13 ADVANCED MATERIALS & PROCESSES | OCTOBER 2025 EMERGING TECHNOLOGY QUANTUM BATTERY MODEL BEATS ANALOG Researchers at PSL Research University, Paris, and the University of Pisa, Italy, developed a simple quantum battery model that could exhibit a true quantum advantage over a classical analog battery. The new model was found to successfully reach the socalled quantum speed limit, the maximum speed that a quantum system could theoretically achieve. Earlier works demonstrating a quantum advantage of batteries based on the team’s Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev model only did so using numerical simulations, without performing any further analyses. Building on these efforts, the researchers tried to identify the simplest possible quantum battery model that could display a quantum advantage in terms of charging power. The new model consists of two coupled harmonic oscillators, one acting as the charger and the other serving as the battery, according to the scientists. The key ingredient enabling the quantum advantage is an anharmonic interaction between the two oscillators during the charging process. This anharmonic coupling allows the system to access nonclassical, entangled states that effectively create a shortcut in Hilbert space, enabling faster energy transfer than in classical dynamics, they added. To rigorously certify their model’s quantum advantage, the team compared it to a suitable classical battery model. Overall, their findings suggest that their quantum battery model outperforms its classical counterpart. Thus far, the new model is only theoretical and much work needs to be done before it can be realized experimentally, say researchers. www.psl.eu. MXENE INKS SUPPORT PRINTED ENERGY STORAGE Scientists at Boise State University, Idaho, developed a stable and high-performance Ti3C2Tx MXene ink formulation customized for aerosol jet printing, laying the foundation for scalable manufacturing of microsupercapacitors, sensors, and other energy storage and harvesting devices. The work is a significant advancement regarding the additive manufacturing of 2D materials for energy storage applications, say researchers. MXenes are a family of 2D transition metal EMEREGNEINRG YTETCRHENDOSLOGY BRIEF The DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tenn., and artificial intelligence (AI) company Atomic Canyon, Palo Alto, Calif., signed a memorandum of understanding to streamline the licensing process for nuclear power plants by using AI to review license applications. ornl.gov. carbides, nitrides, and carbonitrides useful for their specialized physical and chemical properties. They are considered promising electrode materials for electrochemical energy storage applications due to their unique design: an inner conductive transition metal carbide layer, variable hydrophilic functional groups, and lamellar structure. The research team overcame critical challenges by developing a MXene ink with long-term chemical and physical stability, enabling consistent aerosol jet printability and achieving high-resolution patterns with minimal overspray. Using this formulation, the team successfully fabricated microscale supercapacitor devices directly onto flexible and inflexible substrates such as Kapton film and alumina tubes. These printed devices not only exhibit excellent capacitance, cycling stability, and mechanical durability, but are also the highest-performing printed MXene supercapacitors reported to date, according to the researchers. This development highlights the potential of aerosol jet printing with MXene inks for on-demand, scalable, and cost-effective production of nextgeneration electronic and electrochemical devices such as wearables, IoT sensors, and lightweight energy systems. boisestate.edu. Schematic illustration of aerosol jet printing of MXene ink on top of annealed gold current collector. Courtesy of Boise State University College of Engineering. Graphical, symbolic representation of a new quantum battery. Courtesy of Phys.org using ChatGPT.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTYyMzk3NQ==