A panel of judges at the NanoIsrael 2014 conference voted Volta’s carbon nanotube (CNT) battery as Nano product of the year. Read more for an explanation of what this means and why nanotechnology may soon be a household word.Philosopher Konrad Lorenz once said that scientists are people who know more and more about less and less until they know everything about nothing. The academics and industries collaborating on the Israel National Nanotechnology Initiative (INNI) are certainly pushing the boundaries of knowing everything about nothing, or rather, they are learning much about very small things.
In an interview at the NanoIsrael 2014 conference, Israel’s Chief Scientist, Avi Hasson told the Times of Israel that nanotechnology is on the verge of breaking out into many industries. Indeed, Green Prophet previously explored applications of nanotechnology in solar paint, desalination as well as a rediscovery of some of the ancient nanotechnology secrets of Egyptian blue.
Volta’s carbon nanotube (CNT) car battery was chosen as Nano Product of the Year by judges at the NanoIsrael 2014 conference. Carbon nanotubes prevent breakdown of silicon inside the battery. Carbon nanotubes are also excellent electrical conductors and can improve electrical conductivities characteristics within the battery. These improvements allow it to last three times longer than batteries without such nanotechnology.
The batteries begin with the familiar technology of Lithium Ion batteries, similar to those popular in mobile devices but with silicon anodes instead of the graphite anodes in ordinary lithium batteries. The problem with silicon is that it breaks down when it expands and contracts during multiple charge and discharge cycles. Carbon nanotubes sheath the silicon and prevent it from crumbling. Volta’s breakthroughs have applications in everything from electric cars to mobile phones.
Author: Brian Nitz
Brian remembers when a single tear dredged up a nation's guilt. The tear belonged to an Italian-American actor known as Iron-Eyes Cody, the guilt was displaced from centuries of Native American mistreatment and redirected into a new environmental awareness. A 10-year-old Brian wondered, 'What are they... No, what are we doing to this country?' From a family of engineers, farmers and tinkerers Brian's father was a physics teacher. He remembers the day his father drove up to watch a coal power plant's new scrubbers turn smoke from dirty grey-back to steamy white. Surely technology would solve every problem. But then he noticed that breathing was difficult when the wind blew a certain way. While sailing, he often saw a yellow-brown line on the horizon. The stars were beginning to disappear. Gas mileage peaked when Reagan was still president. Solar panels installed in the 1970s were torn from roofs as they were no longer cost-effective to maintain. Racism, public policy and low oil prices transformed suburban life and cities began to sprawl out and absorb farmland. Brian only began to understand the root causes of "doughnut cities" when he moved to Ireland in 2001 and watched history repeat itself. Brian doesn't...
