Tag: University of Cincinnati

Zeolite makes for a better battery life (Day 291)

zeoliteEarlier this week, I blogged about zeolite and its potential use for a more efficient carbon capture process via adsorption.

And now it seems that applications of zeolite stretches even further – today’s blog focuses on the use of crystalline zeolite membranes to extend battery life for renewable power systems.

Smart grids, along with renewable solar and wind power systems, require affordable and efficient energy storage batteries. The reason for this is rather obvious – renewable energy sources such as wind and solar are intermittent.  Also, there is a need to balance supply and demand.

But the current high cost and short life span of storage batteries are preventing widespread market penetration and economic viability of these renewable systems.

Research led by Junhang Dong, professor of chemical engineering at the University of Cincinnati, US, addresses this issue twofold.

Continue reading Zeolite makes for a better battery life (Day 291)

The dissolving implants (Day 158)

Strained limbAcademics reading this blog will know that the word ‘novel’ can be found in many pieces of published research.

It is always a brave call to use the word, and sometimes it might be better to be more cautious like ancient scholars who coined the phrase: ‘there is nothing new under the sun’.

I read an interesting story recently about medical implants and it sent my mind scurrying back in time to find out when mankind first started using ‘implants’.

The earliest trace I could find was an Ancient Egyptian called Hesi-Ra – one of the world’s first dentists, who lived around 2686 to 2613 BC.

Continue reading The dissolving implants (Day 158)