Presentation and discussion from 10/15/13 on opportunities to generate, store, distribute and use energy via nanotechnology. Brandon Thomas, graduate researcher at St. Louis University presented with a focus on dramatically increasing efficiency, safety, and power via nano energy. Join OpenlyDisruptive.org for live access to more disruptive innovation events.

1. BRANDON J. THOMAS
PH.D. CANDIDATE
SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY
Use of Nanomaterials for Energetic Applications
I. Piezoelectrics
II. Supercapacitors
III. Reactive Materials
IV. Solar Cells

2. Nanotubes
Nanorods
Nanomaterials
Size:
1-­‐100
nm
Nanosheets
Nanopar5cles
Nanowires

3. CARBON-BASED NANOMATERIALS
Carbon Nanotubes
Graphene
Buckminsterfullerene, C60

4. Size
Control
Shape
Control
REACTIVITY

5. Piezoelectric
Effect
Voltage
ßà
Strain
Qin,
Y.;
Wang,
X.;
Wang,
Z.
L.
Nature
2008,
451,
809–813.

6. PIEZOELECTRIC APPLICATIONS
Wang, Z. L. Adv. Funct. Mater. 2008, 18, 3553–3567.

7. Supercapacitors
Halper,
M.
S.;
Ellenbogen,
J.
C.
Report
No.
MP
05W0000272,
The
MITRE
Corpora5on,
McLean,
Virginia
2006.

8. SUPERCAPACITOR
• Nano-enabled
electrodes
• Graphene
• Carbon nanotubes
(CNTs)
http://www.dataweek.co.za/news.aspx?pklnewsid=23918

9. Reactive metal nanomaterials
Al (s) + O2 (g) à Al2O3 (s)
Thermite
Al(s) + H2O(l) à Al(OH)3(s) + H2(g)
H2 production/
storage
Fuels

10. Nano Al reaction

11. HYDROGEN PRODUCTION
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hykAr0Lhz04, CE Bunker, AFRL

12. Hydrogen as a Fuel
H2 (g)+ O2 (g) à H2O (l)
http://butane.chem.uiuc.edu/pshapley/Enlist/Labs/FuelCellLab/FuelCell.html

13. HYDROGEN IS DANGEROUS!

14. HYDROGEN STORAGE
Mg nanoblades decorated with Pd NPs
Liu, Y.; Chen, L.; Lu, T. M.; Wang, G. C. Int. J. Hydrogen Energ. 2011, 36, 11752–11759.

15. COMPLEX METAL HYDRIDES
Niemann, M. U.; Srinivasan, S. S.; Phani, A. R.; Kumar, A.; Goswami, D. Y.; Stefanakos, E. K. J.
Nano. Mat. 2008, 1–9.

16. REVERSIBLE HYDROGEN STORAGE – LI3ALH6
Thomas, B.J.; Bunker, C.E.; Guliants, E.A.; Buckner, S.W.; Jelliss, P.A. Chem. Commun. 2013,
submitted.

17. Patel, A.; Bunker, C. E.; Guliants, E. A.; Jelliss, P. A.; Buckner, S. W. CRC Press, 2013; Vol. 1, pp.
366–369.

18. Solar Cells – Photovoltaic Effect
Forvision
smart
car,
BASF
hYp://www.solarnovus.com/ar5cle.php?nID=937

19. InP NW array – 13.8% efficiency
Wallentin, J. et al. Science 2013, 339, 1057−1060.

20. SUMMARY
Energy Conversion
Mechanical
Chemical
Solar
Nanomaterials
Size: 1-100 nm
ELECTRICAL
ENERGY
Nanogenerators
Solar Cells
Fuel Cells
Supercapacitors