Electrochemistry News Items & Facts - May 2022

Every day, we all use battery powered devices at home, drive vehicles, eat packaged foods, and drink clean water. These are a few examples of the countless aspects of our modern lifestyles which are reliant on electrochemistry - broadly defined as the study of how electricity interact with materials.

As an electrochemistry instrumentation company, Admiral Instruments proudly serves our customers who are among the millions of scientists, engineers, & technicians around the world using potentiostats to uncover new ways electrochemistry may benefit us all.

To celebrate how electrochemistry has shaped the past, touches our present-day lives, and influences the future, every month Admiral Instruments posts five notable news articles, publications, & trivia somehow related to electrochemistry. Click on each entry to read more from the source article!

Electrochemistry News Items & Facts for May 2022:

1. The maximum theoretical efficiency of plant photosynthesis is ~11%, but realistic efficiency is 3%-6% due to respiration, reflection, light inhibition, and light saturation.
   

2. The cost to install underground power lines is typically 5-10x higher than above-ground power lines, partly due to the special insulation needed to dissipate heat generated by the flow of current along the wires.
   

3. Ultrasonication is being studied as a way to more efficiently delaminate electrodes for battery recycling and increase throughput 100x compared to hydro-metallurgical or pyro-metallurgical battery recycling methods, and to boost the purity of the recycled end products.
   

4. For corrosion protection of metal cans used as food and beverage packaging, most common coatings are based on epoxy phenolics and epoxy esters.
   

5. The Energy Observer is a 100-ft long catamaran sailing a 10-person crew using entirely renewable energy, including solar-powered electrolysis for hydrogen fuel generation. The catamaran has been at sea since 2017!