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A D V A N C E D

M A T E R I A L S

&

P R O C E S S E S |

S E P T E M B E R

2 0 1 6

1 5

BRIEFS

Aleris, Cleveland, offers a new 7017 aluminum alloy in North America for commercial plate and defense

uses. After extensive review and testing, the U.S. Army Research Lab issued MIL-DTL-32505 for use in armor

applications. 7017 offers high strength, good weldability, and corrosion resistance. It is currently used in

Europe and Asia on combat vehicles to achieve superior ballistic protection.

aleris.com.

BOOSTING PERFORMANCE

OF 3D-PRINTED GRAPHENE

AEROGEL SUPERCAPACITORS

Researchers from Lawrence Liver-

more National Laboratory (LLNL), Calif.,

along with a team from the University

of California, Santa Cruz devised a

method to double the performance of

3D-printed graphene-based superca-

pacitors. The procedure, which involves

sandwiching lithium ion and perchlo-

rate ion between layers of graphene

in aerogel electrodes, substantially

improves the capacity of the electrodes

while maintaining the devices’ excel-

lent rate capability.

“This is a unique process that sig-

nificantly raises the performance of

previous graphene aerogel supercapac-

itors,” says LLNL engineer Cheng Zhu.

“We’ve modified the devices and found

the best recipe.” The technique involves

two ion-intercalation steps, followed by

hydrolysis of perchlorate ion intercala-

tion compounds.

“This two-step electrochemical

process increases the surface area of

graphene-based materials for charge

storage, as well as the number of

pseudo-capacitive sites that con-

tribute additional storage capacity,”

says Zhu. “In the future, I think every

device will be customized, so you need

the unique architecture or shape (for

the supercapacitor),” he says. “If

you can 3D print it, you can make

any shape you want. Everyone could

design their own iPhone.”

For more

information: Cheng Zhu, zhu6@llnl.

gov,

www.llnl.gov

.

NANOMATERIALS ENHANCE

WINDOW EFFICIENCY

Researchers at the U.S. Depart-

ment of Energy’s Argonne National Lab-

oratory, Ill., are using nanomaterials to

improve the energy efficiency of exist-

ing single-pane windows in commercial

and residential buildings. The teamwas

recently awarded a $3.1 million grant

fromDOE’s Advanced Research Projects

BRIEF

Malvern Instruments,

UK, release an automated an lyzer that uses dynamic light scattering to measure th siz of

nanoparticles in suspen ions and mulsions. The Z tasizer AT provides timely and reliable data that enable tracking

of processes in the sub-mi ron ize range, uch as mulsification, dispersion, milling and homogenizatio , whil at

the same time eliminating the elays and inefficiencies associated with manual analysis.

malvern.com.

Researchers sandwich lithium ion and perchlorate ion between layers of graphene,

substantially improving 3D-printed aerogel supercapacitor performance.

Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) to develop

a technology that could achieve that

goal.

The nanofoam the team is devel-

oping—a nanocellular composite with

super thermal insulation and sound-

proofing—uses gas bubbles less than

100 nm in diameter to block the trans-

fer of heat and sound through glass

windows while allowing visible light

to pass through and maintain a clar-

ity similar to normal windows. “That’s

really the trick, blocking the heat and

sound transfer while maintaining

transparency,” says Ralph Muehleisen,

principal building scientist. “It’s fairly

simple to develop a coating that insu-

lates, but getting one that is thin and

you can still see through is a substan-

tial technical challenge.”

The nanofoam, which will be

extruded into sheets about 3 mm

thick, thermally insulates by using tiny

bubbles to reduce collisions among

gas molecules, thereby reducing heat

energy transfer. When bubbles are

reduced to that scale, super thermal

insulation becomes possible. Accord-

ing to ARPA-E, single-pane windows

make up 30-40% of windows in the

U.S., depending on the region. Sin-

gle-pane windows conduct at least

twice as much heat as double paned,

so retrofitting all those windows could

save about $12 billion a year in energy

costs.

For more information: Ralph Mue-

hleisen,

rmuehleisen@anl.gov

, www.

anl.gov.

NANOTECHNOLOGY