High rate continuous synthesis of nanocrystalline materials in a colliding vapor stream of microdroplets

Progress in nanotechnology is driving the need of large scale synthesis of functional nanomaterials. The lack of a workforce trained on process control and scale-up of nanomaterials manufacturing, the gap between laboratories and economically practical nanofabrication and the funding strain on the survivability of startup companies all contribute to the difficulties in scaling up nanotechnologies and their commercialization [1,2]. We report here a high rate continuous synthesis of functional inorganic nanomaterials using colliding vapor stream of reagents microdroplets

High rate continuous synthesis of nanocrystalline materials in a colliding vapor stream of microdroplets

Progress in nanotechnology is driving the need of large scale synthesis of functional nanomaterials. The lack of a workforce trained on process control and scale-up of nanomaterials manufacturing, the gap between laboratories and economically practical nanofabrication and the funding strain on the survivability of startup companies all contribute to the difficulties in scaling up nanotechnologies and their commercialization [1,2]. We report here a high rate continuous synthesis of functional inorganic nanomaterials using colliding vapor stream of reagents microdroplets

Batteries Safety: Recent Progress and Current Challenges

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenrg.2019.00071/fullIn this growing age of clean energy and the use of power storage to circumvent the use of traditional fossil fuel technologies, batteries of greater capacity, storage, and power are increasingly becoming indispensable. New chemistries are being developed to increase the capacity of traditional lithium ion batteries and to develop batteries beyond Lithium ion. Promising high capacity cathodes and anodes are developed however their large-scale deployment is hindered due to safety concerns. In this review, we summarize recent progress of lithium ion batteries safety, highlight current challenges, and outline the most advanced safety features that may be incorporated to improve battery safety for both lithium ion and batteries beyond lithium ion. Of particular interest is the issue of thermal runaway mitigation by incorporation of novel nano-materials and advanced technologies

Formation of octapod MnO nanoparticles with enhanced magnetic properties through kinetically-controlled thermal decomposition of polynuclear manganese complexes

Polynuclear manganese complexes are used as precursors for the synthesis of manganese oxide nanoparticles (MnO NPs). Altering the thermal decomposition conditions can shift the nanoparticle product from spherical, thermodynamically-driven NPs to unusual, kinetically-controlled octapod structures. The resulting increased surface area profoundly alters the NP's surface-dependent magnetism and may have applications in nanomedicine

Lithium-ion battery separator membranes based on poly(L-lactic acid) biopolymer

Sustainable materials are increasingly needed in lithium ion batteries in order to reduce their environmental impact and improve their recyclability. This work reports on the production of separators using poly (L-lactic acid) (PLLA) for lithium ion battery applications. PLLA separators were obtained by solvent casting technique, by varying polymer concentration in solution between 8 wt.% and 12 wt.% in order to evaluate their morphology, thermal, electrical and electrochemical properties. It is verified that morphology and porosity can be tuned by varying polymer concentration and that the separators are thermally stable up to 250 ºC. The best ionic conductivity of 1.6 mS/cm was obtained for the PLLA separator prepared from 10 wt.% polymer concentration in solution, due to the synergistic effect of the morphology and electrolyte uptake. For this membrane, a high discharge capacity value of 93 mAh.g-1 was obtained at the rate of 1C. In this work, it is demonstrated that PLLA is a good candidate for the development of separator membranes, in order to produce greener and environmentally friendly batteries in a circular economy context.Work supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) undes strategic funding UID/FIS/04650/2020 and UID/QUI/0686/2020, project PTDC/FISMAC/28157/2017, and Grants SFRH/BD/140842/2018 (J.C.B.), SFRH/BPD/121526/2016 (D.M.C), CEECIND/00833/2017 (R.G.) and SFRH/BPD/112547/2015 (C.M.C.). Financial support from the Basque Government Industry Department under the ELKARTEK and HAZITEK programs is also acknowledged. Technical and human support provided by SGIker (UPV/EHU, MICINN, GV/EJ, EGEF and ESF) is gratefully acknowledge

Measurement of the inclusive and dijet cross-sections of b-jets in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The inclusive and dijet production cross-sections have been measured for jets containing b-hadrons (b-jets) in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements use data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 34 pb^-1. The b-jets are identified using either a lifetime-based method, where secondary decay vertices of b-hadrons in jets are reconstructed using information from the tracking detectors, or a muon-based method where the presence of a muon is used to identify semileptonic decays of b-hadrons inside jets. The inclusive b-jet cross-section is measured as a function of transverse momentum in the range 20 < pT < 400 GeV and rapidity in the range |y| < 2.1. The bbbar-dijet cross-section is measured as a function of the dijet invariant mass in the range 110 < m_jj < 760 GeV, the azimuthal angle difference between the two jets and the angular variable chi in two dijet mass regions. The results are compared with next-to-leading-order QCD predictions. Good agreement is observed between the measured cross-sections and the predictions obtained using POWHEG + Pythia. MC@NLO + Herwig shows good agreement with the measured bbbar-dijet cross-section. However, it does not reproduce the measured inclusive cross-section well, particularly for central b-jets with large transverse momenta.Comment: 10 pages plus author list (21 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version published in European Physical Journal

Search for displaced vertices arising from decays of new heavy particles in 7 TeV pp collisions at ATLAS

We present the results of a search for new, heavy particles that decay at a significant distance from their production point into a final state containing charged hadrons in association with a high-momentum muon. The search is conducted in a pp-collision data sample with a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV and an integrated luminosity of 33 pb^-1 collected in 2010 by the ATLAS detector operating at the Large Hadron Collider. Production of such particles is expected in various scenarios of physics beyond the standard model. We observe no signal and place limits on the production cross-section of supersymmetric particles in an R-parity-violating scenario as a function of the neutralino lifetime. Limits are presented for different squark and neutralino masses, enabling extension of the limits to a variety of other models.Comment: 8 pages plus author list (20 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version to appear in Physics Letters