Researchers devise simple, inexpensive approach to making soft magnetic films for microwave applications

Developers tend to use thin films of soft magnetic materials, as opposed to their bulk form, in mobile applications, such as cell phones and laptops, as well as military applications, such as stealth aircrafts. However, the conventional approach to making soft magnetic films requires a high vacuum environment, which is expensive and time-consuming. Moreover, the usual fabrication system is not suitable for the preparation of large sheet films, thereby limiting its application in manufacturing the soft magnetic materials for microwave absorption.

Bao-Yu Zong at the A*STAR Data Storage Institute and co-workers have now demonstrated the viability of fabricating soft magnetic thin films through electrodeposition, a plating technique that is scalable and can be performed at room temperature. The approach is not only simpler and cheaper to operate, but also versatile enough for making a wide range of soft magnetic materials for microwave applications.

The researchers chose to work with iron–cobalt–nickel alloy, a soft magnetic material with low permeability, high coercivity and other less-than-ideal properties. They added small amounts of organic compounds, including dimethylamine borane and sodium dodecyl sulfate, to the plating solution prior to deposition. The resulting thin films had much higher permeability and lower coercivity, which make them more desirable for microwave applications. The researchers suggest that the additives might have prevented iron from oxidizing during electrodeposition, thereby improving the quality of thin films obtained.

Zong and his team also explored the effect of adding inorganic compounds, such as aluminum potassium sulfate, to the plating solution. They detected an increased resistivity in the thin films — a result that is likely to be a consequence of the change in morphology of the material; that is, the shape of the nanoparticles changed from common granular to columnar (see image), as revealed by atomic force microscopy. The iron–cobalt–nickel thin films also exhibit strong microwave absorption in comparison to ordinary magnetic films. These unique properties are perfect for high-frequency microwave applications, including magnetic data storage, portable wireless and biotechnology devices.

The researchers have high hopes that their approach is applicable to the fabrication of a wide range of soft magnetic materials. "Our technique is cost-effective and scalable. We can create soft magnetic thin films on different size and type of substrates," says Zong. "In a subsequent step, we hope to transfer this methodology to related industrial companies."

More information: Research article in Journal of Materials Chemistry

Provided by Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)

Nanopores on a chip: Applications for analytical tasks in chemistry and biology

Biological nanopores are proteins of only a few nanometers in diameter that form tiny water-filled canals. They have proven to be promising tools in the field of nanobiotechnology. In a joint project at the University of Freiburg, a research group led by Prof. Dr. Jan C. Behrends, Institute of Physiology, and scientists working under Prof. Dr. Jürgen Rühe, Department of Microsystems Technology (IMTEK), have succeeded in arranging nanopores on a tiny microchip and using it to determine the mass of chain-like molecules called polymers with a high degree of precision.

In these experiments, the nanopores assume the role of the actual sensor.. The first author of the study, now published in the journal ACS Nano of the American Chemical Society, Dr. Gerhard Baaken, hopes that the new development will be instrumental in exploiting the great potential of nanopore analysis for chemistry and the life sciences.

In their natural environment, nanopores often have the function of transporting larger molecules. For instance, they convey proteins through membranes. Bacteria also use nanopores to destroy the cells of infected organisms. This is also true of alpha-hemolysin, a protein produced by staphylococci to destroy red blood cells. This protein has also recently found applications in analytical tasks in chemistry and biology. If a large-sized molecule gets into the pore, it becomes partially blocked for fractions of a second.

By measuring the electrical conductivity of the hemolysin pore, scientists can detect the presence of a single molecule -- in a fashion similar to the function of a light barrier. By the same principle it is also possible to make a very precise measurement of the size of the molecule. Scientists are very optimistic about the potential applications -- not only for the analysis of synthetic polymer mixtures, but also for the analysis of genetic material and even as a quick and inexpensive way to sequence DNA.

The Freiburg research team has now succeeded in conducting such measurements on a specially developed biohybrid microsensor made of biological and micro-technical parts. It contains 16 miniaturized artificial cell membranes on only one square millimeter. The individual membranes are spread over minuscule pits, each with a diameter of approximately two-hundredths of a millimeter. That is the equivalent of around one-third of the thickness of a human hair. In their publication, the authors demonstrate that they can use the chip to obtain the distributions of polymer sizes that are accurate to a single chain element. Currently, results of such precision require expensive equipment filling entire rooms. The project is a good example of successful collaboration among strongly diverging disciplines.

