Engineering
In the quest for advanced vehicles with higher energy efficiency and ultra-low emissions, Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers are accelerating a research engine that gives scientists and engineers an unprecedented view ...
Dec 21, 2020
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282
Energy & Green Tech
An international team of scientists has found a way to improve battery design that could produce safer, more powerful lithium batteries.
Apr 16, 2024
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25
Engineering
Lithium-based solid-state batteries have some advantages, such as being less flammable. But they are also much less powerful. This is because the lithium ions in this type of battery have to diffuse through a solid electrolyte, ...
Aug 9, 2023
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109
Energy & Green Tech
Researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory were the first to use neutron reflectometry to peer inside a working solid-state battery and monitor its electrochemistry. They discovered that its excellent ...
Jun 28, 2023
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278
Energy & Green Tech
Solid-state lithium-sulfur batteries offer the potential for much higher energy densities and increased safety, compared to conventional lithium-ion batteries. However, the performance of solid-state batteries is currently ...
Apr 5, 2023
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120
Electronics & Semiconductors
A large collaboration of researchers led by the University of Wollongong has used nuclear techniques at ANSTO and other methods to develop a process to engineer nanoscale arrays of conducting channels for advanced scalable ...
Apr 5, 2023
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98
Computer Sciences
Computers help physicists solve complicated calculations. But some of these calculations are so complex that a regular computer is not enough. In fact, some advanced calculations tax even the largest supercomputers. Now, ...
Nov 15, 2022
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107
Engineering
Teams from Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) and University College London (UCL) have visualized the water distribution in a fuel cell in three dimensions and in real time for the first time by evaluating neutron data from the ...
Jun 3, 2022
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46
Energy & Green Tech
The newest generation of lithium-ion batteries now under development promises a revolution in powering cell phones, electric vehicles, laptops and myriad other devices. Featuring all solid-state, nonflammable components, ...
Nov 16, 2021
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344
Engineering
3D printing has opened up a completely new range of possibilities. One example is the production of novel turbine buckets. However, the 3D printing process often induces internal stress in the components, which can, in the ...
Apr 27, 2021
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The neutron is a subatomic particle with no net electric charge and a mass slightly larger than that of a proton.
Neutrons are usually found in atomic nuclei. The nuclei of most atoms consist of protons and neutrons, which are therefore collectively referred to as nucleons. The number of protons in a nucleus is the atomic number and defines the type of element the atom forms. The number of neutrons determines the isotope of an element. For example, the carbon-12 isotope has 6 protons and 6 neutrons, while the carbon-14 isotope has 6 protons and 8 neutrons.
While bound neutrons in stable nuclei are stable, free neutrons are unstable; they undergo beta decay with a lifetime of just under 15 minutes (885.7 ± 0.8 s). Free neutrons are produced in nuclear fission and fusion. Dedicated neutron sources like research reactors and spallation sources produce free neutrons for the use in irradiation and in neutron scattering experiments.
Even though it is not a chemical element, the free neutron is sometimes included in tables of nuclides. It is then considered to have an atomic number of zero and a mass number of one.
This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA
