| | When I hear the word “battery,” the image that comes to mind features the disposable AAA, AA, C and D cells used in handheld games and toys—the ones that were “not included” with the gadgets. That probably says something about my age. These days, sophisticated batteries are used to power everything from our cell phones to implanted medical devices to electric cars…and more. Ensuring long life and the ability to maintain a full charge for years of operation is a major focus of battery research, and Rigaku products can assist in those studies. The battery attachment available for the SmartLab multipurpose X-ray diffractometer, for example, allows the changing structure of a battery to be studied during charge/discharge cycles, as reported in this Rigaku Journal article. X-ray computed tomography instruments like the CTLab HX can “see” inside a battery to detect defects or structural changes nondestructively. | | | | Earlier this month, Rigaku announced a new tagline, “Powering New Perspectives.” In the words of President and CEO Toshiyuki Ikeda, “As a company specializing in X-ray analytics, it has always been our company’s mission to help our customers to see things that cannot be seen or visualized with more conventional techniques.” Rigaku continues to work to implement a new company vision emphasizing its commitment to create innovative technologies and to work tirelessly with customers, shareholders, business partners, employees, and local communities to help solve global-scale problems. | | | | September 23, 2022: Passage of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 has resulted in numerous battery manufacturers announcing plans to begin production in the United States, supporting the transition to clean energy as well as clean transportation.
September 24, 2022: MIT engineers have created a new low-cost battery for storage of renewable energy sources made from inexpensive and abundant materials. Less expensive than lithium-ion battery technology, the new architecture uses aluminum and sulfur as its two electrode materials with a molten salt electrolyte in between. The smaller scale of the aluminum-sulfur batteries would also make them practical for uses such as electric vehicle charging stations.
September 26, 2022: Researchers in the US have constructed batteries that can be completely absorbed by the environment or living organisms after they have worked for a short amount of time. The batteries could be developed to power temporary cardiac pacemakers or for environmental monitoring. September 27, 2022: Nitriles—organic compounds with a carbon atom triple-bonded to a nitrogen atom—are commonly added to the electrolyte formula for batteries using a lithium cobalt oxide cathode, making such batteries come much closer to realizing their full theoretical performance. Until now, battery researchers have not really understood why these nitriles work in this way. But a group of electrochemists have used advanced microscopy techniques to take a closer look at what happens at the molecular scale and identified what is going on, opening up new avenues for even further battery performance improvements. | | | Taking a Hard Look at the U.S. National Drug Control Strategy🎤 Join Jennifer Lynch and Michael W. Brown as we take a hard look at the current U.S. National Drug Control Strategy.
What do we talk about?
The Current Administration’s National Drug Control Policy Michael’s Experience as a DEA Subject Matter Expert on the US Council on Transnational Organized Crime Can the strategy be effective when there are so many groups involved? Why the strategy must prioritize disrupting the Supply Chain
Listen to podcast > | PAST EVENTS | | | The International Conference on Silicon Carbide and Related Materials (ICSCRM) September 11-16, Davos, Switzerland In September (11-16) we have participated in the International Conference on Silicon Carbide and related Materials (ICSCRM). The conference is dedicated to latest developments in the field of Silicon Carbide manufacturing, characterizations and applications. The major drivers for this market are increasing demand for motor drives, growing application of SiC devices in RF and cellular base station, and increasing use of SiC in semiconductor to perform at high temperature and high voltage environment. ICSCRM hosted ~850 participants that represent major players in SiC in the field. Rigaku had a strong presence with a booth, five employees, several posters and an industrial talk. Two X-ray metrologies were presented: 1. Total Reflection X-ray Fluorescence TXRF3760 for detection of metal surface contamination and, to improve the quality of Gate Oxide for SiC MOS-FET. 2. X-ray Topography, XRTmicron to quantify dislocation in the substrate and film. SiC Power Device Properties are Influenced by Dislocations.
The booth was very well attended with customers from Asia, US and Europe.
As SiC becomes mainstream, TXRF3760 is the de-facto standard tool for contamination and XRTmicron is rapidly penetrating into the market and being adopted at major SiC wafer and epi manufacturer. | | | Japan Analytical Scientific Instruments Show (JASIS) 2022 September 7-9, Chiba, Japan JASIS is the cutting-edge scientific instruments, analytical system & solution exhibition which will support the advances of science, analytical instruments and scientific equipment makers. As Asia's largest exhibition in this field, we will further strengthen collaboration with various leading industries and related organizations worldwide, to contribute to the advancement of science in the future and to find a place for business development. | | The Battery Show North America September 13-15, Novi, MI, USA The Battery Show brings together engineers, business leaders, top-industry companies, and innovative thinkers to discover ground-breaking products and create powerful solutions for the future.
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