The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations ) from materials provided by Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, via AlphaGalileo.

Flexible electronics hold promise for consumer applications

New research from Wake Forest University has advanced the field of plastic-based flexible electronics by developing, for the first time, an extremely large molecule that is stable, possesses excellent electrical properties, and inexpensive to produce.

The technology, developed by Oana Jurchescu, assistant professor of physics at Wake Forest, her graduate students Katelyn Goetz and Jeremy Ward, and interdisciplinary collaborators from Stanford University, Imperial College (London), University of Kentucky and Appalachian State University, eventually may turn scientific wonders – including artificial skin, smart bandages, flexible displays, smart windshields, wearable electronics and electronic wallpapers – into everyday realities.

Jurchescu says plastic or organic semiconductors, produced in large volume using roll-to-roll processing, inkjet printing or spray deposition, represent the "electronics everywhere" trend of the future.

In the current consumer market, however, the word "electronic" is generally associated with the word "expensive." This is largely because products such as televisions, computers and cell phones are based on silicon, which is costly to produce. Organic electronics, however, build on carbon-based (plastic) materials, which offer not only ease of manufacturing and low cost, but also lightweight and mechanical flexibility, says Jurchescu.

The team recently published its manuscript in Advanced Materials, one of the most prestigious journals in the field of materials research.

Prior researchers predicted that larger carbon frameworks would have properties superior to their smaller counterparts, but until now there has not been an effective route to make these larger frameworks stable and soluble enough for study.

"To accelerate the use of these technologies, we need to improve our understanding of how they work," Jurchescu says. "The devices we study (field-effect transistors) are the fundamental building blocks in all modern-based electronics. Our findings shed light on the effect of the structure of the molecules on their electrical performance, and pave the way towards a design of improved materials for high-performance, low-cost, plastic-based electronics."

Jurchescu's lab is part of the physics department and the Center for Nanotechnology and Molecular Materials.

The team studied new organic semiconductor materials amenable to transistor applications and explored their structure-property relationships. Organic semiconductors are a type of plastic material characterized by a specific structure that makes them conductive. In modern electronics, a circuit uses transistors to control the current between various regions of the circuit.

The results of the published research may lead to significant technological improvements as the performance of the transistor determines the switching speed, contrast details, and other key properties of the display.

 

Student turns paper mill waste into ‘green’ material for industrial applications

A method to use paper mill waste to produce ecologically friendly, industrial foams from renewable resources has been developed by a graduate student in agriculture at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Foams are used for numerous day-to-day uses, including in the manufacture of furniture and car interiors. In many composite material applications, they are used as core material in "sandwich" panels to achieve high strength, weight reduction, energy dissipation and insulation. Conventional foams are produced from polymers such as polyurethane, polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Since all of these current foams rely on fossil oil, they present a clear environmental disadvantage.

Shaul Lapidot, a Ph.D. student of Prof. Oded Shoseyov, along with his laboratory colleagues at the Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment of the Hebrew University in Rehovot, has formulated a procedure for production of nano-crystalline cellulose (NCC) from paper mill waste. NCC is further processed into composite foams for applications in the composite materials industry as bio-based replacement for synthetic foams.

The process of paper production involves loss of all fibers with dimensions lower than the forming fabric mesh. Consequently around 50% of the total fibers initially produced are washed away as sludge. In Europe alone, 11 million tons of waste are produced annually by this industry, creating an incentive for finding alternative uses and different applications for the wastes.

Lapidot has found that fibers from paper mill sludge are a perfect source for NCC production due to their small dimensions which require relatively low energy and chemical input in order to process them into NCC. He also developed the application of NCC into nano-structured foams. This is further processed into composite foams for applications in the composite materials industry to be used as bio-based replacement for synthetic foams.

NCC foams that Lapidot and his colleagues have recently developed are highly porous and lightweight. Additional strengthening of the foams was enabled by infiltration of furan resin, a hemicellulose-based resin produced from raw crop waste, such as that remaining from sugar cane processing, as well as oat hulls, corn cobs and rice hulls.

