Team creates map for production of
eco-friendly metals
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Jaclyn Lunger is first author of a paper detailing the reactions--at the atomic level--behind an eco-friendly way to produce metals. Credit: Yang Shao-Horn, MIT |
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Could become important design tool for others |
In work that could usher in more efficient, eco-friendly processes for the production of important metals like lithium, iron and cobalt, researchers from MIT and SLAC have mapped what is happening at the atomic level behind a particularly promising approach called metal electrolysis.
By creating maps for a wide range of metals, they not only determined which metals should be easiest to produce using this approach, but also identified fundamental barriers behind the efficient production of others. As a result, the researchers’ map could become an important design tool for optimizing the production of all these metals.
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MRL professors lead major climate project on decarbonizing steel, cement and other materials |
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Two MIT professors associated with the Materials Research Laboratory lead one of the five flagship projects selected in the Institute’s first-ever Climate Grand Challenges competition.
The Center for Electrification and Decarbonization of Industry aims to “reinvent and electrify the processes and materials behind hard-to-decarbonize industries like steel, cement, ammonia, and ethylene production,” according to an April 11 MIT News story announcing the winning projects. The new center is led by Yet-Ming Chiang, the Kyocera Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, and Bilge Yıldız, the Breene M. Kerr Professor in the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering and professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (DMSE).
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Researchers develop a paper-thin loudspeaker |
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MIT researchers have developed an ultrathin loudspeaker that can turn any rigid surface into a high-quality, active audio source. The straightforward fabrication process they introduced can enable the thin-film devices to be produced at scale. Image: Felice Frankel |
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The flexible, thin-film device has the potential to make any surface into a low-power, high-quality audio source. |
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MIT engineers have developed a paper-thin loudspeaker that can turn any surface into an active audio source.
This thin-film loudspeaker produces sound with minimal distortion while using a fraction of the energy required by a traditional loudspeaker. The hand-sized loudspeaker the team demonstrated, which weighs about as much as a dime, can generate high-quality sound no matter what surface the film is bonded to.
To achieve these properties, the researchers pioneered a deceptively simple fabrication technique, which requires only three basic steps and can be scaled up to produce ultrathin loudspeakers large enough to cover the inside of an automobile or to wallpaper a room.
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A new heat engine with no moving parts is as efficient as a steam turbine |
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A thermophotovoltaic (TPV) cell (size 1 cm x 1 cm) mounted on a heat sink designed to measure the TPV cell efficiency. To measure the efficiency, the cell is exposed to an emitter and simultaneous measurements of electric power and heat flow through the device are taken. Image: Felice Frankel |
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The design could someday enable a fully decarbonized power grid, researchers say. |
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Engineers at MIT and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have designed a heat engine with no moving parts. Their new demonstrations show that it converts heat to electricity with over 40 percent efficiency — a performance better than that of traditional steam turbines.
The heat engine is a thermophotovoltaic (TPV) cell, similar to a solar panel’s photovoltaic cells, that passively captures high-energy photons from a white-hot heat source and converts them into electricity. The team’s design can generate electricity from a heat source of between 1,900 to 2,400 degrees Celsius, or up to about 4,300 degrees Fahrenheit.
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We invite your company to become a member of the MRL Industry Collegium. As a member, your company will receive:
- premium access to member only briefing materials and information via our website
- periodic publications and research activity highlights
- invitations to workshops, conferences and symposia
- support for research staff visits on-campus
- facilitation of corporate meetings and events
- customized interactions with MIT students
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To join the collegium contact:
Mark Beals
Associate Director, MRL
617-253-2129
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77 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139
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