</h2>A switching power supply is designed using a different technique, developed to address many of the issues associated with linear power supply design, such as transformer size and voltage regulation. The input voltage is not reduced by switching power supply designs; instead, it is rectified and filtered at the input. The voltage is then passed through a chopper, which transforms it into a high-frequency pulse train. Before reaching the output, the voltage is filtered and rectified once more. &nbsp;The transformation into a high-frequency pulse train helps reduce the size of components, making the device smaller and more compact in nature.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1657808180477-voltage_current_tester.jpg" style="width: 800px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Switching Power Supply">Switching Power Supply<div style='pointer-events: none; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 2px; z-index: auto; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 562.238px; height: 39px; width: 766px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: 100%; font-size: 14px; font-family: "PT Serif", serif; text-align: center; text-transform: none; letter-spacing: normal; word-spacing: 0px; tab-size: 8;'> </div><h3>How does it work?</h3>In contrast to linear power supply, switching power supply includes rectification and smoothing before voltage regulation. Using a switching device for the previously rectified current, the low-frequency AC at the input is transformed into a high-frequency pulse wave. The rectified high-frequency current is treated as a pseudo alternating current (AC) which is fed into a high-frequency transformer reduction in voltage as per load requirements. The output is then filtered and the voltage is regulated generally using feedback from the output to the high-frequency transformer.<h3 dir="ltr">Preferred Applications</h3>Switching power supplies have a compact design and are more efficient as compared to linear power supplies making them suitable for applications that require higher efficiency and have to be compact in nature. They are widely used as a source of power for mobile phones, computers, servers, and even LED lights. Some devices have them integrated within their body while others have them externally placed. They have also been used in vehicles and security systems.<h3 dir="ltr">Advantages &amp; Disadvantages</h3>Unlike linear power supply, the switching transistors in switch mode supply continually switch between full-on and full-off states and spend very little time in the high dissipation state during transitions, which minimizes wasted energy. This reduces the heat generated by wastage of energy and hence increases efficiency. Another major advantage of switching power supply is the compact size because of the smaller transformer size. This makes the device portable and easy to install.On the other hand, the design and manufacturing of switching power supply are complex which makes debugging and maintenance difficult as compared to linear supply. This power supply also injects harmonics into the system which can adversely affect other connected devices. The effect of noise and electromagnetic interference is quite significant, thus EMI filters are required for them to operate efficiently.Recommended reading:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wevolver.com/article/sustainable-power-generation-with-low-temperatures" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Sustainable power generation with low temperatures</a><h2 dir="ltr" id="isPasted">Linear vs switching power supply</h2>Linear and switching power supplies have their own advantages and disadvantages and are used in specific applications depending on various factors as discussed before in the article. The table below shows the differences between linear and switching power supplies.<table style="width: 100%;"><tbody><tr><td style="width: 33.3333%;">Parameters</td><td style="width: 33.3333%;">Linear Power Supply</td><td style="width: 33.3333%;">Switching Power Supply</td></tr><tr><td style="width: 33.3333%;">Definition</td><td style="width: 33.3333%;">It completes the stepping down of AC voltage first then it converts it into DC.</td><td style="width: 33.3333%;">It converts the input signal into DC first then it steps down the voltage up to the desired level.</td></tr><tr><td style="width: 33.3333%;">Voltage Regulation</td><td style="width: 33.3333%;">Voltage regulation is done by the voltage regulator.</td><td style="width: 33.3333%;">Voltage regulation is done by a feedback circuit.</td></tr><tr><td style="width: 33.3333%;">Efficiency</td><td style="width: 33.3333%;">Low efficiency</td><td style="width: 33.3333%;">High-efficiency</td></tr><tr><td style="width: 33.3333%;">Magnetic material used</td><td style="width: 33.3333%;">Stalloy or CRGO core is used</td><td style="width: 33.3333%;">Ferrite core is used</td></tr><tr><td style="width: 33.3333%;">Reliability</td><td style="width: 33.3333%;">More reliable in comparison to SMPS in specific applications.</td><td style="width: 33.3333%;">The reliability depends on the transistors used for switching.</td></tr><tr><td style="width: 33.3333%;">RF interference</td><td style="width: 33.3333%;">No RF interference</td><td style="width: 33.3333%;">RF shielding is required as switching produces more RF interference.</td></tr><tr><td style="width: 33.3333%;">Noise and Electromagnetic Interference</td><td style="width: 33.3333%;">They are immune to noise and electromagnetic interference.</td><td style="width: 33.3333%;">The effect of noise and electromagnetic interference is quite significant; thus EMI filters are required.</td></tr><tr><td style="width: 33.3333%;">Complexity</td><td style="width: 33.3333%;">Less complex</td><td style="width: 33.3333%;">More complex</td></tr><tr><td style="width: 33.3333%;">Applications</td><td style="width: 33.3333%;">Used in audio frequency and RF applications.</td><td style="width: 33.3333%;">Used in chargers of mobile phones, DC motors, etc.</td></tr></tbody></table><h2 dir="ltr" id="isPasted">Key Takeaways</h2><ul><li dir="ltr">There are two common power supply designs&ndash; Linear and Switching power supply used for a wide range of applications, including RF, computer, audio, smartphones, etc.</li><li dir="ltr">The linear power supply is designed for low noise and there is no high-frequency switching to be used where regulation and low ripple are required along with low electromagnetic emissions and transient response.</li><li dir="ltr">The switching power supply is designed for high efficiency and small size that converts electrical power efficiently. The power supply regulates the output voltage through the process of pulse width modulation with various available topologies, including buck, boost, forward converter, half-bridge rectifier, or flyback depending on the output power requirements.</li><li dir="ltr">In modern-day electronics and electrical appliances, switching power supply is preferred due to their low cost, compact design, and improved efficiency.</li></ul><h2 dir="ltr" id="isPasted">References</h2>[1] [Available online: <a href="https://electronicscoach.com/difference-between-linear-supply-and-switch-mode-power-supply.html" target="_blank">https://electronicscoach.com/difference-between-linear-supply-and-switch-mode-power-supply.html</a>; Accessed. July 13, 2022.[2] Available online: <a href="https://www.seacomp.com/resources/switching-power-supply-advantages-and-disadvantages" target="_blank">https://www.seacomp.com/resources/switching-power-supply-advantages-and-disadvantages</a>; Accessed. July 13, 2022.[3] Available online: <a href="https://www.matsusada.com/column/linear_switching_difference.html" target="_blank">https://www.matsusada.com/column/linear_switching_difference.html</a>; Accessed. July 13, 2022.[4] Available online: <a href="https://www.circuitspecialists.com/blog/power-supplies-switch-mode-vs-linear/" target="_blank">https://www.circuitspecialists.com/blog/power-supplies-switch-mode-vs-linear/</a>; Accessed. July 13, 2022.

DC power supplies are available in switch-mode (also known as switching) or linear configurations of which switching power supply is preferred in modern-day electronics due to their low cost, compact design, and improved efficiency.


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