The new NCC reinforced foams display technical performance which matches current high-end synthetic foams. The technology was recently licensed from Yissum, the technology transfer company of the Hebrew University, by Melodea Ltd., an Israeli-Swedish start-up company which aims to develop it for industrial scale production.

Lapidot's development has led to his being awarded one of the Barenholz Prizes that were presented on June 21 at the Hebrew University Board of Governors meeting. The award is named for its donor, Prof. Yehezkel Barenholz of the Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School.

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations) from materials provided by Hebrew University of Jerusalem, via AlphaGalileo.

HIVOCOMP aims to develop new materials that will bring carbon fibre composites to automotive applications

2011 marked the start of an ambitious European collaborative research project that focuses on advancing the state-of-the-art of composite materials technology to bring it closer to mass-production for automotive applications.

HIVOCOMP will last in total 4 years and intends to significantly speed up the composites production process, a key factor for the establishment of plastics in the commercial vehicles market.

Project partners include three large European automotive OEMs (VW, Daimler, CRF), suitcase manufacturer Samsonite, four highly specialised suppliers in the field of composite materials and their applications, and six leading universities that constitute the cutting edge of composite materials research in Europe.

HIVOCOMP will develop further two material systems that show unique promise for costeffective high-volume production of high performance carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) parts: advanced polyurethane (PU) thermoset matrix materials and thermoplastic PP-based and PA6-based self-reinforced polymer composites with continuous carbon fibre reinforcements.

The performance, production cost and recyclability of new CFRP materials systems will be thoroughly tested and benchmarked to ensure the results reach and exceed cost, safety and environmental targets. Validated demonstrator parts will be produced in 2013, ensuring the large-scale societal impact of the innovations.

The project puts primary focus on the passenger cars, including hybrid and fully electric platforms now entering the market, but it has identified spin-off applications in other transport-related sectors as well.

HIVOCOMP (Advanced materials enabling High-Volume road transport applications of lightweight structural COMPosite parts) launched officially in October 2010 and is funded under the topic NMP-2009-2.5-1 “Light high-performance composites” of the 7th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development. Project coordinator is Prof. Ignaas Verpoest of Katholieke University Leuven.

 

Shining a light on the elusive 'blackbody' of energy research: Designer material has potential applications for thermophotovoltaics

 A designer metamaterial has shown it can engineer emitted "blackbody" radiation with an efficiency beyond the natural limits imposed by the material's temperature, a team of researchers led by Boston College physicist Willie Padilla report in the current edition of Physical Review Letters.

A "blackbody" object represents a theorized ideal of performance for a material that perfectly absorbs all radiation to strike it and also emits energy based on the material's temperature. According to this blackbody law, the energy absorbed is equal to the energy emitted in equilibrium.

The breakthrough reported by Padilla and colleagues from Duke University and SensorMetrix, Inc., could lead to innovative technologies used to cull energy from waste heat produced by numerous industrial processes. Furthermore, the human-made metamaterial offers the ability to control emissivity, which could further enhance energy conversion efficiency.

"For the first time, metamaterials are shown to be able to engineer blackbody radiation and that opens the door for a number of energy harvesting applications," said Padilla. "The energy a natural surface emits is based on its temperature and nothing more. You don't have a lot of choice. Metamaterials, on the other hand, allow you to tailor that radiation coming off in any desirable manner, so you have great control over the emitted energy."

Researchers have long sought to find the ideal "blackbody" material for use in solar or thermoelectric energy generation. So far, the hunt for such a class of thermal emitters has proved elusive. Certain rare earth oxides are in limited supply and expensive, in addition to being almost impossible to control. Photonic crystals proved to be inferior emitters that failed to yield significant efficiencies.

Constructed from artificial composites, metamaterials are designed to give them new properties that exceed the performance limits of their actual physical components and allow them to produce "tailored" responses to radiation. Metamaterials have exhibited effects such as a negative index of refraction and researchers have combined metamaterials with artificial optical devices to demonstrate the "invisibility cloak" effect, essentially directing light around a space and masking its existence.

