A window coating developed at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) elevates smart windows to their smartest level yet. Available coating products block sunlight and some solar heat load to reduce energy use in buildings. However, they do not block infrared light, which also adds heat to conditioned spaces. Researchers led by Delia Milliron in LBNL’s Materials … [Read more...] about Heliotrope – Universal Smart Window
CinderBio – Industrial Enzymes from Nature
The scientific concept that microbes living in extreme temperatures or toxic conditions could yield more effective industrial enzymes has moved several steps closer to reality. Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) have produced enzymes from these microbes, called extremophiles, that can replace chemicals used in biofuel production, paper pulping … [Read more...] about CinderBio – Industrial Enzymes from Nature
Pinpointing Energy Resources Under the Ocean Floor
Electromagnetic Geological Mapper (EMGeo) enables energy exploration companies to identify the type of fluid present (oil, gas, water, brine) in a reservoir under the ocean floor, avoiding the lost time, money, and unrecoverable labor costs of an unsuccessful drill. Problem: Seismic imaging data can locate hydrocarbon reservoirs under the ocean … [Read more...] about Pinpointing Energy Resources Under the Ocean Floor
Cerium Hydrogen Redox Flow Batteries 2016-051
APPLICATIONS OF TECHNOLOGY: Grid scale energy storage Potentially, production of high-value chemicals ADVANTAGES: Low self-discharge Commercially available materials ABSTRACT: Researchers Adam Z. Weber and Michael Tucker developed improvements to the Cerium-Hydrogen (Ce-H2) redox flow cell by optimizing cell materials, electrolyte composition and … [Read more...] about Cerium Hydrogen Redox Flow Batteries 2016-051
Enhanced UV Photon Capture in Ligand-Sensitized Nanocrystals 2016-035
APPLICATIONS OF TECHNOLOGY: Photovoltaics ADVANTAGES: 1,000X light absorption enhancement Drop in replacement for lanthanide nanoparticles Higher UV absorption without effect on downconversion or reemission ABSTRACT: Berkeley Lab researchers Peter Agbo and Rebecca Abergel have improved the efficiency of downconverting lanthanide nanoparticles by using … [Read more...] about Enhanced UV Photon Capture in Ligand-Sensitized Nanocrystals 2016-035