⚡ Energy Press Releases

Superconducting materials could play a crucial role in the energy-efficient applications of the future. However, several technical challenges still stand in the way of their practical use. Now, researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden have developed a new material design that addresses a major obstacle in the field: enabling superconductivity to operate at higher temperatures while also withstanding strong magnetic fields. This breakthrough could pave the way for far more energy-efficient electronics and quantum technologies. Digital devices, ...

Selective hydrogenation is a key reaction in the chemical industry, playing an essential role in petrochemical refining, fine chemical synthesis, pharmaceutical manufacturing, and environmental applications. The ability to precisely control hydrogenation selectivity is particularly critical for reactions involving multifunctional molecules, where over-hydrogenation or undesired side reactions can significantly reduce product value. In recent years, single-atom catalysts (SACs) have emerged as a promising class of catalytic materials capable of addressing these challenges. A recent review provides a systematic ...

Dielectric ceramic capacitors are critical components in modern electronics and pulsed power systems, prized for their ultra-fast charge–discharge capabilities and high-power density. However, their real-world application has been constrained by modest recoverable energy storage density (Wrec) and energy efficiency (η), especially under extreme operating conditions. Now, a research team led by Professor Changzheng Hu from the College of Materials Science and Engineering at Guilin University of Technology has developed a new class of lead-free relaxor ferroelectric ceramics that overcome these limitations. By integrating high-entropy design with bandgap engineering, ...

Fleeting electron-hole pairs are giving scientists a new window into optimizing light-emitting devices (LEDs). Using quantum magnetic resonance, Osaka Metropolitan University researchers have discovered how shifting internal electric fields dictate whether these devices shine brightly or dimly. Light-emitting electrochemical cells (LECs) are simple, flexible, and low-cost thin-film devices that generate light from an electric current. Unlike conventional organic LEDs, LECs contain just a single active layer — an organic semiconductor blended with mobile ions — sandwiched between two electrodes. This structural simplicity makes them promising tools for next-generation light-emitting ...

Contrary to previous assumptions, a new study finds that the needle-like lithium dendrites that grow in lithium (Li)-metal batteries are surprisingly strong and brittle, quite unlike soft bulk Li. According to the authors, understanding this brittle fracture behavior provides insights for suppressing dead Li formation and electrolyte cracking, enabling safer and more reliable Li-metal batteries. Li-metal anodes offer the highest specific capacity and the lowest electrochemical potential among all known anode materials, making them highly attractive for use in next-generation battery technologies. However, the use of Li-metal anodes poses significant safety challenges. During ...

For the first time, scientists have observed how tiny metal "thorns" called dendrites sprout inside lithium-ion batteries, which can cause the batteries to short-circuit. Their findings, published Mar. 12 in the journal Science, shed light on previously unknown mechanical properties of lithium dendrites as they grow. Scientists have long studied lithium dendrites, but did not fully understand how these structures behave inside batteries. Dendrites form at the nanoscale; their growth is challenging to observe in the closed system of a working battery, but has been linked to battery decline and failure. The new study, an international ...

Three years ago, in the waters of the Mediterranean Sea, the passage of an “ultra-energetic” cosmic neutrino was observed — the most energetic ever detected. The event drew international attention from the scientific community as well as from the media and the public, not least because the origin of this particle — whose energy exceeded that of previously observed neutrinos by more than an order of magnitude — is unknown. A new paper published in the Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics (JCAP) by the KM3NeT collaboration, which operates the KM3NeT/ARCA detector off the coast of Sicily, suggests ...

New research from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, in collaboration with The Ohio State University and Amphenol Corporation, challenges conventional understanding about controlling heat flow in solid materials.  The study, published in PRX Energy, shows that applying an electric field to a ceramic material changes how phonons (tiny vibrations that carry heat) behave. Phonons with atoms moving along the field direction (poling direction) last longer than those with atoms moving perpendicular to the field. As a result, the material conducts heat almost ...

