The energy-storage goal of a polymer dielectric material with high energy density, high power density and excellent charge-discharge efficiency for electric and hybrid vehicle use has been achieved by a team of Penn State materials scientists. The key is a unique three-dimensional sandwich-like structure that protects the dense electric field in the polymer/ceramic composite from dielectric breakdown. Their results are published today (Aug. 22) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
“Polymers are ideal for energy storage for transportation due to their light weight, scalability and high dielectric strength,” says Qing Wang, professor of materials science and engineering and the team leader. “However, the existing commercial polymer used in hybrid and electric vehicles, called BOPP, cannot stand up to the high operating temperatures without considerable additional cooling equipment. This adds to the weight and expense of the vehicles.”
The researchers had to overcome two problems to achieve their goal.
Image Credit: Wang Lab/Penn State
Recent News
How to program DNA nanorobots to poke and prod cell membranes
Scientists have worked out how to best get DNA to communicate with membranes in our body, paving the way for the creation of ‘mini biological computers’ in droplets that [...]
Targeting cancer at the nanoscale
Scientists from the Department of Nuclear Medicine and Tracer Kinetics at Osaka University developed a novel system for targeted cancer radiation therapy that uses gold nanoparticles labeled with astatine-211. [...]
Introduction of Nanobomb into Tumor Could Inhibit Growth of Primary Tumors
Reactive oxygen species (ROS) exhibit the potential to act as signal carriers during the development of malignant tumors. At a suitable concentration, ROS tends to mediate cell growth and [...]
How Nanotechnology Will Help Us Probe the Brain in Unimaginable Detail
One of the biggest challenges when it comes to probing and manipulating the brain are the blunt tools we have at our disposal. But breakthroughs in nanotechnology could soon [...]
First controllable nanoscale gas-liquid interface fabricated
When liquid meets gas, a unique zone forms. Variable by nature, molecules can cross from one state to another, combining in unique ways to either desirable or unwanted ends. [...]
Offshoot of Covid Delta variant on the rise in England
A newly detected coronavirus variant is on the rise in England, with the virus believed to be an offshoot of Delta. According to a briefing from the UK Health [...]
New testing strategy rapidly quantifies transmissibility of COVID-19 variants
A team of researchers has developed a new nanomechanical technique for fast, one-step, immune-affinity tests, which can quantify the immune response induced by different COVID-19 variants in serum. Their [...]
New Method Developed for 3D Printing Living Microbes To Enhance Biomaterials
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists have developed a new method for 3D printing living microbes in controlled patterns, expanding the potential for using engineered bacteria to recover rare-earth [...]
Researchers use AI to Develop Tool for Predicting Cancer Nanomedicine Outcomes
Nanomedicines may offer clinicians a way to deliver precise, targeted therapy directly to tumors without damaging surrounding tissue. Yet, progress in the development of new drugs that treat cancer [...]
Mito warriors: Scientists discover how T cell assassins reload their weapons to kill and kill again
Cambridge researchers have discovered how T cells—an important component of our immune system—are able keep on killing as they hunt down and kill cancer cells, repeatedly reloading [...]
Russians ‘have a hard time trusting their own vaccine,’ expert says
Sunday, October 3, set records for the most COVID-19 deaths in Russia on a single day. Only 29% of people in Russia are vaccinated, despite the country being the [...]
Nanosilver is not a ‘silver bullet’ in long-term treatment of infections
New research from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) has found that pathogens that form biofilms can evolve to survive nanosilver treatment. The study is the first to demonstrate [...]
Delta variant has 235% higher risk of ICU admission than original virus
New variants of SARS-CoV-2 are more virulent and transmissible than the original variant of the virus. Health experts associate these variants of concern (VOCs) with increased risk of hospitalization, [...]
Pathogen-Sensing Mask Could Detect COVID Infection
Freeze-dried genetic circuits could reveal the presence of SARS-CoV-2, Ebola, MRSA, and more. Masks and testing have been key to the COVID-19 pandemic response—and now devices that combine the [...]
