Exploring Clean Technology
Welcome to “Exploring Clean Technology” - a place to explore advanced material science, the innovation of new processs technologies, and applications for critical materials in new technology, among other subjects. Click below to read about recent technology developments, all made possible with advanced materials such as lithium, indium, gallium, tin and the rare earths.
Mar 10, 2022
While the element lithium was first discovered in Europe in the early 1800s, it was not until the 1920s that a significant commercial application was identified. The first major application of lithium was in high-temperature lithium greases used for ai... Read More
Mar 4, 2022
Avalon is among a small group of emerging companies identifying their own strategic resources and process solutions to sustainably produce critical minerals for new technology, enabling full supply chains to be established in North America. This includ... Read More
May 12, 2020
The shortages of needed medical supplies during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has served as a reminder of the importance of critical material supply chains, as many of the diagnostic health care technologies needed to treat and combat the spread of... Read More
Aug 8, 2019
We have discussed “wearable tech” previously here, but the technology keeps getting better and better –like technology that will be indistinguishable from clothing fabric. This is way beyond smartwatches, folks!
Image from Mob... Read More
May 14, 2019
It wasn’t too long ago that glass products were manufactured by glass-blowing – a technique that can be traced back to the 1 st century BC and the basis of an artisanal industry still alive and well today.
The early 19 th century... Read More
Nov 13, 2018
A NASA spacecraft was launched this summer on an unprecedented quest… to get closer to the sun than anything ever sent before.
The Parker Solar Probe is flying straight through the wispy edges of the sun’s corona, or outer ... Read More
Oct 3, 2018
A new way of enhancing the interactions between light and matter, developed by researchers at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and Technion (the Israel Institute of Technology) could someday lead to more efficient solar cells that collec... Read More
Jul 16, 2018
A bit of ‘advanced material history’ caught my interest while watching a black & white flick on TCM earlier this week, in which there was a specific reference to a “germanium transistor” as the dad was fixing his son&rsq... Read More
May 8, 2018
The world's first all-electric racing series has taken yet another step into the future. A next generation Formula E car has been unveiled for its competitive debut in the 2018-19 Formula E Championship.
The new design has caused quit... Read More
Apr 6, 2018
Hybrid vehicles aren’t going to be restricted by gravity for much longer! At the end of November 2017, three major European companies - Siemens, Airbus and Rolls-Royce -announced that they are working toward testing a hybrid-electric pr... Read More