Consider the humble rechargeable battery: Many people start their day by unplugging their phone from a charger to check the weather or commute to work, or throw on their favorite podcast. They’ll end the day by plugging in their phone to charge again overnight. This cycle represents decades of battery research pioneered right here at The University of Texas at Austin. Without the small, energy-dense, and safe lithium-ion battery, our morning routine would be very different. “Even if you come up with other battery technologies, lithium-ion batteries ...

Photocatalytic hydrogen evolution is a key technology for clean energy conversion, in which platinum (Pt) is widely used as an effective cocatalyst. The anchoring and dispersion of Pt play a decisive role in catalytic performance. However, achieving precise control over metal-support interactions at the atomic level remains challenging due to the chemical heterogeneity of catalyst surfaces. In a study published in Angewandte Chemie International Edition, Prof. ZHOU Xukai and his colleagues from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences introduced a conformational ...

Tsukuba, Japan—Large-capacity rechargeable batteries capable of sustaining repeated charge-discharge cycles are expected to become core technologies for electric vehicles and other elements of an electrified society. However, current systems often rely on costly metals such as lithium and platinum, creating an urgent demand for more cost-effective alternative materials. Magnesium-air rechargeable batteries, which consist of a carbon-based cathode, a magnesium-metal anode, and a magnesium chloride-containing electrolyte, utilize atmospheric oxygen as the active material at the cathode. This design enables the construction of high‑capacity batteries at low cost. Although the theoretical ...

About The Study: This pilot randomized clinical trial established feasibility, confirmed safety and tolerability, and generated effect size estimates for future trials of low-dose lithium in mild cognitive impairment. None of the coprimary outcomes met the prespecified significance threshold. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Ariel G. Gildengers, MD, email ariel.gildengers@pitt.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamaneurol.2026.0072) Editor’s Note: Please see ...

SAN ANTONIO — March 2, 2026 — Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has created a magnetostrictive transducer (MST) probe that uses ultrasonic guided wave technology to detect corrosion in storage tanks, a process that normally requires emptying the tank and checking for corrosion manually. SwRI’s probe attaches to the outside of a storage tank, resulting in a more cost-effective and efficient method of corrosion detection. The SwRI MST 8x8 is a flexible strip of eight ultrasonic sensors that generate acoustic waves along a structure. The technique identifies anomalies when the waves are ...

A battery's positive end (cathode) and negative end (anode) are two vital components that largely define how well it can perform. In particular, researchers have focused on improving the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of cathode design, since they can account for a significant amount of the costs for producing lithium batteries. Lithium-manganese-rich oxides are promising cathode candidates, because they don't use cobalt - which is expensive, scarce, and fraught with issues around non-ethical mining operations. However, Jahn-Teller (CJT) distortions of Manganese ions pose a major drawback to their use. Counteracting ...

Contact: Kate McAlpine, 734-647-7087, kmca@umich.edu  ANN ARBOR—A thousand times faster than conventional testing, an ion beam approach to qualifying materials for use in the cores of advanced nuclear reactors is advancing through stages of approval by the industry standards organization ASTM.  The methodology, developed with leadership by University of Michigan Engineering, will be presented at a special event hosted by the Electric Power Research Institute, March 10-11 in Charlotte, North ...

Researchers have investigated the role of a certain enzyme in regulating energy in muscle and exercise performance for decades, but a new study by Virginia Tech scientists has identified more precisely than ever how this mechanism works. Scientists working at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC focused on a triggering event that leads to the activation AMPK, which is a master energy senso known as Adenosine Monophosphate-Activated Protein Kinase. It is a regulator of energy production in response to the tremendous energetic demands of exercise. The study, published Wednesday, Feb. 25, in Science Advances, confirmed role of AMPK phosphorylation ...

Green hydrogen is considered to be an important part of the global climate transition, especially as a fuel and energy carrier for heavy transport and industry. However, large-scale green hydrogen production requires sustainable ways of managing water resources to avoid giving rise to water shortages and conflicts with agriculture over access. This has been shown in a unique study from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, that connects local water supply with a range of scenarios for future hydrogen needs in Europe. Replacing fossil fuels with hydrogen ...

