̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge - Judith Driscoll

Sustainable solar cell material shown to be highly promising for medical imaging

Anonymous — Wed, 10 May 2023 15:05:23 +0000

A team of researchers, jointly led by the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, have discovered that a solar cell material – bismuth oxyiodide (BiOI) – is capable of detecting X-ray dose rates over 250 times lower than the current best performing detectors used commercially. This has the potential to make medical imaging safer, and open up new opportunities in non-invasive diagnostics, such as X-ray video techniques. Their results are reported in the journal Nature Communications.

“We have developed BiOI single crystals into X-ray detectors that work over 100 times better than the current state-of-the-art for medical imaging,” said Dr Robert Hoye from the ̽��ֱ�� of Oxford, who led the work. “BiOI is nontoxic, stable in air, and can be grown cost-effectively and at scale. We are very excited by the potential BiOI has to make the next generation of non-invasive diagnostics more accessible, safer, and more effective.”

BiOI is a nontoxic semiconductor that absorbs visible light and is stable in air. Owing to these qualities, over the past decade there has been a surge of interest in this material for solar cells (turning sunlight into clean electricity), photoelectrochemical cells (turning sunlight into fuels) and energy harvesting to power smart devices, among many other applications.

BiOI contains two heavy elements – bismuth and iodine – which allows the material to strongly absorb X-rays. However, previous attempts to make BiOI into X-ray detectors were ineffective due to significant energy losses from defects arising from the nanocrystalline nature of the detectors made.

̽��ֱ��researchers developed and patented a method to grow high-quality single crystals of BiOI using a scalable vapour-based approach. ̽��ֱ��low defect density in these crystals led to stable and ultra-low dark currents, which was critical to substantially improve the sensitivity and detection limit of this material to X-rays.

“Showing that these simply-processed, low-temperature grown, stable crystals can give such high sensitivity for X-ray detection is quite remarkable,” said Professor Judith Driscoll from Cambridge’s Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, who co-led the work. “We began working on this material, BiOI, several years ago, and we find it outshines other rival materials in a range of optoelectronic and sensing applications, when toxicity and performance are considered together.”

̽��ֱ��researchers formed an interdisciplinary team to understand why BiOI works so well as an X-ray detector. They used advanced optical techniques to resolve processes taking place over a trillionth of a second, and coupled these with simulations to link these processes with what is happening at the atomic level.

Through this study, the team revealed the unusual way in which electrons couple to vibrations in the lattice. Unlike other bismuth-halide compounds, the electrons in BiOI remain delocalised, meaning that electrons can easily and rapidly move within the lattice of BiOI. At the same time, the unusual electron coupling with lattice vibrations results in an irreversible energy loss channel that would still be present even if the material were defect-free.

̽��ֱ��researchers found that these losses can be overcome by cooling down the sample to reduce thermal energy, or by applying an electric field to rip away electrons from the lattice. ̽��ֱ��latter case is ideally matched with how X-ray detectors operate. By applying a small electric field, electrons can be transported over a millimetre length-scale, allowing the efficient extraction of electrons generated in the single crystals through the absorption of X-rays.

“We have built a microscopic quantum mechanical model of electrons and ions that can fully explain the remarkable optoelectronic properties of BiOI that make it such a good material for X-ray detection,” said Dr Bartomeu Monserrat from Cambridge’s Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, who co-led the project. “This gives us a roadmap for designing even more materials with similarly advantageous properties.

This work offers important insights into how delocalised charge-carriers can be achieved in bismuth-halide compounds. ̽��ֱ��researchers are now working on applying these insights to design materials with similarly advantageous properties as BiOI, as well as how to tune the composition of BiOI to improve its transport properties further. They are also working on bringing the unique benefits of BiOI to society by devising routes to increase the size of the BiOI detectors, while preserving the exceptional properties found in single crystals.

̽��ֱ��study also involved researchers from Imperial College London, Queen Mary ̽��ֱ�� London, Technical ̽��ֱ�� Munich and CNRS in Toulouse.

