Image credit: Blomst from Pixabay
A team of researchers and engineers from Cambridge has developed a next-generation lithium-ion battery, designed to meet the density and cost requirements for future electric vehicles (EVs). Now, the team is embarking on the road to commercialization.
Cambridge researchers Professor Simone Hochgreb, Dr Adam Boies and Professor Michaël De Volder, as well as Professor Kai Luo from University College, London (UCL), developed the new battery using flame spray pyrolysis (FSP). It’s a new process that can produce a wide variety of functional materials in the form of powders (nanoparticles) and in large quantities. FSP is effective, scalable and maintains excellent product quality.
At present, mainstream automotive companies favour nickel manganese cobalt oxides (NMCs) with various metal contents and surface features. This is because these NMC batteries can withstand a high number of charge and discharge cycles, lengthening their longevity.
However, cobalt is expensive and mined under conditions that raise lots of questions when it comes to ethical and humanitarian issues, hence the push for alternative battery solutions. The FSP approach could provide a lower cost method for producing cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries.
The feasibility of FSP will be further explored in new research funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, which has a grant of £388,000. The project is titled ‘Mechanisms and Synthesis of Materials for Next-Generation Lithium Batteries Using Flame Spray Pyrolysis’. Commercial partners are Contemporary Amperex Technology Co, Echion Technologies, PV3 Technologies and Shanghai Tang Feng Energy Technology.
Prof Hochgreb, of the Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge, said: “The long-term outlook for electric vehicles – EVs – is strong, with the electrification of the transport sector considered a natural development in order to make use of energy from a wide variety of sources and to reduce CO2 emissions and combat urban air pollution.
“One of the biggest obstacles facing us in making the transition to EVs is the charging infrastructure itself, which is why research is needed to ensure that the power density and cost requirements for next-generation EVs and energy storage systems are met.”
Researchers from the University of Cambridge have developed a standalone, wireless device that can convert sunlight, carbon dioxide and water into a carbon-neutral fuel. The researchers say the breakthrough is a massive step towards achieving large-scale artificial photosynthesis
You could be forgiven for thinking that lithium-ion batteries — like the ones found in smartphones, laptops, electric mobility vehicles and more — are no longer much good once they have lost their charge. However, the reality is they still contain lots of valuable metals, such as lithium, cobalt, manganese and nickel, which can be recovered and recycled.
Engineers from the United Kingdom and Japan have set an incredible new Internet speed record of 178 terabits per second (Tb/s). That’s 178,000,000 megabits a second, fast enough to download the entire Netflix library in the blink of an eye!
Guide dogs provide visually impaired individuals with many benefits. However, they aren’t always appropriate, with cost, space and allergies all potential barriers to ownership. But a new technology being developed at Loughborough University could see all a guide dog’s functions channelled into a handheld, robotic device for the visually impaired.
A team led by the University of Adelaide and the University of Stuttgart has used 3D micro-printing to create the world’s smallest imaging device, capable of going inside blood vessels.
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) and the University of Cambridge are collaborating on the development of a new contactless touchscreen technology, which is designed to promote safer driving and reduce the spread of germs, bacteria and viruses in a post-COVID world.
Huawei has been given the go-ahead by South Cambridgeshire District Council to build a £1bn research and development facility nine miles outside of Cambridge. Voting nine to one in Huawei’s favour on Thursday 25th June, councillors approved planning permission for the 53-acre site in Sawston, which Huawei will develop with a view to moving its operation from Ipswich to Cambridge.
How do you extend the range of a drone? Put it on a bus, of course! Now, while you might be thinking that we’re joking, that’s actually one of the findings to come out of new research from Stanford University.
In an attempt to equip non-Computer Science students with valuable machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) skills, the University Of Cambridge has announced a new accelerator programme.
Online safety tech is helping to make the Internet a safer place for millions of people and the UK is leading the way when it comes to innovation. Indeed, companies based in UK cities including London, Leeds, Cambridge and Edinburgh make up 25% of the global market share for safety tech products, an independent report reveals.
Right now, many offices around the UK are sitting empty while staff are furloughed or working from home. But in time, the COVID-19 crisis will end and the lockdown situation will be eased and that means people will start, in theory, returning to their places of work.
How frustrating is it when you’re driving along in your car and you suddenly get a puncture? It’s inconvenient at best and an absolute nightmare at worst, especially if you have no idea how to change your tyre!