As the electric vehicle era enters full scale, demand is increasing for batteries that can travel farther and last longer. Lithium-metal batteries have been attracting attention as a next-generation technology capable of surpassing the capacity limits of existing lithium-ion batteries. However, during the charging process, needle-shaped crystals called “dendrites” grow, shortening battery life and increasing the risk of fire, which has been identified as the biggest obstacle to commercialization. A Korean research team has developed a key technology that can solve this challenge. KAIST announced on the 24th that the research team led by Prof. Nam-Soon Choi from the ...

Researchers have developed a new biochar material derived from marine microalgae that can detect hydrogen peroxide rapidly, sensitively, and without the need for enzymes. The discovery could support applications ranging from medical diagnostics to environmental monitoring and food safety. Hydrogen peroxide plays a dual role in modern society. It is widely used in healthcare, biotechnology, and industry, yet excessive levels can signal oxidative stress in biological systems or contamination in food and water. Detecting hydrogen ...

In 2024, researchers in the Laboratory of Nanoscience for Energy Technology (LNET) in EPFL’s School of Engineering reported a platform for studying the hydrovoltaic (HV) effect – a phenomenon that allows electricity to be harvested when fluid is passed over the charged surface of a nanodevice. Their platform consisted of a hexagonal network of silicon nanopillars, the space between which created channels for evaporating fluid samples. Now the LNET team, led by Giulia Tagliabue, has developed this platform into a hydrovoltaic system with a power output that matches or exceeds similar technologies – with a major advantage. Instead of relying on heat and light to simply ...

Bellaterra (Barcelona), February 18, 2026 - Plants don’t just respond to light and water, they also run on an internal daily timekeeper known as the circadian clock. Researchers have now discovered that the plant circadian clock can regulate electrochemical signals in specific cells that help determine whether growth is invested above ground or below ground. In a study led by Paloma Mas, CSIC Research Professor at the Centre for Research in Agricultural Genomics (CRAG), and published in the leading scientific journal ...

CLEVELAND—Among the enduring challenges of storing energy—for wind or solar farms, or backup storage for the energy grid or data centers—is batteries that can hold large amounts of electricity for a long time. In addition to having a large capacity—potentially enough to power a neighborhood or small city for days or weeks—ideally these batteries would be safe, affordable and environmentally harmless. With an eye toward meeting those benchmarks, researchers at Case Western Reserve University are developing novel electrolytes—fluids that can conduct ions—for ...

UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL 10 AM GMT / 5 AM ET TUESDAY 17 FEBRUARY 2026 Invisible battery parts finally seen with pioneering technique More images available via the link in the notes section Researchers at the University of Oxford have developed a powerful new method to visualise an essential lithium-ion battery electrode component that had been extremely difficult to trace before. The discovery, published today (17 February) in Nature Communications, could lead to increased manufacturing efficiency of battery electrodes and ultimately help improve the charging rate and lifetime of Li-ion ...

Osaka, Japan – Ocean waves are one of the most abundant and predictable renewable energy sources on the planet, yet efficiently harnessing their power remains a major challenge. Traditional devices typically operate efficiently only within a narrow range of wave conditions, highlighting the need for more novel, constructive converters. Now, one researcher from The University of Osaka has analyzed the feasibility of a novel device for generating wave power. The device, called a gyroscopic wave energy converter (GWEC), was assessed for its potential in providing practical, large-scale energy generation. The findings were published last month in ...

Osmotic energy, often called blue energy, is a promising way to generate sustainable electricity from the natural mixing of salt and fresh water. It exploits the voltage that arises when ions from saltwater pass through an ion-selective membrane toward water with a lower salt concentration. However, membranes that let ions flow quickly are usually less selective, and challenges such as maintaining charge separation and mechanical robustness have kept most osmotic energy systems at the experimental stage. Researchers ...