Reference:
R A Jagt, I Bravić, et al. ‘Layered BiOI single crystals capable of detecting low dose rates of X-rays.’ Nature Communications (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-38008-4

Adapted from a story by the ̽��ֱ�� of Oxford

For more information on energy-related research in Cambridge, please visit Energy IRC, which brings together Cambridge’s research knowledge and expertise, in collaboration with global partners, to create solutions for a sustainable and resilient energy landscape for generations to come.

Using X-rays to see inside the human body has revolutionised non-invasive medical diagnostics. However, the dose of X-rays required for imaging is far higher than background levels, due to the poor performance of the detector materials currently available. This can cause harm to patients, and in some cases even cancer.

John Freeman

Bismuth oxyiodide crystals

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright © ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified. All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways – as here, on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.

Yes

Architecting the future

skbf2 — Tue, 08 Dec 2020 16:17:50 +0000

Arm is working with Cambridge researchers to make our phones and computers more secure, more efficient and ready for the digital revolution.

New green materials could power smart devices using ambient light

Anonymous — Tue, 17 Nov 2020 02:14:38 +0000

We are increasingly using more smart devices like smartphones, smart speakers, and wearable health and wellness sensors in our homes, offices, and public buildings. However, the batteries they use can deplete quickly and contain toxic and rare environmentally damaging chemicals, so researchers are looking for better ways to power the devices.

One way to power them is by converting indoor light from ordinary bulbs into energy, in a similar way to how solar panels harvest energy from sunlight, known as solar photovoltaics. However, due to the different properties of the light sources, the materials used for solar panels are not suitable for harvesting indoor light.

Now, researchers from the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, Imperial College London and Soochow ̽��ֱ�� in China have discovered that new green materials currently being developed for next-generation solar panels could be useful for indoor light harvesting. They report their findings in Advanced Energy Materials.

“By efficiently absorbing the light coming from lamps commonly found in homes and buildings, the materials can turn light into electricity with an efficiency already in the range of commercial technologies,” said co-author Dr Robert Hoye from Imperial College London. “We have also already identified several possible improvements, which would allow these materials to surpass the performance of current indoor photovoltaic technologies in the near future.”

̽��ֱ��team investigated perovskite-inspired materials, which were created to circumvent problems with materials called perovskites, which were developed for next-generation solar cells. Although perovskites are cheaper to make than traditional silicon-based solar panels and deliver similar efficiency, perovskites contain toxic lead substances. This drove the development of perovskite-inspired materials, which are instead based on safer elements like bismuth and antimony.

Despite being more environmentally friendly, these perovskite-inspired materials are not as efficient at absorbing sunlight. However, the team found that the materials are much more effective at absorbing indoor light, with efficiencies that are promising for commercial applications. Crucially, the researchers demonstrated that the power provided by these materials under indoor illumination is already sufficient to operate electronic circuits.

" ̽��ֱ��Internet of Things is critical for many areas, such as improved healthcare, energy conservation, transportation or control of smart buildings," said co-authro Professor Judith Driscoll from Cambridge's Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy. "New generations of wireless connected IoT devices function with low-power electronics ideally suited to operate with energy-scavenging devices."

"Access to sustainable and efficient indoor photovoltaic energy harvesters offers unique opportunities to operate these IoT devices by collecting ambient energy from daily environments extending their operating lifetime and reducing maintenance costs," said co-author Dr Luigi Occhipinti from Cambridge's Department of Engineering.

“Our discovery opens up a whole new direction in the search for green, easy-to-make materials to sustainably power our smart devices,” said co-author Professor Vincenzo Pecunia from Soochow ̽��ֱ��.

In addition to their eco-friendly nature, these materials could potentially be processed onto unconventional substrates such as plastics and fabric, which are incompatible with conventional technologies. Therefore, lead-free perovskite-inspired materials could soon enable battery-free devices for wearables, healthcare monitoring, smart homes, and smart cities.

This research was funded by EPSRC and National Natural Science Foundation of China.

Reference:
Yueheng Peng et al. ‘Lead‐Free Perovskite‐Inspired Absorbers for Indoor Photovoltaics.’ Advanced Energy Material (2020). DOI: 10.1002/aenm.202002761

Originally published on the Imperial College London website.

