Industry News

September 2017
Bioreactors on a Chip Renew Promises for Algal Biofuels

Colonies of algae inside droplets on a chip. Algal lipids stained red.

For over a decade, companies have promised a future of renewable fuel from algae. Investors interested in moving the world away from fossil fuel have contributed hundreds of millions of dollars to the effort, and with good reason. Algae replicate quickly, requiring little more than water and sunlight to accumulate to
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Date:
09/29/2017
Berkeley Lab Aims to Strengthen the Cybersecurity of the Grid

As the grid modernizes, communications between the grid and solar panels will standardize, providing both more resiliency as well as a vulnerability that could be exploited by hackers.

As the U.S. electricity grid continues to modernize, it will mean things like better reliability and resilience, lower environmental impacts, greater integration of renewable energy, as well as new computing and communications technologies to monitor and manage the increasing number of devices that connect to th
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Date:
09/28/2017
Energy Harvested From Evaporation Could Power Much of US, Says Study

Evaporation-harvested energy can cut by half the water lost to natural evaporation, researchers say. Water-strapped cities with growing populations and energy needs could benefit most, including greater Phoenix, served by the above reservoir and irrigation system fed by the Colorado River.

In the first evaluation of evaporation as a renewable energy source, researchers at Columbia University find that U.S. lakes and reservoirs could generate 325 gigawatts of power, nearly 70 percent of what the United States currently produces. Though still limited to experiments in the lab, evaporation-harvested power cou
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Date:
09/28/2017
High-Resolution Audio SoC Supports a Variety of Sound Sources
Kyoto and Santa Clara, Calif., – ROHM has recently announced the availability of a high resolution audio SoC, BM94803AEKU, designed to act as the ‘brain’ in audio applications such as Bluetooth speakers, USB DACs, and mini/micro component systems by carrying out control and management of peripheral components and
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Date:
09/28/2017
TTI, Inc., has announced that it has signed a franchise distribution agreement with ITT for their Cannon and VEAM brands covering the whole Europe, Middle East, Africa (EMEA) region. ITT is a leading global manufacturer of connector products serving international customers in the aerospace and defense, transportation, in
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Date:
09/25/2017
Positronic has appointed Air Electro, based in Chatsworth, California as an authorized distributor for the full line of Positronic products in the North American market.      “Air Electro brings over 60 years of experience in many of our core markets”, states Positronic VP of Sales &
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Date:
09/25/2017
A Preparative-Scale Reaction Using Platinum Clusters With a Single-Digit Atomicity Realized

Figure (A) shows the chemical structure of the complexes, (B) shows the chromatogram of the HPLC separation with size exclusion columns, (C) shows the MALDI-TOF-mass spectra of the isolated platinum complexes measured with DCTB matrix, and (D) shows the optimized geometric structures with platinum as blue, sulfur as yellow, and α-carbon atoms in grey.

Subnanometer noble-metal clusters have been studied previously for these possibilities in catalytic applications. For example, it is known that platinum is used as a catalyst for a fuel cell, which is conductive and exhibits magnetism. Platinum is indispensable as a material for the next-generation energy grid, bu
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Date:
09/25/2017
Semitransparent and Flexible -- Solar Cells Made From Atomically Thin Sheet

This is a semitransparent and flexible solar cell with 2-D sheet.

Researchers at Tohoku University have developed an innovative method for fabricating semitransparent and flexible solar cells with atomically thin 2D materials. The new technology improves power conversion efficiency of up to 0.7% - this is the highest value for solar cells made from transparent 2D sheet materials. Transparent or semi-t
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Date:
09/25/2017
A Sustainable Future Powered by Sea

The blades of this five-blade turbine are made of a soft material and they rotate on their axis when influenced by ocean waves -- the diameter of the turbine is about 0.7 meters. The axis is attached to a permanent magnet electric generator, which is the part of the turbine that transforms the ocean wave energy into usable electricity. The ceramic mechanical seal protects the electrical components inside of the body from any saltwater leakage. This design allows the turbine to function for ten years before it need replacing.

Professor Tsumoru Shintake at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) yearns for a clean future, one that is affordable and powered by sustainable energy. Originally from the high-energy accelerator field, in 2012 he decided to seek new energy resources -- wind and solar were be
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Date:
09/22/2017
QUT Creates Australia's First Lithium-Ion Battery
QUT researchers have produced Australia's first lithium-ion battery after establishing the country's only facility capable of such manufacturing. Key facts: QUT has developed Australia's first pilot facility to produce commercial grade lithium-ion batteries. QUT has Australia's only facility capable of
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Date:
09/22/2017
Seoul Semiconductor Files Patent Litigation for Infringement of 12 Acrich Patents
Ansan, South Korea — Seoul Semiconductor Co., Ltd. announced that it has filed a patent infringement lawsuit, together with its affiliate, Seoul Viosys Co., Ltd., against Archipelago Lighting, Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. In its complaint, Seoul asserts that Arch
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Date:
09/21/2017
Researchers have quantified the astonishingly high speeds at which future solar cells would have to operate in order to stretch what are presently seen as natural limits on their energy conversion efficiency. The study, which investigated photovoltaic devices based on a type of materials called perovskites, suggests
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Date:
09/21/2017
Wayne State Receives $1.2 Million NSF Grant to Develop Autonomous Battery Operating System

Nathan Fisher, Ph.D., associate professor of computer science, Wayne State University.

