Could this material improve battery performance?
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Posted by Tim De Chant on Mon, 12 Aug 2013 Accidental Experiment Solves Century-Old Chemistry Problem Researchers in Uppsala, Sweden accidentally left a chemistry experiment run ning over a long weekend. When they returned to the lab, they discovered th at their reaction chamber that was previously filled with high-pressure CO2 , magnesium oxide, and methanol contained a mysterious gel. The chemists ha d been trying to make magnesium carbonate (MgCO3), which is a white powder. It turned out that the gel was caused by trapped methane bubbles, and when they boiled it off, the gel disintegrated into the white powder they were seeking. They named it Upsalite. But the resulting product was even better than they had hoped for. Here s Andrew Bissette, writing for Ars Technica: Upsalite has impressive properties as a desiccant, absorbing water better t han the much more expensive materials that are currently used (called zeoli tes). Most of the absorbed water is retained when Upsalite is transferred f rom a humid to a very dry environment. The dry form can be regenerated by h eating to 95 °C. By contrast, most zeolites need to be heated to over150 °C in order to dry them. Not only is Upsalite easy to make and reu se, but it is also not toxic to humans, which makes it suitable for use in humidity control indoors. Upsalite?s unique properties result from its porous structure. Unli ke crystalline forms of MgCO3, Upsalite has an impressive internal surface area that?s ideal for absorbing and holding water. Photo: Magnesite is a naturally occurring form of magnesium carbonate. Howe ver, its crystalline structure doesn't give it the same properties as Upsal ite. Upsalite isn?t the only material that?s been discovered aft er an ?accident? in the lab. Another is Gorilla Glass, whic h covers the faces of most smartphones. It was first produced in 1952 after a furnace in a Corning lab overshot its intended temperature by 300? C. Because of a broken temperature gauge, we now have scratch-resistant cel l phone displays.