Three years ago, the team developed a "perfect" metamaterial absorber capable of absorbing all of the light that strikes it thanks to its nano-scale geometric surface features. Knowing that, the researches sought to exploit Kirchoffs's law of thermal radiation, which holds that the ability of a material to emit radiation equals its ability to absorb radiation.

Working in the mid-infrared range, the thermal emitter achieved experimental emissivity of 98 percent. A dual-band emitter delivered emission peaks of 85 percent and 89 percent. The results confirmed achieving performance consistent with Kirchoff's law, the researchers report.

"We also show by performing both emissivity and absorptivity measurements that emissivity and absorptivity agree very well," said Padilla. "Even though the agreement is predicted by Kirchoff's law, this is the first time that Kirchoff's law has been demonstrated for metamaterials."

The researchers said altering the composition of the metamaterial can results in single-, dual-band and broadband metamaterials, which could allow greater control of emitted photons in order to improve energy conversion efficiency.

"Potential applications could lie in energy harvesting area such as using this metamaterial as the selective thermal emitter for thermophotovoltaic (TPV) cells," said Padilla. "Since this metamaterial has the ability to engineer the thermal radiation so that the emitted photons match the band gap of the semiconductor -- part of the TPV cell -- the converting efficiency could be greatly enhanced.

In addition to Padilla, the research team included BC graduate student Xianliang Liu, Duke University's Nan Marie Jokerst and Talmage Tyler and SensorMetrix, Inc., researchers Tatiana Starr and Anthony F. Starr.

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations ) from materials provided by Boston College, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Journal Reference:

Xianliang Liu, Talmage Tyler, Tatiana Starr, Anthony Starr, Nan Jokerst, Willie Padilla. Taming the Blackbody with Infrared Metamaterials as Selective Thermal Emitters. Physical Review Letters, 2011; 107 (4) DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.107.045901

Next-generation computers: Advance in microchannel manufacturing opens new industry applications

Engineers at Oregon State University have invented a new way to use surface-mount adhesives in the production of low-temperature, microchannel heat exchangers -- an advance that will make this promising technology much less expensive for many commercial applications.

This type of technology will be needed, researchers say, in next-generation computers, lasers, consumer electronics, automobile cooling systems, fuel processors, miniature heat pumps and more.

New industries and jobs are possible. A patent has been applied for, the findings reported in the Journal of Manufacturing Processes, and the university is seeking a partner for further commercial development.

"Even though microchannel arrays have enormous potential for more efficient heat transfer and chemical reactions, high production costs have so far held back the broad, mainstream use of the technology," said Brian Paul, a professor in the OSU School of Mechanical, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering.

"In certain applications, this new approach has reduced material costs by 50 percent," Paul said. "It could cut production bonding costs by more than 90 percent, compared to existing approaches to microchannel lamination. And the use of surface-mount adhesives is directly translatable to the electronics assembly industry, so there is less risk going to market.

"This type of manufacturing research could enable a microchannel revolution," he said.

Microchannels, the diameter of a human hair, can be patterned into the surface of a metal or plastic, and can be designed to speed up the heat exchange between fluids, or the mixing and separation of fluids during chemical reactions. The accelerated heat and mass transfer leads to smaller heat exchangers and chemical reactors and separators, such as a portable "home dialysis" system that evolved out of previous OSU research.

Cost and production issues, however, have until now constrained the wider industrial use of this technology. The new manufacturing technique developed at OSU should help change that.

"We have demonstrated the use of surface-mount adhesives to create microchannels on a wide variety of metals, including aluminum, which is very cheap," said Prawin Paulraj, an OSU doctoral candidate and lead author on the recent study. "Bonding aluminum is difficult with conventional techniques."

These very thin pieces of patterned metal -- akin to aluminum foil -- can be bonded one on top of another to increase the number of microchannels in a heat exchanger, and the amount of fluid that can be processed. Creation of laminated microchannel arrays in a wide variety of materials is possible, including aluminum, copper, titanium, stainless steel and other metals.

"In computers and electronics, the heat generated by the electrical circuit is a limiting factor in how small you can make it," Paulraj said. "Microchannel process technology provides an efficient way to cool computers and consumer electronics, and make them even smaller."

