Yi-Chen Lan, doctoral student in chemical engineering at Penn State and first author of a paper published in ChemSusChem, holds a battery coin cell that contains composite electrolytes reprocessed ...

For the first time, researchers have created a nanocomposite of ceramics and a two-dimensional material, opening the door for new designs of nanocomposites with such applications as solid-state ...

Lithium-ion batteries have been a staple in device manufacturing for years, but the liquid electrolytes they rely on to function are quite unstable, leading to fire hazards and safety concerns. Now, ...

Penn State researchers developed a low-temperature (150°C) method to produce solid-state battery electrolytes. Solid-state batteries offer greater energy density, safety, and charging speed, but have ...

Dense ceramic materials can form in nature under mild temperatures in water. By contrast, man-made ceramics often require sintering temperatures in excess of 1,400 °C for densification. Chemical ...

Barium titanate is an important electroceramic material used in trillions of capacitors each year and found in most electronics. Researchers have produced the material at record low temperatures, and ...

In an exciting development for the field of aerospace engineering, the lightweight materials of airplanes and rockets might soon be getting stronger. A new method for making ceramic materials — which ...

Ordinarily, when ceramic items are manufactured, the raw material has to be fired in a kiln at temperatures exceeding 1,000 ºC (1,832 ºF). Needless to say, it's a very energy-intensive process. Now, ...