Neutron scattering study points the way to more powerful lithium batteries
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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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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53
Lithium batteries, recognized as vital energy storage solutions, have become essential to contemporary living. Nevertheless, as modern industry advances rapidly, lithium batteries are challenged to keep pace with demands ...
Nov 9, 2023
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In response to a renewed international interest in molten salt reactors, researchers from the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed a novel technique to visualize molten salt intrusion in graphite.
Nov 1, 2023
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For more than half a century, the 1,000-foot-diameter spherical reflector dish at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico was the largest radio telescope in the world. Completed in 1963, the dish was built in a natural sinkhole, ...
Aug 15, 2023
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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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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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Ensuring that countries abide by future nuclear arms agreements will be a vital task. Inspectors may have to count warheads or confirm the removal of nuclear weapons from geographical areas. Those hotspots could include underground ...
Jun 21, 2023
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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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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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Human lives depend on brakes. They need to grip quickly and return to their resting position immediately once the brake pedal is released. If they do not return fully, energy losses may occur. This is not noticeable to the ...
Dec 30, 2022
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The neutron is a subatomic hadron particle which has the symbol n or n0, no net electric charge and a mass slightly larger than that of a proton. With the exception of hydrogen, nuclei of 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. Neutrons are necessary within an atomic nucleus as they bind with protons via the strong force; protons are unable to bind with each other due to their mutual electromagnetic repulsion being stronger than the attraction of the strong force. The number of neutrons is the neutron number and determines the isotope of an element. For example, the abundant carbon-12 isotope has 6 protons and 6 neutrons, while the very rare radioactive 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 mean lifetime of just under 15 minutes (881.5±1.5 s). Free neutrons are produced in nuclear fission and fusion. Dedicated neutron sources like research reactors and spallation sources produce free neutrons for 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, and is sometimes referred to as neutronium.[citation needed]
The neutron has been the key to nuclear power production. After the neutron was discovered in 1932, it was realized in 1933 that it might mediate a nuclear chain reaction. In the 1930s, neutrons were used to produce many different types of nuclear transmutations. When nuclear fission was discovered in 1938, it was soon realized that this might be the mechanism to produce the neutrons for the chain reaction, if the process also produced neutrons, and this was proven in 1939, making the path to nuclear power production evident. These events and findings led directly to the first man-made nuclear chain reaction which was self-sustaining (Chicago Pile-1, 1942) and to the first nuclear weapons (1945).
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