The adhesives are limited in temperature to about that of boiling water. The researchers say that possible uses might include radiators to cool an automobile engine or small, very efficient heat pumps for efficient air conditioning within buildings.

This research was conducted at the Microproducts Breakthrough Institute, a user facility of the Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute.

University officials are now seeking a commercial partner in private industry to continue development and marketing of the technology, according to Denis Sather, a licensing associate in the OSU Office for Commercialization and Corporate Development.

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Oregon State University.

Journal Reference:

Prawin, Paulraj and Paul, Brian K. Metal Microchannel Lamination Using Surface Mount Adhesives for Low-Temperature Heat Exchangers. Journal of Manufacturing Processes, Mar 12, 2011 [link]

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Mimicking Mother Nature yields promising materials for drug delivery, other applications

Mimicking Mother Nature's genius as a designer is one of the most promising approaches for developing new medicines, sustainable sources of food and energy, and other products that society needs to meet the great challenges that lie ahead in the 21st century, a noted scientist said here today.

In the inaugural Kavli Foundation Innovations in Chemistry Lecture at the 241st National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society, Virgil Percec, Ph.D., said the approach — often termed "bioinspired design" — can stake a claim to becoming one of the most innovative fields in science.

"Using Nature as a model and mentor offers great promise for developing new commercial products, launching new industries, and for basic progress in science and technology," Percec said. "Nature already has found simple, elegant, sustainable solutions to some of our most daunting problems. The models are there — the leaf as the perfect solar cell, for instance — waiting for us to fathom and mimic."

Percec's laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania led an international collaboration of scientists to prepare a library of synthetic biomaterials that mimic the cell membrane, the biological films that hold the contents of the 50 trillion cells in the human body. Composed of mainly of proteins and fats, cell membranes have a crucial role in controlling the flow of nutrients and chemical signals into cells and the exit of substances produced inside cells.

The scientists found that when certain organic substances called Janus dendrimers are added to water, they spontaneously form a menagerie of nano-sized packets shaped like bubbles, tubes, and disks. Percec named them "dendrimersomes," and indications are that the structures are ideally suited to serve as packages for carrying drugs, genes, medical imaging and diagnostic agents, and cosmetics into the body. Their structural similarity to natural cell membranes makes them highly compatible with the body's own cells.

Dendrimersomes show promise of being more stable, targeted, and effective than existing nanomaterials used for drug delivery, Percec said. The packets also tend to be uniform in size, are easily formed, and can be customized for different functions, properties which give them additional advantages in the emerging field of nanomedicine.

Percec's talk will describe dendrimersomes and other bioinspired materials, some of which show promise for improved solar cells, electronics, water purification, and other applications. It takes place on Monday, March 28, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., Pacific Time, in the Anaheim Convention Center, Halls D/E.

Sponsored by The Kavli Foundation, a philanthropic organization that supports basic scientific research, the lectures are designed to address the urgent need for vigorous, "outside the box" thinking by scientists as they tackle the world's mounting challenges, including climate change, emerging diseases, and water and energy shortages.

"We are dedicated to advancing science for the benefit of humanity, promoting public understanding of scientific research, and supporting scientists and their work," said Kavli Foundation President Robert W. Conn in a statement. "The Kavli Foundation Innovations in Chemistry Lecture program at the ACS national meetings fits perfectly with our commitment to support groundbreaking discovery and promote public understanding."

More information: The Kavli lectures debut at the Anaheim meeting during this International Year of Chemistry and will continue through 2013. They will address the urgent need for vigorous, new, "outside-the-box"- thinking, as scientists tackle many of the world's mounting challenges like climate change, emerging diseases, and water and energy shortages. The Kavli Foundation, an internationally recognized philanthropic organization known for its support of basic scientific innovation, agreed to sponsor the lectures in conjunction with ACS in 2010.

Provided by American Chemical Society (news : web)

Mimicking Mother Nature yields promising materials for drug delivery and other applications

Mimicking Mother Nature's genius as a designer is one of the most promising approaches for developing new medicines, sustainable sources of food and energy, and other products that society needs to meet the great challenges that lie ahead in the 21st century, a noted scientist recently said.

In the inaugural Kavli Foundation Innovations in Chemistry Lecture on March 29 at the 241st National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society in Anaheim, California, Virgil Percec, Ph.D., said the approach -- often termed "bioinspired design" -- can stake a claim to becoming one of the most innovative fields in science.

