Using DNA as a durable, high‐density storage medium with eternal format relevance can address a future data storage deficiency. The proposed storage format incorporates dehydrated particle spots on ...glass, at a theoretical capacity of more than 20 TB per spot, which can be efficiently retrieved without significant loss of DNA. The authors measure the rapid decay of dried DNA at room temperature and present the synthesis of encapsulated DNA in silica nanoparticles as a possible solution. In this form, the protected DNA can be readily applied to digital microfluidics (DMF) used to handle retrieval operations amenable to full automation. A storage architecture is demonstrated, which can increase the storage capacity of today's archival storage systems by more than three orders of magnitude: A DNA library containing 7373 unique sequences is encapsulated and stored under accelerated aging conditions (4 days at 70 °C, 50% RH) corresponding to 116 years at room temperature and the stored information is successfully recovered.
Stable encapsulation of DNA in silica nanoparticles in combination with the use of digital microfluidics have the potential to pave the way for archival DNA data storage at an industrial scale. Protected DNA and room temperature storage thereof, compatible with a fully automated infrastructure, bridges a large gap toward a durable DNA data storage architecture.
This work focuses on the industrialization-oriented investigation of a latent heat storage using a magnesium nitrate hydrate-based composite phase change material. Three aspects of studies are ...included: (i) characterizations on the thermal-physical properties of the composite, (ii) explorations on the supercooling stability of the composite within continuous thermal cycles, and (iii) evaluations on the thermal performance of a pilot-scale storage unit. The results indicate that the freshly-prepared composite has a fusion heat of 147.9 ± 0.5 J g−1, a storage capacity of 253.5 ± 0.9 J g−1 within 70–110 °C. The PCM presents no significant degradation after 100 thermal cycles. The material performs a better supercooling stability than pure magnesium nitrate hexahydrate. The designed latent heat storage unit can achieve stable charges and discharges with an effective heat storage density of 33.5 ± 2.6 kWh m−3, a thermal efficiency of 88.1 ± 9.6% and a thermal loss of around 10% during a daily operation. In addition, the storage unit performs a higher latent heat release concentration as discharging rate drops and its effective storage capacity within 80–85 °C is over 4.3 times of water storage. The
density of the device within a daily operation can be effectively improved by reducing the thickness of thermal insulation layer.
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•Characterizes the thermal-physical properties of a magnesium nitrate hydrate-based composite.•Investigates the supercooling stability of the composite during a 100-time thermal cycles.•Develops a 140-kWh latent heat storage device using the composite for practical applications.•Evaluates the charging/discharging and thermal insulation performance of the storage device.
Sodium ion batteries (SIBs) are promising candidates for large‐scale energy storage owing to the abundant sodium resources and low cost. The larger Na+ radius (compared to Li+) usually leads to ...sluggish reaction kinetics and huge volume expansion. One of the efficient strategies is to reduce the size of electrode materials or the components of electrolytes to a suitable scale where size effect begin to emerge, leading to the improved or varied thermodynamics, kinetics, and mechanisms of sodium storage. However, only a few systematic reviews address size effects in SIBs, which requires further attention urgently. Herein, after a brief discussion of the general size effect, the size‐related kinetics, thermodynamics (equilibrium voltage and morphology), and sodium storage mechanisms (phase transition, conversion reaction, interfacial, and nanopore storage) of electrode materials are presented. The size effect on liquid, polymer, and inorganic solid‐state electrolytes are discussed as well, including the size of solvent molecules, Na salts, and inorganic fillers. Finally, neutral and adverse size effects are discussed, and some useful strategies are proposed to overcome them. The deep insights into the size effect will provide instructive guidelines for developing SIBs and other new energy storage systems.
In this review, the size effects and their influences on electrodes (the kinetics, thermodynamics and sodium storage mechanisms) and electrolytes (the liquid electrolytes, polymer electrolytes and solid‐state inorganic electrolytes) in sodium ion batteries are summarized and discussed systematically.
Intimately coupled carbon/transition‐metal‐based hierarchical nanostructures are one of most interesting electrode materials for boosting energy conversion and storage applications owing to the ...strong synergistic effect between the two components and appealing structural stability. Herein, a universal method is reported for making hierarchical hollow carbon nanospheres (HCSs) with intimately coupled ultrathin carbon nanosheets and Mo‐based nanocrystals. The in situ and confined reaction of the synthetic strategy can not only allow the aggregation of the nanocrystals to be impeded, but also endows extremely intimate coupled interaction between the conductive carbon nanosheets and the nanocrystals MoM (M = P, S, C and O). As a proof of concept, the as‐prepared MoP/C HCSs exhibit extraordinary hydrogen evolution reaction electrocatalytic activity with small overpotential and robust durability in both acidic and alkaline solutions. In addition, the unique sheet‐on‐sheet MoS2/C HCSs as an anode demonstrate high capacity, great rate capabilities, and long‐term cycles for sodium‐ion batteries (SIBs). The capacity can be maintained at 410 mA h g−1 even after 1000 cycles even at a high current density of 4 A g−1, one of the best reported values for MoS2‐based electrode materials for SIBs. The present work highlights the importance of designing and fabricating functional strongly coupled hybrid materials for enhancing energy conversion and storage applications.
Hierarchical hollow hybrid nanospheres with intimately coupled ultrathin carbon nanosheets and Mo‐based nanocrystals are prepared by a universal method, in which a simple metal‐chelate‐assisted method is combined with heat treatments of phosphorization, sulfuration, or carbonization. The importance of designing and fabricating functional strongly coupled hybrid materials for enhanced energy conversion and storage applications is highlighted.