Neuroscientists Built an Ultra Detailed Map of the Brain Motor Cortex
Hundreds of neuroscientists built a ‘parts list’ of the motor cortex, laying groundwork to map the whole brain and better understand brain diseases. Before you read any further, bring [...]
Can butterfly wings help detect COVID-19 faster?
An international team, led by Swinburne University of Technology and Australian National University (ANU), have made a breakthrough discovery that could potentially lead to faster, more accurate molecular or [...]
COVID-19 virus evolving to ‘get better’ at moving through air
New mutations of COVID-19, such as the Delta strain, are "getting better" at transmitting through the air, a study has found. People infected with a later variant of COVID-19 put 43 to [...]
Merck pill seen as ‘huge advance,’ raises hope of preventing COVID-19 deaths
Merck will seek U.S. approval for pill as soon as possible If approved, would be 1st oral antiviral COVID-19 drug Merck shares rally, some vaccine makers fall U.S. government [...]
New coating technology uses ‘nanoworms’ to kill COVID-19
An antiviral surface coating technology sprayed on face masks could provide an extra layer of protection against COVID-19 and the flu. The coating developed at The University of Queensland has [...]
An innovative way to deliver drugs using nanocrystals shows potential benefits
Key Points Monash researchers have developed a method to prepare elongated nanocrystals to deliver therapeutic drugs Elongated nanocrystals can carry a high payload of drugs to potentially increase drug [...]
Covid tests and superbugs: why the deep sea is key to fighting pandemics
It has been 30 years since the last new class of antibiotic was introduced to the market. All the existing drugs are essentially variations on a theme: they kill [...]
Research Finds That Even Mild Cases of COVID-19 Leave a Mark on the Brain
With more than 18 months of the pandemic in the rearview mirror, researchers have been steadily gathering new and important insights into the effects of COVID-19 on the body and brain. [...]
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused the biggest decrease in life expectancy since World War II
The COVID-19 pandemic triggered life expectancy losses not seen since World War II in Western Europe and exceeded those observed around the dissolution of the Eastern Bloc in central [...]
A Daily Pill to Treat COVID Could Be Just Months Away, Scientists Say
Within a day of testing positive for covid-19 in June, Miranda Kelly was sick enough to be scared. At 44, with diabetes and high blood pressure, Kelly, a certified [...]
‘Ultra-potent’ antibody against COVID-19 variants
A technology developed at Vanderbilt University Medical Center has led to the discovery of an "ultra-potent" monoclonal antibody against multiple variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19, including [...]
Waning immunity and COVID-19 vaccines: How worried should we be?
Research has found a significant fall in levels of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, 6 months after the second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Clinical evidence [...]
Are the COVID Vaccines Unusually Ineffective?
Are the COVID vaccines substantially different from/inferior to other vaccines in terms of their effectiveness? The issue raised, and I'm mostly paraphrasing here, is this: Most vaccines (e.g. measles, [...]
Growing and treating virtual tumors using AI-designed nanoparticles
The EVONANO platform allows scientists to grow virtual tumors and use artificial intelligence to automatically optimize the design of nanoparticles to treat them. The ability to grow and [...]
The Struggle to Define Long COVID
One morning in March, 2020, Diana Berrent, a photographer and a mother of two from Long Island, woke up with a fever. She had chills, diarrhea, and a heaviness [...]
Frank Boehm contributes to ‘Modern Approaches to Augmentation of Brain Function’
Modern Approaches to Augmentation of Brain Function Available from Springer Press This book covers recent advances in neural technology that provide for enhancements for brain function. It addresses a [...]
COVID-19: Experimental vaccine lasts 1 month at room temperature
Although the currently available COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective, limited manufacturing capacity and the need for cold-chain storage hinder their global distribution. A recent study tested the efficacy of [...]
COVID vaccines hold up against severe Delta: US data
Fully vaccinated people were 11 times less likely to die of COVID and 10 times less likely to be hospitalized compared to the unvaccinated since highly contagious Delta became [...]