"Using Nature as a model and mentor offers great promise for developing new commercial products, launching new industries, and for basic progress in science and technology," Percec said. "Nature already has found simple, elegant, sustainable solutions to some of our most daunting problems. The models are there -- the leaf as the perfect solar cell, for instance -- waiting for us to fathom and mimic."

Percec's laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania led an international collaboration of scientists to prepare a library of synthetic biomaterials that mimic the cell membrane, the biological films that hold the contents of the 50 trillion cells in the human body. Composed of mainly of proteins and fats, cell membranes have a crucial role in controlling the flow of nutrients and chemical signals into cells and the exit of substances produced inside cells.

The scientists found that when certain organic substances called Janus dendrimers are added to water, they spontaneously form a menagerie of nano-sized packets shaped like bubbles, tubes, and disks. Percec named them "dendrimersomes," and indications are that the structures are ideally suited to serve as packages for carrying drugs, genes, medical imaging and diagnostic agents, and cosmetics into the body. Their structural similarity to natural cell membranes makes them highly compatible with the body's own cells.

Dendrimersomes show promise of being more stable, targeted, and effective than existing nanomaterials used for drug delivery, Percec said. The packets also tend to be uniform in size, are easily formed, and can be customized for different functions, properties which give them additional advantages in the emerging field of nanomedicine.

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by American Chemical Society.

Advanced carbon aerogels for energy applications

 Because of their unique structure, carbon aerogels may be used for hydrogen and electrical energy storage in the future.

Carbon aerogels (CAs) are a unique class of high-surface area materials derived by sol-gel chemistry in which the liquid component of a polymer gel has been replaced with a gas.

Their high surface area and electrical conductivity, environmental compatibility and chemical inertness make them very promising materials for many energy related applications.

Recent research has shown that the structure of CAs can be manipulated for a variety of uses in the energy field from hydrogen and electrical storage to desalination and catalysis.

Laboratory research in the aerogel field was recently featured on the back cover of Energy and Environmental Science authored by Juergen Biener, Monika Biener, Michael Stadermann, Marcus Worsley, Theodore Baumann, Matthew Suss and Klint Rose.

Although the first aerogels based on silica gels were discovered in 1931, it was another 60 years until LLNL developed polymer-based carbon aerogels in the late '80s.

Because of their unusual chemical and textural characteristics, carbon aerogels are promising materials for use as electrode materials in supercapacitors and rechargeable batteries, advanced catalyst supports, adsorbents and thermal insulation.

According to the LLNL team, the sol-gel reaction chemistry allows researchers to manipulate the structure and properties of CAs.

"Carbon aerogels are attractive materials for applications that require both high surface areas and fast mass transport," because the structure, surface area and pore size distribution can be controlled systematically, Juergen Biener said.

For example, the hydrogen and electrical energy storage capacity of CAs depends on the presence of micropores to provide surface area, but the dynamics of loading and unloading depends on the presence of macropores to facilitate mass transport.

The storage capacity for hydrogen and electricity could be improved by manipulating the structure of the carbon aerogels, Baumann said.

The team currently develops new CAs that improve the storage capacity of electrical double-layer capacitors. In these devices charge is stored in the form of ions accumulated on the surface of the material, creating an intermediate between batteries and electrostatic capacitors. These capacitors are an ideal complement to batteries in devices with peak power demands above the base level, where they extend the life of the battery.

Carbon aerogels also have an important role in capacitive deionization (CDI), a desalination method in which ions are removed from electrolytes (seawater or brackish water flowing between electrode pairs) to create a clean water source. The first CDI system that used aerogel electrodes was developed in the 1990s at LLNL.

"Tuning the pore size distribution in hierarchically structured CAs can improve the energy efficiency of a CDI system by reducing ionic transport losses while maintain a high capacitance," Stadermann said.

Another promising energy application for carbon aerogels is their use as electrode materials and catalyst support in proton-exchange membrane fuel cells.

"The advantage of aerogels over other more traditional supports is that its surface area, pore size and pore volume can be tailored independently of each other," Biener said.

Provided by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (news : web)