Nanotechnology is making surprising progress in various fields of science. It is defined as a field of applied science devoted to the control and manipulation of matter at a scale smaller than one micrometer, or one thousandth of a millimeter. At this level, are handled directly atoms and molecules.

There are numerous examples of nanotechnology applied to sustainability and while we develop further in the coming weeks, we will mention some of them. Nanostructures, such as Aero-gels “for example, were discovered in 1931 and help to conserve energy through their insulation. Besides being ultra-light, are up to 8 times more effective than spun glass or polymer foams.

In turn, organic solar cells based on nanoparticles and polymers, will soon be available in the market and gradually replaced their silicon counterparts. These are much easier to manufacture and flexibility significantly increases the chances of implementation, such as to place them on the roof of cars.

The “nanocomposites” are conventional polymers to nanoparticles that are added to modify properties. The aim is to produce stronger and lighter materials. An example of its use will be seen on the outer skin of the new commercial aircraft, including Boeing 787, to be built entirely with these components.

On the other hand, is being investigated intensively energy storage, ie the field of batteries that will soon be in cars such as Toyota Prius, a hybrid model to be commercialized in our country in the month of November.

Coexist in hybrid vehicles and one electric motor naftero. With the current streaming technology, charging the lithium-ion battery electric motor can last for 30 minutes helping to reduce emissions … though doubtless the percentage of time the use of its petrol engines is still much higher than the electrical.

A battery is charged by the movement of lithium ions from the cathode to the anode. By replacing the graphite electrode by one of silicon can store much more energy because silicon absorbs a large amount of lithium in the loading process.

Silicon anodes absorb up to 10 times more lithium (at mass), but the volume also increases 4 times. This is a problem because the material can crack and can break down the battery after several charges. In developing a design based on silicon nanostructures, researchers at Stanford University in California and the Hanyang University in Korea got the silicon material can withstand the forces.

The anode of silicon nanotubes resembles a set of hollow straws. We have studied the nano-wires in the past, but the nanotubes have a much larger contact area and also its inner surface is exposed. They are made repeatedly immersing an aluminum matrix in a solution of silicon. It is then heated and recorded by placing the solution in an acid to remove aluminum.

Professor of Power Engineering Hanyang University, Jaephil Cho, ensures that the matrix is now available for commercial use. It is still difficult to determine how much impact you can have this process in the cost of the batteries, although the increase their capacity leaves room for some increase.

Cho explains, “This solves only half the challenge. Just when developing a cathode with similar characteristics, we have hybrid cars with a battery life of 3 to 4 hours instead of the current 30 minutes.”

Advances in energy storage keys are undoubtedly on the way to a more sustainable world in which we minimize both emissions of greenhouse gases through electric transportation (with electricity from renewable sources) as the contamination of the groundwater from the batteries that end up in landfills.

Tags: hybrid car batteries, hybrid vehicles, Nanotechnology, the microscope

This entry was posted on Monday, October 19th, 2009 at 4:53 am and is filed under Hybrid cars market, Toyota Prius. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.