Metals Tech

A group of critical raw materials may help Europe reduce supply-chain vulnerabilities. Dr. Arne Petter Ratvik is championing high-tech goods for Europe through a low-tech source: fertilizer. Ratvik, a metals expert at independent Norwegian research organization SINTEF, says raw materials needed by the European auto, computer, electronics, energy and other industries can be extracted from […]

An increasing number of electric cars are being sold, consequently raising the quantity of produced electric motors. At the end of their useful life, these electric motors are shredded and then recycled. The individual components and assemblies cannot be reused. So far, there has been a lack of sustainable value retention strategies for remanufacturing and […]

A technology that could dramatically increase the range and decrease the charging time of electric vehicle (EV) batteries could soon be in many more cars. The technology swaps the graphite normally used on the negatively charged anodes of lithium-ion EV batteries for silicon. Panasonic recently announced a partnership with Sila Nanotechnologies, which makes the silicon […]

German start-up Cylib’s pilot battery recycling plant in Aachen has completed nearly a year of trials. Cylib reports that all battery elements, including lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper and graphite, can now be ‘holistically’ recovered. The company’s facility can now treat 500kg of batteries per day. The new recycling plant relies on a unique technology developed […]

German start-up Cylib’s pilot battery recycling plant in Aachen has completed nearly a year of trials. Cylib reports that all battery elements, including lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper and graphite, can now be ‘holistically’ recovered. The company’s facility can now treat 500kg of batteries per day. The new recycling plant relies on a unique technology developed by […]

Two battery-powered containerships which are being billed as the largest electric vessels yet constructed were officially named and placed into service in China today. Developed for COSCO Shipping, the two vessels are part of an effort to build an electrified network for shipping along China’s Yangtze River. The ships can transport up to 700 TEU […]

An international research group has engineered a novel, high-strength flexible device by combining piezoelectric composites with unidirectional carbon fiber (UDCF), an anisotropic material that provides strength only in the direction of the fibers. The new device transforms kinetic energy from human motion into electricity, providing an efficient and reliable means for high-strength and self-powered sensors. […]

A US$700-million investment barely burns a hole in Rio Tinto Ltd.’s pocket. The sum is less than five per cent of its 2022 annual income of roughly US$16 billion and isn’t supposed to dominate headlines from a financial perspective. But the mining giant’s chief executive Jakob Stausholm will tell you that Rio’s recent purchase of […]

A research team KAIST from led by Professor Keon Jae Lee has demonstrated the transfer printing of a large number of micro-sized inorganic semiconductor chips via the selective modulation of micro-vacuum force. The research, titled “Universal selective transfer printing via micro-vacuum force,” is published in the journal Nature Communications. MicroLEDs are a light source for […]

Polymer-air batteries often face challenges related to stability, kinetics and conductivity. In response, Dr. Jodie Lutkenhaus has developed a method to use a polymer as an anode in these batteries. In a recent article published in Joule, Lutkenhaus, associate department head of internal engagement and chemical engineering professor at Texas A&M University, collaborated with chemical […]