A bold response to the world’s greatest challenge

̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge is building on its existing research and launching an ambitious new environment and climate change initiative. Cambridge Zero is not just about developing greener technologies. It will harness the full power of the ̽��ֱ��’s research and policy expertise, developing solutions that work for our lives, our society and our biosphere.

Researchers have developed environmentally friendly materials that could harvest enough energy from indoor light to power wireless smart devices.

Luis Tosta on Unsplash

Light bulbs

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright © ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified. All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways – as here, on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.

Yes

Printed coatings enable more efficient solar cells

sc604 — Wed, 08 Jul 2020 23:00:01 +0000

Photovoltaics, or solar cells, work by absorbing sunlight to produce clean electricity. But photovoltaics can absorb only a fraction of the solar spectrum, which limits their efficiencies. ̽��ֱ��typical efficiency of a solar panel is only 18-20%.

Researchers have been searching for a way to overcome this efficiency limit with an approach that is cost-effective and can be used across the world. Recently, researchers have started developing ‘tandem’ solar cells by stacking two solar cells, absorbing complementary parts of the solar spectrum, on top of each other. ̽��ֱ��most promising of these tandem solar cells is a perovskite device stacked on a silicon device.

Almost all commercial solar cells are made from silicon, but halide perovskites are a new type of material that have quickly achieved efficiencies comparable to silicon. Perovskites absorb visible light, whereas silicon absorbs near-infrared light: a perovskite-silicon tandem solar cell could realistically achieve 35% efficiency within the next decade.

However, the challenge with these tandem solar cells is that the electrode covering the perovskite solar cell needs to be transparent, and this transparent electrode is deposited using high-energy processes that damage the perovskite.

A team of researchers from Cambridge’s Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy led by Professor Judith Driscoll and Dr Robert Hoye, working with Imperial College London and the Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore, have developed a method to ‘print’ a protective coating of copper oxide over the perovskite device. They have shown that only a 3-nanometre thick coating is sufficient to prevent any damage to the perovskite after depositing the transparent top electrode. These devices reach 24.4% efficiency in tandem with a silicon cell. Their results are reported in the journal ACS Energy Letters.

Key to success is the ability of their oxide growth method to replicate the quality of precise, vacuum-based techniques, but in open air and much faster. This minimises any damage to the perovskite when coating it with the oxide, while ensuring that the oxide grown has high density, such than only a very thin layer is needed to completely protect the perovskite. This vapour-based ‘oxide printer’ has the potential to be scaled up to commercial standards.

Reference:
Robert A. Jagt et al. ‘Rapid Vapor-Phase Deposition of High-Mobility p-Type Buffer Layers on Perovskite Photovoltaics for Efficient Semitransparent Devices.’ ACS Energy Letters (2020). DOI: 10.1021/acsenergylett.0c00763

Researchers at Cambridge, Imperial and Singapore have developed a method to print ultrathin coatings on next-generation solar cells, allowing them to work in tandem with silicon solar cells to boost efficiencies.

Rob Jagt

Perovskite solar cell with oxide coating

Yes

Cambridge researchers awarded European Research Council funding

sc604 — Wed, 01 Apr 2020 13:19:46 +0000

One hundred and eighty-five senior scientists from across Europe were awarded grants in today’s announcement, representing a total of €450 million in research funding. ̽��ֱ��UK has 34 grantees in this year’s funding round, the second-most of any ERC participating country.

ERC grants are awarded through open competition to projects headed by starting and established researchers, irrespective of their origins, who are working or moving to work in Europe. ̽��ֱ��sole criterion for selection is scientific excellence.

ERC Advanced Grants are designed to support excellent scientists in any field with a recognised track record of research achievements in the last ten years.

Professors Mete Atatüre and Jeremy Baumberg, both based at Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory, work on diverse ways to create new and strange interactions of light with matter that is built from tiny nano-sized building blocks.

Baumberg’s PICOFORCE project traps light down to the size of individual atoms which will allow him to invent new ways of tugging them, levitating them, and putting them together. Such work uncovers the mysteries of how molecules and metals interact, crucial for creating energy sustainably, storing it, and developing electronics that can switch with thousands of times less power need than currently.

"This funding recognises the huge need for fundamental science to advance our knowledge of the world – only the most imaginative and game-changing science gets such funding," said Baumberg.

