The mysteries hidden within your battery are finally being unraveled by scientists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Led by Professor Yingjie Zhang, a team has completed an investigation into the nonuniformity of liquid electrolytes at solid-liquid interfaces in electrochemical cells – a long-overlooked aspect that holds significant technological implications.

The researchers used 3D atomic force microscopy to study the molecular structure of electrical double layers (EDLs), which self-organize into nanometer-thick layers at the interface between the liquid electrolyte and solid conductor. Their findings revealed three primary responses in EDLs: bending, breaking, and reconnecting – patterns that are quite universal and mainly driven by the finite size of liquid molecules.

The study provides a groundbreaking understanding of electrochemical cells and has significant implications for battery technology. By shedding light on the nonuniformity of liquid electrolytes at solid-liquid interfaces, researchers can now develop new chapters in electrochemistry textbooks and inform technological applications.

“We have resolved the EDLs in realistic, heterogeneous electrochemical systems, which is a holy grain in electrochemistry,” said Professor Zhang. “Besides the practical implications in technology, we are starting to develop new chapters in electrochemistry textbooks.”

The research team also includes graduate student Qian Ai as the lead author and other contributors from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Support was provided by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research.

This study marks a significant step forward in understanding the atomic-scale secrets within batteries, paving the way for improved battery technology and innovative applications.

Cosmic particles known as neutrinos have long been shrouded in mystery, their properties and behavior still not fully understood by scientists. These ghostly entities, which come in three “flavors” – electron, muon, and tau – can be lethal to massive stars more than 10 times the size of our sun. Neutrinos are notorious for being slippery, making it nearly impossible to collide them with each other in a lab setting.

Recently, researchers from the Network for Neutrinos, Nuclear Astrophysics, and Symmetries (N3AS) have made a groundbreaking discovery through theoretical calculations. They found that massive stars can act as “neutrino colliders,” where neutrinos steal thermal energy from these stars, causing their electrons to move at nearly the speed of light. This drives the star to instability and collapse.

As the collapsing star’s density becomes incredibly high, its neutrinos become trapped, leading to a series of collisions among themselves. With purely standard model interactions, the neutrinos will predominantly be electron flavor, resulting in a relatively “cold” matter core that might leave behind a neutron star remnant.

However, if secret interactions are at play, changing the flavor of neutrinos radically, the outcome is drastically different. In this scenario, neutrinos of all flavors collide, producing a mostly neutron “hot” core that may eventually give rise to a black hole remnant.

Future experiments like the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) at Fermi National Accelerator Lab might be able to test these ideas, and observations of neutrinos or gravitational waves from collapsing stars could provide further insights into this phenomenon. The research, led by UC San Diego researchers and published in Physical Review Letters, has been funded by institutions such as the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy, underscoring the importance of continued study in this area.

The world is on the cusp of a revolution in sustainable energy storage, thanks to groundbreaking research from scientists at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia. In a study published in Science Advances, researchers have uncovered the key to making aqueous rechargeable batteries last significantly longer – up to 10 times more than their current lifespan.

One major factor that determines a battery’s lifespan is its anode. Chemical reactions at the anode generate and store energy, but these same reactions also degrade the anode over time, compromising the battery’s overall performance. The new study reveals how free water molecules contribute to these parasitic reactions, causing unwanted chemical interactions that consume energy and accelerate wear on the anode.

The KAUST team has found that adding zinc sulfate – a common, affordable salt – can significantly mitigate this issue by stabilizing the bonds of free water molecules. This “water glue” effect reduces the number of parasitic reactions, allowing aqueous batteries to last much longer than previously thought possible.

“Our findings highlight the importance of understanding water structure in battery chemistry,” said KAUST Professor Husam Alshareef, principal investigator on the study. “We’re excited about the potential implications for sustainable energy storage.”

The research suggests that sulfate salts can have a universal effect on stabilizing free water molecules and extending the lifespan of all aqueous batteries – not just those using zinc anodes. This breakthrough opens up new possibilities for large-scale energy storage, which is gaining significant global attention as a safer and more sustainable solution.

Aqueous batteries are poised to exceed a market size of $10 billion by 2030, thanks in part to their unique advantages over lithium-ion batteries. Unlike their competitors, aqueous batteries offer a more sustainable option for integrating renewable energy sources like solar power into electrical grids, making them an attractive choice for widespread adoption.

KAUST researchers Yunpei Zhu and Omar Mohammed also contributed to the study, along with Professors Omar Bakr, Xixiang Zhang, and Mani Sarathy.