Energy & Sustainability – TechConnect Briefs

Enhancement of optical properties of Perovskite solar cells through added plasmonic nanostructures

Badran H., Hajjiah A., Kandas I., Shehata N., Kuwait College of Science and Technology, KW

Hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites have been extensively studied as a promising research topic in solar energy harvesting, due to their simple process, developed optical and electrical properties, and relatively low-cost materials. However, the perovskite solar cells [...]

A New 1.5-Nanometer Titanium Treated Portland Cement

Monte S.J., Kenrich Petrochemicals, Inc., US

Patented modification of the surface of ordinary Portland cement with a 1.5-nanometer proprietary titanate coupling agent trade named Ken-React® KCM-3E produces a transformational Portland cement trade named Ken-Tec Portland cement allowing a 31% reduction in [...]

Development of Bionic Coating Technology to Enhance the Solar Heat Shielding Capability of Architextiles

Chiu K-L, Shang S., The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, HK

The current work developed a bionic coating technology that mimics the micro-hair arrays of Saharan Silver Ant (SSAnt) on the architextiles to enhance their solar heat shielding capability. To do so, the Al-ZnO microrods were [...]

Sustainable Concrete: Enhancements and Challenges

Assi L., Carter K., Deaver E., Dekhn H., Ziehl P., University of South Carolina, US

Fly ash-based geopolymer concrete or alkali-activated fly ash-based concrete is a sustainable concrete that is not only reduced CO2 emissions, and also it utilizes waste materials such as fly ash, metakaolin, or blast furnace slag. [...]

Utilization of Aerogel Materials and Systems in the Building Envelopes of Tomorrow

Gao T., Jelle B.P., Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) / SINTEF Building and Infrastructure, NO

Building envelopes incorporating aerogel materials may exploit miscellaneous properties of the aerogels such as a very low thermal conductivity, lightweight properties due the air-filled low-density aerogel structure, and the possibility of utilizing solar radiation as [...]

Pilot Scale Demonstration & Independent Verification of Carbon Utilization Technologies for the NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE

Extavour M., Hansen T., Leitch M., McCabe K., Woolcock P., Southern Research, US

The NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE is a global competition to develop technologies for converting CO2 from power plants and industrial facilities into valuable products. The pilot scale demonstration required teams to operate at a 200 [...]

MCM-41 and Functionalized MCM-41 as Adsorbents to Remove Heavy Metals and Hardness from Contaminated Water and Groundwater

Basnet N., Dejesus K., Lai J.C.K., Leung S.W., Idaho State University, US

Mining operating and abandoned mines often have resulted in waste rock dumps and open pits that contain materials high in heavy metals and toxic elements. These contaminants are known to be present in groundwater, surface [...]

A Novel, Nanostructured, Metal-Organic Frameworks-Based Pretreatment Technology for the Remediation of PFAS in Industrial Wastewater

Ornstein J.M., Ozdemir O.K., framergy, Inc, US

Per-and polyflouralkyl substances, otherwise known as PFAS, are a class of chemicals that include perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS). This class of chemcials has a large variety of uses globally, but their utilization [...]

The Use of Focused Aerosol Deposition in the Collection and Analysis of Nanoparticles from Ultrapure Water Systems Used in Semiconductor and Pharmaceutical Industry

Keady P., Oberreit D., Van Schooneveld G., CT Associates, Inc, US

The reduction of particles in ultrapure water (UPW) systems is driven primarily by the semiconductor industry. Particles that can produce defects in chip manufacturing and potentially reduce yield, are now identified to be 10 nm [...]

Mechanical Re-Design of a Wells Turbine Blade to improve the efficiency of the LIMPET Wave Energy Conversion System

Chávez-García D., Flores-Valentín A., Montes A., Centro de Enseñanza Técnica y Superior, MX

Renewable energies are told to be the future of energy generation for the world; nowadays, the wind sector is the one with more development in technology. However, there are two big sources of energy that [...]