Atatüre’s project, PEDESTAL, investigates diamond as a material platform for quantum networks. What gives gems their colour also turns out to be interesting candidates for quantum computing and communication technologies. By developing large-scale diamond-semiconductor hybrid quantum devices, the project aims to demonstrate high-rate and high-fidelity remote entanglement generation, a building block for a quantum internet.

" ̽��ֱ��impact of ERC funding on my group’s research had been incredible in the last 12 years, through Starting and Consolidator grants. I am very happy that with this new grant we as UK scientists can continue to play an important part in the vibrant research culture of Europe," said Atatüre.

Professor Judith Driscoll from Cambridge’s Department of Materials Science & Metallurgy was also awarded ERC funding for her work on nanostructured electronic materials. She is also spearheading joint work of her team, as well as those of Baumberg and Atatüre, on low-energy IT devices.

"My approach uses a different way of designing and creating oxide nano-scale film structures with different materials to both create new electronic device functions as well as much more reliable and uniform existing functions," she said. "Cambridge is a fantastic place that enables all our approaches to come together, driven by cohorts of inspirational young researchers in our UK-funded Centre for Doctoral Training in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology – the NanoDTC."

Professor John Robb from Cambridge’s Department of Archaeology was awarded an ERC grant for the ANCESTORS project on the politics of death in prehistoric Europe. ̽��ֱ��project takes the methods developed in the ‘After the Plague’ project and the taphonomy methods developed in the Scaloria Cave project and apply them to a major theoretical problem in European prehistory - the nature of community and the rise of inequality.

"This project is really exciting and I’ll be working with wonderful colleagues Dr Christiana ‘Freddi’ Scheib at the ̽��ֱ�� of Tartu and Dr Mary Anne Tafuri at Sapienza ̽��ֱ�� of Rome," said Robb. " ̽��ֱ��results will allow us to evaluate for the first time how inequality affected lives in prehistoric Europe and what role ancestors played in it."

Four researchers at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge have won advanced grants from the European Research Council (ERC), Europe’s premier research funding body.

Yes

Royal Academy of Engineering announces 2018 Fellows

Anonymous — Tue, 18 Sep 2018 13:33:55 +0000

Fifty leading engineers from the UK and around the world have been elected as Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering in recognition of their outstanding and continuing contributions to the profession.

̽��ֱ��50 new Fellows will be formally admitted to the Academy at its AGM in London today, in addition to four International Fellows and one Honorary Fellow, who will add their expertise to the Fellowship of nearly 1,600 world-leading engineers from both industry and academia.

̽��ֱ��three Cambridge researchers announced today as new Fellows are Professor Judith Driscoll from the Department of Materials Science & Metallurgy, Professor Andy Neely, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Enterprise and Business Relations and former Head of the Institute of Manufacturing (IfM), and Professor Robin Langley from the Department of Engineering.

Professor Judith Driscoll has made many technologically important contributions. She was recently awarded the Royal Academy of Engineering Armourers and Brasiers Prize for innovating nano-structured superconducting thin films. This integrates concepts from several disciplines (including composite theory and electronic engineering) and all superconductor wire manufacturers now use the pinning methodologies she developed. Some also use a liquid assisted processing methodology she initiated, which enables faster and more cost-effective wire production. Applications include generators, motors, energy storage and high-field magnets. Other important advances include developments in magnetics, ionics and ferroelectrics.

Professor Andy Neely is widely recognised for his work on the design and deployment of manufacturing performance indicators, as well as the servitisation of manufacturing – the tendency for manufacturing firms to sell services and solutions rather than products. He is founding director of the Cambridge Service Alliance and leads the Centre for Digital Built Britain.

Professor Robin Langley is distinguished for his work in acoustics and mechanical vibration to elucidate the complex dynamics of aerospace, automotive, offshore and marine structures. He has made preeminent contributions to statistical methods of vibration theory and his methods and software are widely used by practitioners in this field. He has held a range of senior leadership roles in the academic sector, promoting research and education in engineering and supporting the career development of his academic colleagues.