DETROIT - The future of innovation will rely on effective, integrative battery operating systems that provide sustained and reliable power. Emerging technologies such as electric-drive vehicles and stationary energy storage systems will require improved battery systems. Software-controlled battery managemen
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Date:
09/21/2017
Bourdais Returns to Mouser/Molex-Sponsored IndyCar, Looks to Finish Season Strong at Sonoma
The Mouser-sponsored No. 18 car will take on the road course at Sonoma Raceway in California on September 17. Sebastien Bourdais returns to pilot the car through the 2.38-mile course. Bourdais was sidelined for much of the season by injuries he sustained in day one of the qualifying round of the Indianapolis 5
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Date:
09/15/2017
Dataforth Announces New Quality Management Certification
Dataforth’s Quality Management System “has been assessed and found complying with the requirements of ISO 9001:2015,” states MCNA (Management Certification of North America). The certification applies to Dataforth locations at both 3331 E. Hemisphere Loop, Tucson, AZ, administrative, and 6230 South Country Cl
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Date:
09/15/2017
Updated Web Presence for Potentiometers, Membrane Switches, Sensors, and More
Woodstock, GA - Hoffmann + Krippner, Inc. proudly announces the launch of their new website, showcasing their complete product portfolio, including membrane switches, potentiometers, touchscreen solutions and various sensors. Easily accessible product information, including possible custom specifications list
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Date:
09/15/2017
Mouser Electronics Inc., along with celebrity engineer Grant Imahara today released a new video in the Shaping Smarter Cities series, part of Mouser’s award-winning Empowering Innovation Together program. In the newest video, Imahara travels to Los Angeles to meet with innovators and engineers from DAQRI
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Date:
09/15/2017
BELLEVUE, Wash. – 5G Americas, the industry trade association and voice of 5G and LTE for the Americas, announced that global LTE connections grew 59 percent from June 2016 to June 2017 reaching 2.37 billion. The LTE market share compared to all other mobile wireless technologies reached 30 percent at the end of the
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Date:
09/11/2017
Mouser Electronics Signs Global Distribution Agreement with Basler
Mouser Electronics, Inc., announced a global distribution partnership with Basler, a leading global manufacturer of high-quality digital cameras and lenses. The company’s embedded vision products combine the latest chip and software developments with industrial machine-vision technology for cost-effective bo
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Date:
09/07/2017
Bridgetek Establishes Vietnamese Development Center
Further expanding its engineering presence across Asia, and also underlining its commitment to continued product innovation, Bridgetek has announced a major investment in Vietnam. Based on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City, the company’s new design center will complement the activities going on at its main de
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Date:
09/06/2017
Why US Battery Startups Fail -- And How To Fix It

These are lithium ion 18650 size industrial high current batteries.

Better batteries are critical to the world's clean energy future. More economical and efficient batteries would help to solve many of our planet's energy challenges, paving the way towards long-range electric vehicles to help reduce our reliance on fossil fuels as well as advancing renewable energy production by r
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Date:
09/06/2017
A Revolution in Lithium-Ion Batteries is Becoming More Realistic

Lithium amide-borohydride is a promising candidate for a solid electrolyte. The crystalline structure of this material consists of two sub-lattices, shown in different colors. Under appropriate conditions, lithium ions (red), normally found in the elementary cells of only one sub-lattice (yellow), move to the empty cells of the second sub-lattice (blue) where they can freely propagate.

The modern world relies on portable electronic devices such as smartphones, tablets, laptops, cameras or camcorders. Many of these devices are powered by lithium-ion batteries, which could be smaller, lighter, safer and more efficient if the liquid electrolytes they contain were replaced by solids. A promising ca
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Date:
09/06/2017
San Francisco, California – Foss & Company is pleased to announce that Solar industry veteran Alex Tiller has joined the firm as Managing Director to launch a new tax equity investment fund and syndication platform focused on renewable energy projects throughout the US. The new group will be based in Denver
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Date:
09/05/2017
Researchers Devise a new way of Producing Hydrogen Fuel

Lipid nanodiscs.

A U.S.-based team of researchers featuring MIPT scientists has assembled a nanoscale biological structure capable of producing hydrogen from water using light. They inserted a photosensitive protein into nanodiscs -- circular fragments of cell membrane composed of a lipid bilayer -- and enhanced the resultant st
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Date:
09/05/2017
Smart home products such as lamps controlled via mobile devices are becoming ever more popular in private households. We would, however, feel vulnerable in our own four walls if strangers suddenly started switching the lights in our homes on and off. Researchers at the IT Security Infrastructures group, Friedrich-Alexander Un
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Date:
09/05/2017
Electricity Production: When Enzymes Rival Platinum

Biocell using H2/O2 fuel based on a heat-stable hydrogenase that resists oxygen and a carbon monoxide at the anode and a heat-stable bilirubin oxidase at the cathode that provide currents of the order of amps per milligram of enzymes.

A fuel cell converts chemical energy into electrical energy via hydrogen combustion. Though it is considered to be a clean technology - because it does not emit greenhouse gases - fuel cells do use costly rare metal catalysts1, such as platinum, to oxidize hydrogen and reduce oxygen. In recent years, the identification of
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Date:
09/04/2017
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