 |
| Grönslick (Cladophora) |
Abstract:
Unwanted blooms of Cladophora algae throughout the Baltic and in other parts of the world are not entirely without a positive side. A group of researchers at the Ångström Laboratory at Uppsala University have discovered that the distinctive cellulose nanostructure of these algae can serve as an effective coating substrate for use in environmentally friendly batteries. The findings have been published in an article in Nano Letters.
Troublesome green algae serve as coating substrate in record-setting battery
Uppsala, Sweden | Posted on September 11th, 2009"These algae has a special cellulose structure characterised by a very large surface area," says Gustav Nyström, a doctoral student in nanotechnology and the first author of the article. "By coating this structure with a thin layer of conducting polymer, we have succeeded in producing a battery that weighs almost nothing and that has set new charge-time and capacity records for polymer-cellulose-based batteries."
Despite extensive efforts in recent years to develop new cellulose-based coating substrates for battery applications, satisfactory charging performance proved difficult to obtain. However, nobody had tried using algal cellulose. Researcher Albert Mihranyan and Professor Maria Strømme at the Nanotechnology and Functional Materials Department of Engineering Sciences at the Ångström Laboratory had been investigating pharmaceutical applications of the cellulose from Cladophora algae for a number of years. This type of cellulose has a unique nanostructure, entirely different from that of terrestrial plants, that has been shown to function well as a thickening agent for pharmaceutical preparations and as a binder in foodstuffs. The possibility of energy-storage applications was raised in view of its large surface area.
"We have long hoped to find some sort of constructive use for the material from algae blooms and have now been shown this to be possible," says Maria Strømme, Professor in Nanotechnology and leader of the research group. "The battery research has a genuinely interdisciplinary character and was initiated in collaboration with chemist professor Leif Nyholm. Cellulose pharmaceutics experts, battery chemists and nanotechnologists have all played essential roles in developing the new material."
The article in Nano Letters, in effect, introduces an entirely new electrode material for energy storage applications, consisting of a nanostructure of algal cellulose coated with a 50 nm layer of polypyrrole. Batteries based on this material can store up to 600 mA per cm3, with only 6 per cent loss through 100 charging cycles.
"This creates new possibilities for large-scale production of environmentally friendly, cost-effective, lightweight energy storage systems," says Maria Strømme.
"Our success in obtaining a much higher charge capacity than was previously possible with batteries based on advanced polymers is primarily due to the extreme thinness of the polymer layer," says Gustav Nyström.
Read the article: pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/nl901852h?journalCode=nalefd
#### About Uppsala University
Uppsala University – quality, knowledge, and creativity since 1477.
World-class research, first-class education, tradition and culture. Focus on sustainable environment and technology, global survival, and human health and the advancement of culture and society.
Uppsala University plays an active role in society, promoting growth and innovation. In the last ten years some one hundred new companies have been created to develop research breakthroughs.
For more information, please click here
Contacts:
Maria Strømme
+46-18-471 72 31
+46-70-167 91 04
Copyright © Uppsala University
If you have a comment, please Contact us.Issuers of news releases, not 7th Wave, Inc. or Nanotechnology Now, are solely responsible for the accuracy of the content.
Bookmark:
News and information
LEDs are getting better, much better September 8th, 2010
Ener1 Raising Funds For Indiana Expansion September 8th, 2010
2010 Kavli Prize Laureates Honored in Oslo September 8th, 2010
ICALEO 2010 Celebrates All Things Laser September 8th, 2010
Possible Futures
Fashion Forward: Nanofabrics Take Textiles Into The Future! September 8th, 2010
Physicists Build a Memory that Stores Entanglement September 8th, 2010
Clean Water for the Developing World September 8th, 2010
Nano technology could cool the heat from server farms September 7th, 2010
Discoveries
Nano technology could cool the heat from server farms September 7th, 2010
Submarines could use new nanotube technology for sonar and stealth September 5th, 2010
A model system for group behavior of nanomachines September 5th, 2010
Edible Nanostructures September 3rd, 2010
Announcements
FutureCarbon at Composites Europe 2010 – Look into High-Tech Super-Composites live September 8th, 2010
Nano-Enabled Wireless Handsets to Fuel Nanotech Growth September 8th, 2010
NanoInk Releases Two New Nanoscale Applications in Biology for the NLP 2000 System September 8th, 2010
JPK Instruments announce the Vortis™ Advanced fully digital SPM Control Station September 8th, 2010
Environment
Berkshire Forum to Host 'Cleantech: Building Sustainable Communities' September 8th, 2010
Clean 15 & Canadian Business Journal winner of the "Clean 15" Canadian Cleantech Competition 2010 September 8th, 2010
Book Review: Nanotechnology for the Energy Challenge September 7th, 2010
Dais Analytic Corporation to Present at Rodman and Renshaw Global Investment Conference September 7th, 2010
Energy
Ener1 Raising Funds For Indiana Expansion September 8th, 2010
Book Review: Nanotechnology for the Energy Challenge September 7th, 2010
Dais Analytic Corporation to Present at Rodman and Renshaw Global Investment Conference September 7th, 2010
Breaking the Chains: 6 Solutions for Ending Dependence on Foreign Oil September 7th, 2010
Battery Technology/Capacitors/Generators/Piezoelectrics
SouthWest NanoTechnologies Completes Grant to Refine Specialty Multi-wall Carbon Nanotube Production September 8th, 2010
Ener1 Raising Funds For Indiana Expansion September 8th, 2010
Book Review: Nanotechnology for the Energy Challenge September 7th, 2010
Dais Analytic Corporation to Present at Rodman and Renshaw Global Investment Conference September 7th, 2010
| 