Professor Dame Ann Dowling OM DBE FREng FRS, President of the Royal Academy of Engineering, said: “I am delighted to welcome all our new Fellows to the Academy - together they epitomise the very best of UK engineering. Representing the country’s most innovative and creative minds from both academia and industry, the achievements of our new Fellows highlight the critical role engineering has in addressing major societal challenges and ensuring our readiness for the future. We are very much looking forward to working with them as we continue to fulfil our vision of engineering at the heart of a sustainable and prosperous society.”

Three Cambridge researchers are among the new Fellows announced today by the Royal Academy of Engineering, in recognition of their outstanding contributions.

Yes

Non-toxic alternative for next-generation solar cells

sc604 — Tue, 18 Jul 2017 09:00:50 +0000

̽��ֱ��team of researchers, from the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and the United States, have used theoretical and experimental methods to show how bismuth – the so-called “green element” which sits next to lead on the periodic table, could be used in low-cost solar cells. Their results, reported in the journal Advanced Materials, suggest that solar cells incorporating bismuth can replicate the properties that enable the exceptional properties of lead-based solar cells, but without the same toxicity concerns. Later calculations by another research group showed that bismuth-based cells can convert light into energy at efficiencies up to 22%, which is comparable to the most advanced solar cells currently on the market.

Most of the solar cells which we see covering fields and rooftops are made from silicon. Although silicon is highly efficient at converting light into energy, it has a very low “defect tolerance”, meaning that the silicon needs to have very high levels of purity, making it energy-intensive to produce.

Over the past several years, researchers have been looking for materials which can perform at similar or better levels to silicon, but that don’t need such high purity levels, making them cheaper to produce. ̽��ֱ��most promising group of these new materials are called hybrid lead halide perovskites, which appear to promise a revolution in the field of solar energy.

As well as being cheap and easy to produce, perovskite solar cells have, in the space of a few years, become almost as energy-efficient as silicon. However, despite their enormous potential, perovskite solar cells are also somewhat controversial within the scientific community, since lead is integral to their chemical structure. Whether the lead contained within perovskite solar cells represents a tangible risk to humans, animals and the environment is being debated, however, some scientists are now searching for non-toxic materials which could replace the lead in perovskite solar cells without negatively affecting performance.

“We wanted to find out why defects don’t appear to affect the performance of lead-halide perovskite solar cells as much as they would in other materials,” said Dr Robert Hoye of Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory and Department of Materials Science & Metallurgy, and the paper’s lead author. “If we can figure out what’s special about them, then perhaps we can replicate their properties using non-toxic materials.”

In collaboration with colleagues at MIT, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Colorado School of Mines in the US, the Cambridge researchers have shown that bismuth, which sits next to lead in the periodic table, could be a non-toxic alternative to lead for use in next-generation solar cells. Bismuth, known as the “green element”, is widely used in cosmetics, personal care products and medicines. Like lead, it is a heavy metal, but it is non-toxic.

For this study, Hoye and his colleagues looked at bismuth oxyiodide, a material which was previously investigated for use in solar cells and water splitting, but was not thought to be suitable because of low efficiencies and because it degraded in liquid electrolytes. ̽��ֱ��researchers used theoretical and experimental methods to revisit this material for possible use in solid-state solar cells.

They found that bismuth oxyiodide is as tolerant to defects as lead halide perovskites. Bismuth oxyiodide is also stable in air for at least 197 days, which is a significant improvement over some lead halide perovskite compounds. By sandwiching the bismuth oxyiodide light absorber between two oxide electrodes, they were able to demonstrate a record performance, with the device converting 80% of light to electrical charge.

̽��ֱ��bismuth-based devices can be made using common industrial techniques, suggesting that they can be produced at scale and at low cost.

“Bismuth oxyiodide has all the right physical property attributes for new, highly efficient light absorbers,” said co-author Professor Judith Driscoll, of the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy. “I first thought of this compound around five years ago, but it took the highly specialised experimental and theoretical skills of a large team for us to prove that this material has real practical potential.”

“This work shows that earlier theories about bismuth oxyiodide were not wrong, and these compounds do have the potential to be successful solar cells,” said Hoye, who is a Junior Research Fellow at Magdalene College. “We’re just scratching the surface of what these compounds can do.”

