EurekAlert May 19, 2021 Researchers in Sweden have developed a Neutron-Gamma Emission Tomography (NGET) system that goes beyond the capabilities of existing radiation portal monitors, by measuring the time and energy correlations between particles emitted in nuclear fission and using machine learning algorithms to visualize where they are coming from. The system looks for coincidences of neutron and gamma ray emissions–which when mapped together in real-time allow pinpointing their origin. They demonstrated the method on a radiation portal monitor prototype system based on fast organic scintillators measuring the characteristic fast time and energy correlations between particles emitted in nuclear fission […]
Tag Archives: S&T Sweden
Rechargeable cement-based batteries
Science Daily May 18, 2021 Researchers in Sweden have developed a rechargeable cement-based battery using iron and zinc as anodes, and nickel-based oxides as cathodes. The conductivity of cement-based electrolytes was modified by adding short carbon fibers. The electrodes were produced by two methods: powder-mixing and metal-coating. Different combinations of cells were tested. The results showed that the best performance of the rechargeable battery was the Ni–Fe battery, produced by the metal-coating method. The battery has an average energy density of 7 Wh/m2 (or 0.8 Wh/L) during six charge/discharge cycles. Their battery could be more than ten times that of […]
Big breakthrough for ‘massless’ energy storage
Science Daily March 22, 2021 Stiff and strong batteries that use solid‐state electrolytes and resilient electrodes and separators are generally lacking. Researchers in Sweden have demonstrated a structural battery composite with unprecedented multifunctional performance featuring an energy density of 24 Wh kg−1 and an elastic modulus of 25 GPa and tensile strength exceeding 300 MPa. The structural battery is made from multifunctional constituents, where reinforcing carbon fibers (CFs) act as electrode and current collector. A structural electrolyte is used for load transfer and ion transport and a glass fiber fabric separates the CF electrode from an aluminum foil‐supported lithium–iron–phosphate positive electrode. The battery performs […]
Single atom-thin platinum makes a great chemical sensor
EurekAlert September 14, 2020 Researchers in Sweden prepared one atom thin, electrically continuous platinum layers by physical vapor deposition on the carbon zero layer (buffer layer) grown epitaxially on silicon carbide. With a thin Pt layer, the electrical conductivity of the metal is strongly modulated when interacting with chemical analytes, due to charges being transferred to/from Pt. The strong interaction with chemical species, together with the scalability of the material, enables the fabrication of chemiresistor devices for electrical read‐out of chemical species with sub part‐per‐billion detection limits. This opens a route for resilient and high sensitivity chemical detection and can […]
BATTERY 2030+ – large-scale European initiative for battery research starts up
EurekAlert September 9, 2020 BATTERY 2030+ is a EU Horizon 2020 funded project led by Sweden. The goal is to create more environmentally friendly and safer batteries with better performance, greater storage options and longer life. The current research projects are operating in three different areas: I. Development of a European infrastructure platform to combine large-scale calculations and experimental studies to map the complex reactions that take place in a battery. II. Development and integration of sensors that examine and report on the battery’s health in real time. III. Development of self-healing components that extend battery life and improve safety…read more.
Ultra-thin camera lenses of the future could see the light of day
Nanowerk June 11, 2020 The fabrication of state-of-the-art metasurfaces typically involves several expensive, time-consuming, and potentially hazardous processing steps. Researchers in Sweden have developed a method to construct phase-gradient metasurfaces from an exposed standard electron beam resist. They demonstrated the advantages of the method by constructing high-performance flat optics for the entire visible wavelength range. The method dramatically cuts the required processing time, cost, and reduces safety hazards. The method could be a step towards large-scale production of metasurfaces…read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Shape-shifting carbon fibre could replace mechanical systems for planes and more
Nanowerk May 7, 2020 Researchers in Sweden have developed a material that is manufactured from commercial carbon fibers and a structural battery electrolyte and uses lithium-ion insertion to produce shape changes at low voltages. It is an electrically controlled solid-state morphing composite material that is lightweight and has a stiffness higher than aluminum. It is capable of producing large deformations and holding them with no additional power, albeit at low rates. A proof-of-concept material in a cantilever setup was used to show morphing. Analytical modeling showed good correlation with experimental observations. The concept presented shows considerable promise and paves the […]
An all-organic proton battery energized for sustainable energy storage
EurekAlert April 2, 2020 Researchers in Sweden have developed a battery using quinones, which occurs in photosynthesis, as the active material. It has the ability to absorb or emit hydrogen ions during charging and discharging. An acidic aqueous solution was used as an electrolyte. They demonstrated the battery can be easily charged using a solar cell without the help of advanced electronics and it is unaffected by ambient temperature. The battery retains properties such as capacity down to as low as -24°C… read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
A new sensor for light, heat and touch
Phys.org May 14, 2019 Voltage arises in pyroelectric materials when they are heated or cooled. It is the change in temperature that gives a signal, which is rapid and strong, but it decays almost as rapidly. In thermoelectric materials, in contrast, a voltage arises when the material has one cold and one hot side. The signal here arises slowly, and some time must pass before it can be measured. Researchers in Sweden combined a pyroelectric polymer with a thermoelectric gel developed by them in a previous project. The combination gives a rapid and strong signal that lasts as long as […]
Causal disentanglement is the next frontier in AI
Phys.org February 20, 2019 Complex behaviour emerges from interactions between objects produced by different generating mechanisms. Researchers in Sweden introduce a universal, unsupervised and parameter-free model-oriented approach, based on the seminal concept and the first principles of algorithmic probability, to decompose an observation into its most likely algorithmic generative models. They demonstrated its ability to deconvolve interacting mechanisms regardless of whether the resultant objects are bit strings, space–time evolution diagrams, images or networks. Although this is mostly a conceptual contribution and an algorithmic framework, they have provided numerical evidence evaluating the ability of the methods to extract models from data […]