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Quantum Materials Corp., San
Marcos, Texas, reports securing 3D
printing anti-counterfeiting
quantum dot detection technology
developed at the Institute for
Critical Technology and Applied
Science and the Design,
Research, and Education for
Additive Manufacturing Systems
(DREAMS) Laboratory at Virginia
Tech., Blacksburg. Quantum dots
are embedded within objects being
3D printed to produce a unique,
physically uncloneable signature
known only to the object’s
manufacturer. The method will
help positively identify any object
through a variety of application
and detection methods. Novel uses
of embedded nanomaterials cover
a wide field of growing industries
of encryption, secure key
exchange, protection of hardware
from tampering, and other secure
identification needs. ,
.
The Department of Energy (DOE)
announces a funding extension of
$14 million over four years for an
Energy Frontier Research Center
(EFRC) first established at its
Brookhaven National
Laboratory, Upton, N.Y., in 2009.
The Center for Emergent
Superconductivity, led by
Brookhaven with partners from the
University of Illinois and DOE’s
Argonne National Laboratory,
aims to understand the
fundamental nature of
superconductivity in complex
materials. Scientists are exploring
methods to improve the critical
properties of known high-
temperature superconducting
materials—which operate above
the extreme cold temperatures
required for conventional
superconductivity—and accelerate
the search for new ones.
New batteries conquer range anxiety
A team from George Washington Univer-
sity (GWU) led by chemistry professor Stuart
Licht developed a novel solution to electric ve-
hicle range anxiety called the “molten air bat-
tery.” These rechargeable batteries, which use
molten electrolytes, oxygen from air, and spe-
cial multiple electron storage electrodes, have
the highest intrinsic electric energy storage ca-
pacities of any other batteries to date, say re-
searchers. Their energy density, durability, and
cost effectiveness give them the potential to
replace conventional electric car batteries, ex-
plains Licht.
Molten air batteries made with iron, car-
bon, or vanadium boride can store three,
four, and 11 electrons per molecule, respec-
tively, giving them 20 to 50 times the stor-
age capacity of a lithium-ion battery, which
is only able to store one electron per mole-
cule of lithium. The new molten air batteries
offer both high storage capacity and re-
versibility. Air acts as one of the battery elec-
trodes, while nickel or iron electrodes can
serve as the other. Molten refers to the electrolyte, which is mixed with reactants for
iron, carbon, or vanadium boride, then heated until the mixture becomes liquid. The
liquid electrolyte covers the metal electrode and is also exposed to the air electrode.
Batteries are able to recharge by electrochemically reinserting a large number of elec-
trons. The rechargeable battery uses oxygen directly from the air, not stored, to yield
high battery capacity. The high activity of molten electrolytes is what allows this charg-
ing to occur, says Licht.
Electrolytes are melted to a liquid by temperatures between 700° and 800°C, which is
challenging to operate inside a vehicle, though such temperatures are reached in conven-
tional internal combustion engines. The new batteries could also be used for large-scale en-
ergy storage for electric grids. .
Magnetic hose holds promise for quantum computing
A magnetic hose designed by researchers at Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona
consists of a ferromagnetic cylinder covered by a superconductor material, a simple de-
sign given the complicated theoretical calculations and numerous lab tests it had to
undergo. The concept is similar to the way light is effectively conducted through op-
tical fibers. The team built a 14-cm prototype, which transports the magnetic field
from one end to the other with an efficiency of 400% compared to traditional methods
used to transport these fields.
Despite this impressive operation, researchers theoretically demonstrated that the ef-
ficiency can be further boosted by covering the ferromagnetic tube with thin layers of al-
ternating superconducting and ferromagnetic materials. The newly designed device can be
implemented at any scale, even the nanometer level. Such a
nanohose—capable of individually controlling quantum sys-
tems—could help solve some of today’s challenges in quan-
tum computing, say researchers.
Schematic representation shows that the magnetic field
generated at the magnetic hose inlet is transmitted to the outlets.
Courtesy of UAB.
ADVANCED MATERIALS & PROCESSES • AUGUST 2014 10
E MERGING T ECHNOLOGY
A molten air battery configuration: The air
electrode (circle, left) and the metal
electrode (right) are lowered into the
crucible (white cup), then covered with
electrolyte, which is heated until it is
molten. Courtesy of William Atkins, GWU.