Space is full of wonders. Our galaxy, called the Milky Way, contains nearly 400 billion stars, including the Sun. Each star is powered by a unique process, which releases a vast amount of energy. Many researchers have opted to replicate this energy-releasing process to power Earth. Now, MIT engineers have made a key breakthrough in materials science that could help make fusion reactors far more durable. Science will never be the same again!<\/p>\n
Nations across the world have joined together thanks to a global mission to achieve zero carbon emissions by 2050 in an effort to mitigate climate change. To achieve this mission, we have turned to renewable energy sources as an alternative to burning fossil fuels. However, these renewable energy sources<\/strong>, which include solar, wind, hydropower, geothermal, and biomass, are not foolproof.<\/p>\n According to Regen Power<\/em>, the issues<\/strong> we face with renewable energy sources include, but are not limited to:<\/p>\n A new potential renewable energy source has caught the attention of researchers across the world, as it can generate unlimited, safe, and clean power. This power is generated through a process that also occurs in the nearly 400 billion stars in our galaxy, including the Sun. Now, it seems as if America has achieved the impossible<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The process that releases energy in stars is called nuclear fusion, and many have viewed this process as a superior energy source. According to MIT News<\/em>, a fusion power plant can produce enough green energy<\/strong> to address climate change. However, according to Ju Li, the TEPCO Professor in Nuclear Science and Engineering and a professor of materials science and engineering at MIT, the following issues must still be resolved:<\/p>\n While numerous engineers are focusing on engineering super tokamaks<\/a> (next-generation fusion reactors), the MIT Energy Initiative has been focusing on materials<\/strong> that can separate extremely hot plasma from the power-producing coolant while limiting damage along the grain boundaries (weak metal structures). Fusion reactors have very kinetic neutrons, which react with the atomic structure and produce helium atoms. The helium atoms are damaging to the grain boundaries. As helium atoms settle in these boundaries, they repel each other and thus crack the material, making it non-functional in just six months.<\/p>\n That’s not ideal for extremely hot plasma, but according to Ju Li and his team’s study published in the journal<\/a> Acta Materialia<\/em>, they have created a solution<\/strong> that will help us produce a second sun.<\/p>\n Li and his team utilized the metric “atomic-scale free volume” to research materials with a higher volume and lower embedding power. Materials with these characteristics would lead helium atoms away from grain boundaries. The winning material was iron silicate<\/strong>. According to Li, iron silicate nanoparticles were added to a metal sample, and x-ray diffraction imaging proved that the helium atoms were stored in the “bulk lattice of the iron silicate.”<\/p>\n They estimated that 1% per volume<\/strong> would prevent disasters, as having the helium atoms spread across the surface is safer than having them pile at the grain boundaries. Li and his team created a startup to create these materials with 3D printing, commercializing the solution to creating a second sun.<\/p>\n Thanks to this breakthrough and the potential of commercializing this material, the world could be well on its way to producing green energy with nuclear fusion<\/a>. We are officially one step closer to unlimited clean power<\/strong> and zero carbon emissions by 2050.<\/p>\n Disclaimer: Our coverage of events affecting companies is purely informative and descriptive. Under no circumstances does it seek to promote an opinion or create a trend, nor can it be taken as investment advice or a recommendation of any kind.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Space is full of wonders. Our galaxy, called the Milky Way, contains nearly 400 billion stars, including the Sun. Each star is powered by a unique process, which releases a vast amount of energy. Many researchers have opted to replicate this energy-releasing process to power Earth. Now, MIT engineers have made a key breakthrough in … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":11385,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_focus_keyword":"sun,nuclear fusion","rank_math_title":"","rank_math_description":"Each star in our galaxy is powered by a unique process, which releases a vast amount of energy, including the sun. 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America has achieved the impossible<\/h2>\n
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America’s second sun, tested and tried<\/h2>\n