Technology Trending: Solar Energy Harvesting, 3D Printed Batteries, Nuclear Fission Rocket Engines

Self-assembling nanoparticles for solar-thermal energy harvesting, 3D printed solid state batteries and nuclear fission rocket engines for deep space travel are on this week’s technology radar. Solar-thermal technology such as concentrated solar power or on a smaller scale solar water heating is a promising option for growing renewables penetration but it is challenged by suppressing the energy dissipation while maintaining a high absorption. But now researchers from Harbin University, Zhejiang University, Changchun Institute of Optics, and the National University of Singapore believe they can overcome this challenge with an absorber comprised of iron oxide nanoparticles that self-assemble to form an organised quasi-periodic material structure based on their interactions with nearby particles without any external instructions.  This structure, which is scalable, was found to provide a significant solar absorption >94% and ideal passive suppression of thermal emissivity <0.2. Tested under natural sunlight, the
harvester reached a sustaining open circuit voltage of >20mV/cm2 without a heat sink.
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