•Operation strategy for off-grid PV system with battery and CTES is proposed.•A co-simulation model coupling both system- and building-side is developed.•An optimization method based on ...NPC-minimization and SF-constraint is built.•Four CTES-systems are compared with the common battery-only system.•Office-, hotel-, and residential-building in tropics are chosen for case study.
Cold thermal energy storage (CTES) is a cost-efficient storage approach for PV powered air-conditioning systems in tropical buildings. However, the feasibility and performance of different CTESs, including chilled water storage, ice storage, PCM cooling storage, and building thermal storage, are still unclear for off-grid PV air-conditioned buildings.
In this study, an off-grid PV system with battery and CTES is proposed, including the operation strategy to manage the energy-storage process. To implement all CTES-types, a co-simulation model, which integrates the system model with the ARX (autoregressive with exogenous input) cooling-load model, is constructed to enable the interaction between supply- and demand-side. Based on the minimization of net present cost and the constraint of a certain required solar fraction, an optimization method is developed to find the optimal system-configuration. Moreover, an office, a hotel, and a residence are selected for a case study.
The results indicate that CTES is feasible for higher solar fraction. The feasibility ranking of building type is (from high to low): residence, hotel, and office. In the most suitable case (residence), the maximum reduction of system costs (compared to battery-only system) is 49.76%, 41.77%, 44.31%, and 22.78%, respectively, for chilled-water storage, ice storage, PCM cooling storage, and building thermal storage. These values are 22.48%, 12.00%, 17.42%, 2.60% for the hotel, and 19.26%, 11.57%, 13.64%, 4.06% for the office. In addition, the sensitivity analysis shows that the increasing cost of both PV-array and CTES-device affects the feasibility of CTES negatively, while the increasing battery cost is a positive factor. Compared to the cost of the PV-array and the CTES-device, the battery cost represents the most significant effect-factor for feasibility.
Higher energy densities in rechargeable batteries can be achieved using thicker cathode films, though it is a challenging endeavor since the electrochemical performance of thick electrodes is ...substantially worse than that of the conventional thin electrodes due to a variety of transport limitations, which are thus far poorly understood. Operando synchrotron studies have been, for the first time, applied to thick film samples to determine the depth-dependent state of charge (SOC) distribution inside 170 micron thick Li(Ni0.8Mn0.1Co0.1)O2 cathode films using an unconventional radial diffraction experiment geometry, allowing the SOC to be probed with both high spatial resolution (20 microns) and high temporal resolution (hundreds of time steps) in a single experiment. The resulting data allow the evolution of vertical inhomogeneity within these thick cathode films to be determined during cycling and they reveal a number of unexpected phenomena, such as the continuation of charging at some heights within the cathode during the discharge cycle of the cell. The new availability of comprehensive depth-dependent SOC data will drive the parameterization and advancement of whole-cell models, leading to an improved understanding of large-scale transport phenomena and enhanced capabilities for the rational design of thick electrodes with improved performance.
Natural gas is expected to play a much more important role in China's energy supply, however, the lack of underground gas storage facilities becomes a serious barrier for its market penetration. ...Therefore, gas market reform is expected to be incentive for developing gas storage facilities. In the present study, a real option model was proposed to analyse the optimal investment strategy (investment timing and value) for underground gas storage facilities with/without the consideration of gas market reform. Uncertainties in gas market, government incentives and technological improvements were considered. The obtained results showed that it was not optimal for immediate investment in underground gas storage in China, and that to implement gas market reform would greatly contribute to gas storage construction. With the consideration of gas market reform, the investment of underground gas storage would be executed at 2026 with an investment value of 0.33RMB/m3 if there were no government incentive, while to invest in 2030 would be the best decision without the consideration of gas market reform, and the investment value is only 0.05 RMB/m3. Through a sensitivity analysis, the effects of changes in parameters related to gas market, government incentives and technological improvements on the investment strategy were investigated. The conclusions can provide useful information for gas storage enterprise decision-makers on whether and when to invest underground gas storage facilities in China considering uncertainties.
•Propose real option model for evaluating underground gas storage investment.•Explore investment strategy of underground gas storage under multiple uncertainties.•Investigate effect of gas market reform on development of underground gas storage.•Seek tendency of optimal investment strategy through a sensitivity analysis.•The results show that implementing gas market reform is significant.
When considering the deployment of renewable energy sources in systems, the challenge of their utilization comes from their time instability when a mismatch between production and demand occurs. With ...the integration of thermal storages into systems that utilize renewable energy sources, such mismatch can be evened out. The use of phase-change materials (PCMs) as thermal storage has a theoretical advantage over the sensible one because of their high latent heat that is released or accumulated during the phase-change process. Therefore, the present paper is a review of latent thermal storages in hydronic systems for heating, cooling and domestic hot water in buildings. The work aims to offer an overview on applications of latent thermal storages coupled with heat pumps and solar collectors. The review shows that phase-change materials improve the release of heat from thermal storage and can supply heat or cold at a desired temperature level for longer time periods. The PCM review ends with the results from one of the Horizon2020 research projects, where indirect electrical storage in the form of thermal storage is considered. The review is a technological outline of the current state-of-the-art technology that could serve as a knowledge base for the practical implementation of latent thermal storages. The paper ends with an overview of energy storage maturity and the objectives from different roadmaps of European bodies.
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