Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation

Technology

Rechargeable Desalination Battery

Access to fresh water is a pressing geopolitical issue and technological challenge. Desalination is a potentially viable solution considering the abundance of seawater on Earth. While reverse osmosis ...
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Kyoung-Shin Choi, Dohwan Nam | P170083US01

Technology

Ultrafast Synthesis of Activated Carbon

Activated (porous) carbon is conventionally produced by pyrolysis (carbonization) of carbon-rich biomass or coal followed by activation/oxidation. Activated carbon produced by this conventional method...
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Annamalai Karthikeyan | T130012US02

Technology

Zinc Oxide Nanowires for Photovoltaics and More

Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowires are of tremendous commercial interest because they could help drive the next big advancements in solar cells, flat panel displays and other transparent conductor application...
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Xudong Wang, Fei Wang, Alexander Kvit | P130385US01

Technology

Solar Cells Turn HMF to Valuable Platform Molecules

Photoelectrochemical cells (PECs) use solar energy to produce fuels, much as nature does through photosynthesis. In a typical PEC, fuels are formed by reduction reactions at the cathode. For example, ...
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Kyoung-Shin Choi, Hyun Gil Cha | P150132US01

Technology

More Efficient Water-Splitting Cells

N-type bismuth vanadate (BiVO4) has emerged as a promising photoanode for use in solar water-splitting cells given its favorable light absorption and conduction band characteristics. To date, however,...
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Kyoung-Shin Choi, Tae Woo Kim | P140325US01

Technology

Solar Cells Track Sun

Maximizing how much sunlight strikes a solar panel is one tactic to boost efficiency. Some approaches have tried to imitate heliotropic plants by repositioning the panels to follow the sun. Unfortunat...
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Hongrui Jiang, Chensha Li, Ye Liu | P120269US01

Technology

Prolonging Solar Cell Life

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have attracted tremendous attention because they are cheap and efficient. The DSSCs with the highest power conversion efficiency (greater than 12 percent) are based ...
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Hongrui Jiang, Xi Zhang, Xuezhen Huang | P130136US01

Technology

Photocatalytic Water Treatment Device

Drinking water must be treated to remove organic contaminants, such as pathogenic microorganisms, and inorganic contaminants, such as heavy metals.
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Marc Anderson, Gary Hatch, Michael Steinhardt, Michael Kurth | P06347US

Technology

Carbon Nanotube Schottky Barrier Photovoltaic Device

Photovoltaic cells convert sunlight directly into electricity through the interaction of photons and electrons within a photoconducting material. To create a photovoltaic cell, a photoconducting mater...
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Max Lagally, Todd Narkis, Matt Marcus, Mark Eriksson | P04002US

Technology

Power Conditioning Architecture for Wind Turbine

Wind-powered generators are an increasing source of power for many countries. However, before their use can become widespread, they must be able to work effectively with the existing utility grid. V...
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Venkata Giri Venkataramanan, Patrick Flannery | P06426US

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