How much protection COVID-19 vaccines give you against the Delta variant – best available data
The highly-infectious Delta coronavirus variant has spread to at least 174 countries worldwide, from the US to Australia, causing a surge in COVID-19 cases. The variant has mutations that help it partially escape [...]
Without these lipid shells, there would be no mRNA vaccines for COVID-19
Fragile mRNA molecules used in COVID-19 vaccines can’t get into cells on their own. They owe their success to lipid nanoparticles that took decades to refine. Messenger RNA (mRNA) [...]
COVID-19 Has Revealed Critical Knowledge Gaps on the Transmission of Respiratory Viruses
The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed critical knowledge gaps and assumptions concerning how respiratory viruses spread between hosts. Traditionally thought to be spread mainly through large respiratory droplets produced by the coughs [...]
Beyond coronavirus: the virus discoveries transforming biology
SARS-CoV-2 is just one of nonillions of viruses on our planet, and scientists are rapidly identifying legions of new species. Mya Breitbart has hunted novel viruses in African termite [...]
COVID Vaccines Compared
There are three COVID-19 vaccines approved for use in the U.S. The Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are all highly effective in protecting you from the virus [...]
Covid Long-Haulers are Fighting for their Future
Many people with long COVID feel that science is failing them. Neglecting them could make the pandemic even worse. While watching the scientific community grapple with long COVID, I have [...]
Experts Identify New COVID Variation in South Africa – What’s Known So Far
As a team of South African researchers we have identified a new lineage of SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing COVID-19. A lineage represents a genetically distinct virus population with a common ancestor. This virus may [...]
Biden administration prepares for ‘reasonable likelihood’ of another serious pandemic
Citing the possibility of another serious pandemic, the Biden administration on Friday laid out a plan to transform the nation’s ability to respond to major biological threats. As staggering [...]
Video: How Doctors Can Predict Who Dies From COVID
How doctors can predict which patients are more likely to die of COVID Several studies have come out about the COVID prognosis. As a result, we now have [...]
New COVID-19 Mu Variant Named a “Variant of Interest”
Though Delta continues to be the dominant COVID-19 strain, the World Health Organization (WHO) now says there's a new variant to keep your eye on. The B.1.621 variant, also [...]
Coronavirus vaccines cut risk of long Covid, study finds
Being fully vaccinated against Covid-19 not only cuts the risk of catching it, but also of an infection turning into long Covid, research led by King's College London suggests. [...]
Moderna Creates Twice as Many Antibodies as Pfizer, Study Shows
Moderna Inc.’s Covid vaccine generated more than double the antibodies of a similar shot made by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE in research directly comparing immune responses to the [...]
Covid variant detected in South Africa ‘most mutated variant so far’
A coronavirus variant first detected in South Africa 'could be more infectious' than other mutations and have the potential to 'evade vaccines', scientists have said. The C.1.2 strain, which is linked to 'increased [...]
The mutation rate of SARSCoV2 is at least 50 per cent higher than previously thought
The mutation rate of SARSCoV2 is at least 50% higher than previously thought. The virus mutates about once a week—significantly higher than the rate estimated previously. UK findings suggest [...]
Team develops AI to decode brain signals and predict behavior
An artificial neural network (AI) designed by an international team involving UCL can translate raw data from brain activity, paving the way for new discoveries and a closer integration [...]
Covid protection for the fully vaccinated is waning, UK study finds
Protection against the coronavirus is waning among those who have received both shots of the AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines, a new U.K. study has found. An analysis from the [...]
How the intricacies of tissue memory T cells could be the future of immunotherapies and vaccines
In a significant step forward in understanding the crucial role tissue-resident memory T (TRM) cells play in the immune system, researchers have for the first time described how the [...]
How the Covid pandemic ends: Scientists look to the past to see the future
We’re approaching the year-and-a-half mark of the globe’s collective experience with the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the Covid-19 pandemic it has triggered. At this point, it’s fair to assume people [...]
Leave A Comment