Storage

Data storage devices based on novel materials are expected to make it possible to record information in a smaller space, at higher speed, and with greater energy efficiency than ever before. Movies shot with the X-ray laser show what happens inside potential new storage media, as well as how the processes by which the material switches between two states can be optimised.

If photovoltaic or wind power plants produce more electricity than the network can absorb, valuable energy is lost. At the ESI Platform, PSI researchers are investigating how fuel cells can contribute to making this energy usable in a targeted way through storage.

Efficient electrolysers are needed in order to store sun and wind energy in the form of hydrogen. Thanks to a new material developed by researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI and Empa, these devices are likely to become less costly and more efficient in the future. Researchers were also able to demonstrate that this new material can be reliably produced in large quantities, showing its performance capability in an electrolysis cell—the main component of an electrolyser.

Researchers from the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) have developed a coating technique in the laboratory conditions that could raise the efficiency of fuel cells. The PSI scientists have already applied to patent the technique, which is suitable for mass production.

Materials in lithium ion battery electrodes expand and contract during charge and discharge. These volume changes drive particle fracture, which shortens battery lifetime. A group of ETH and PSI scientists have quantified this effect for the first time using high-resolution 3D movies recorded using x-ray tomography at the Swiss Light Source.

Understanding sodium dynamics on a microscopic levelLithium ion batteries are highly efficient, But there are drawbacks to the use of lithium: it is expensive and its extraction rather harmful to the environment. One possible alternative might be to substitute lithium with sodium. To be able to develop sodium-based batteries, it is crucial to understand how sodium ions move in the relevant materials. Now, for the first time, scientists at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI have determined the paths along which sodium ions move in a prospective battery material. With these results, one can now start to think of new and specific ways to manipulate the materials through slight changes to their structure or composition, for example à and thereby achieve the optimized material properties necessary for use in future batteries.

Lithium-ion batteries are one of today's best technologies for storing electrochemical energy. They have a high energy density and specific energy and a sufficiently long lifetime to allow them to be used in microelectronic devices and cars. The commercial rise of Li-ion batteries in the last two decades is impressive. However, further improvements are possible and this is a field in which researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) are working. Nevertheless, the potential of the Li-ion battery is limited chemically and it will only be possible to achieve an even higher energy density, which is crucial for electric mobility in particular, by using other new types of batteries.

Für seine Arbeiten zur Erzeugung von Syngas aus Kohlendioxid und Wasser mithilfe konzentrierter Sonnenenergie erhält Aldo Steinfeld, Leiter des Labors für Solartechnik am Paul Scherrer Institut und Professor für Erneuerbare Energieträger an der ETH Zürich, den Golden Idea Award der IDEE-SUISSE, der Schweizerischen Gesellschaft für Ideen- und Innovationsmanagement. Syngas ist eine Vorstufe verschiedener flüssiger Treibstoffe.This news release is only available in German.

Das Paul Scherrer Institut PSI und die Belenos Clean Power AG haben ein Brennstoffzellensystem entwickelt, das das Potenzial aufweist, kostengünstig in einen Kleinwagen eingebaut zu werden, der dann über seine Lebenszeit ähnlich viel kosten würde wie ein herkömmliches Auto. Für diesen wichtigen Schritt in Richtung umweltfreundliche Mobilität erhalten PSI und Belenos den Watt d’Or 2011.This news release is only available in French and German.

Der «swisselectric research award 2010» geht an den Chemiker Andreas Hintennach vom Paul Scherrer Institut. Dank seiner Forschung könnten Lithiumionen-Batterien in Zukunft deutlich langlebiger werden. Das Speichern von Strom wird somit umweltfreundlicher und kostengünstiger.This news release is only available in German.

Die Speicherung von elektrischer Energie ist eine der zentralen Fragen der Energiezukunft. Neue Batterietypen zu entwickeln, die mehr Energie speichern können als die heute verfügbaren, ist das Ziel eines Forschungsnetzwerks, das der weltweit grösste Chemiekonzern BASF gemeinsam mit dem Paul Scherrer Institut PSI und Forschungseinrichtungen aus Deutschland und Israel gegründet hat.This news release is only available in German.

Die Vision geht in die operative Phase. Ein nachhaltiger, sauberer Energieverbrauch und eine individuelle Mobilität mit sauberer, CO2-freier Energie, das ist die Vision der Belenos Clean Power AG. Um dieses Ziel zu erreichen, müssen Anstrengungen unternommen werden, die die ganze Kette von der nachhaltigen Primärenergie à der Sonne à über die saubere Energie für Haushalte, Fabriken u. ä., bis zum effizienten, emissionsfreien Auto-Antrieb umfassen.This news release is only available in French and German.