“Previously, the global solar cell research community has been searching for non-toxic materials that replicate the defect tolerance of the perovskites, but without much success in terms of photovoltaic performance,” said Dr David Scanlon, a theorist at UCL not involved in this work. “When I saw this work, my team calculated based on the optical properties that bismuth oxyiodide has a theoretical limit of 22% efficiency, which is comparable to silicon and the best perovskite solar cells. There’s a lot more we could get from this material by building off this team’s work.”

Reference
Robert Hoye et al. ‘Strongly Enhanced Photovoltaic Performance and Defect Physics of Air-Stable Bismuth Oxyiodide (BiOI).’ Advanced Materials (2017). DOI: 10.1002/adma.201702176

Researchers have demonstrated how a non-toxic alternative to lead could form the basis of next-generation solar cells.

We’re just scratching the surface of what these compounds can do.

Robert Hoye

Steve Penney

Bismuth oxyiodide light absorbers

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Yes

Fuel cell electrolyte developed to offer cleaner, more efficient energy

sc604 — Wed, 20 Jan 2016 16:29:50 +0000

These new materials offer the possibility of either significantly improving the efficiency of current high-temperature fuel cell systems, or achieving the same performance levels at much lower temperatures. Either of these approaches could enable much lower fuel consumption and waste energy. ̽��ֱ��material was co-invented by Professor Judith Driscoll of the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy and her colleague Dr Shinbuhm Lee, with support from collaborators at Imperial College and at three different labs in the US.

Solid oxide fuel cells are comprised of a negative electrode (cathode) and positive electrode (anode), with an electrolyte material sandwiched between them. ̽��ֱ��electrolyte transports oxygen ions from the cathode to the anode, generating an electric charge. Compared to conventional batteries, fuel cells have the potential to run indefinitely, if supplied by a source of fuel such as hydrogen or a hydrocarbon, and a source of oxygen.

By using thin-film electrolyte layers, micro solid oxide fuel cells offer a concentrated energy source, with potential applications in portable power sources for electronic consumer or medical devices, or those that need uninterruptable power supplies such as those used by the military or in recreational vehicles.

“With low power requirements and low levels of polluting emissions, these fuel cells offer an environmentally attractive solution for many power source applications,” said Dr Charlanne Ward of Cambridge Enterprise, the ̽��ֱ��’s commercialisation arm, which is managing the patent that was filed in the US. “This opportunity has the potential to revolutionise the power supply problem of portable electronics, by improving both the energy available from the power source and safety, compared with today’s battery solutions.”

In addition to providing significantly improved conductivity, the new electrolyte material offers:

minimal heat loss and short circuiting due to low electronic conductivity
minimal cracking under heat cycling stress due to small feature size in the construction
high density, reducing the risk of fuel leaks
simple fabrication using standard epitaxial growth and self-assembly techniques

“ ̽��ֱ��ability to precisely engineer and tune highly crystalline materials at the nanoscale is absolutely key for next-generation power generation and storage of many different kinds,” said Driscoll. “Our new methods and understanding have allowed us to exploit the very special properties of nanomaterials in a practical and stable thin-film configuration, resulting in a much improved oxygen ion conducting material.”

In October, a paper on the enhancement of oxygen ion conductivity in oxides was published in Nature Communications. It is this enhancement that improves efficiency and enables low-temperature operation of fuel cells. As a result of the reported advantages, the novel electrolyte material can also potentially be used in the fabrication of improved electrochemical gas sensors and oxygen separation membranes (to extract oxygen molecules from the air). ̽��ֱ��inventors have also published two other papers showing the enhanced ionic conduction in different materials systems, one in Nano Letters and one in Advanced Functional Materials.

Cambridge Enterprise is working with Driscoll to take the technology to market, seeking to collaborate with a fuel cell manufacturer with expertise in thin-film techniques to validate the new material.

A new thin-film electrolyte material that helps solid oxide fuel cells operate more efficiently and cheaply than those composed of conventional materials, and has potential applications for portable power sources, has been developed at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge.

̽��ֱ��ability to precisely engineer and tune highly crystalline materials at the nanoscale is absolutely key for next-generation power generation and storage of many different kinds.

Judith Driscoll

Bloom Energy

Bloom Energy Fuel Cell

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. For image use please see separate credits above.

Yes

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