FOTOTHERM

Researchers have made use of carbon dioxide in the production of a battery protective coating. In the future, the coating could multiply the battery life and enable the use of new, more efficient materials. When batteries are charged and used, a complex SEI (solid electrolyte interphase) layer is formed. Its structure resembles a mosaic consisting of organic and inorganic parts assembled from several blocks. Researchers have noticed that if an artificial layer is applied to the electrode surface of a battery, the batteries can be recharged and used longer. The actual electrode material is saved when the separately added layer reacts and forms a protective SEI layer. The surface of an artificially produced SEI is also more even and of a higher quality than that of a naturally developed layer. Inorganic materials, i.e. materials that do not contain carbon, have been used in the atomic layer deposition. Now, Aalto University's researchers have been the first in the world to...

[...]  A study by British Business Energy  used several, specific measures to rank cities across the globe  to determine the most eco-friendly locations to work, and the results are not what you might expect. [...] The Top Eco-Friendly cities to work in. British Business Energy THE 5 GREENEST CITIES IN EUROPE London The study named London as the number 1 most eco-friendly city for workers. It had the fourth-highest number of commuters walking or cycling to work at nearly 30 per cent. Recently London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, proposed a ‘cycling tube’ which would see cycle routes following the existing Underground network. The city also had the most vegan or vegetarian places to eat with 3,709 restaurants offering options for the climate-conscious. That’s more than twice as many as London’s closest competitor, New York. And, when it comes to innovation, over 10 per cent of all patents in the UK were environmentally related too. “Now more than ever it’s importan...