Materials

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New brake components from ZF Aftermarket

ZF Aftermarket is launching three new or revised TRW products for brake repairs, including a copper-free version of TRW Electric Blue brake pads for EVs. In addition, it has announced a new design of brake hoses, and a low abutment clip with active spring return. ZF says its TRW pads consist of an average of […]

New Products

Eco-friendly advance for lithium-ion cell production

Energy storage solutions provider Leclanché says it has achieved a breakthrough in the environmentally friendly production of G/NMCA cells, by reducing the cobalt content in NMCA cathode material from 20% to 5% and manufacturing the electrodes using a water-based process. In doing so, Leclanché says it completely dispenses with the use of the highly toxic […]

Grid

Polymers confer safety and comfort

Ascend Performance Materials has developed two materials for EVs that improve safety and passenger comfort (writes Nick Flaherty). The Starflam X-Protect and Vydyne AVS tackle two key challenges automakers face when developing EV platforms. Starflam X-Protect is a flame-retardant nylon 66 that withstands exposure to 1 100 ºC direct flame for 15 minutes, surpassing standard flame-retardant materials and aluminium […]

Deep Insight

Cathode materials

Positive steps Researchers have been announcing advances in lithium-ion cathode materials and their manufacture, as Nick Flaherty reports There are three main types lithium-ion batteries for e-mobility, all with different balances of energy capacity, charging rate and long-term stability. There are however also many different approaches to constructing cathodes, using different chemical compositions, crystal structures […]

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Liqui Moly discusses its new EV-specific brake fluid

Liqui Moly has developed a brake fluid formulated for the unique requirements of EVs (writes Rory Jackson). While it might be assumed that the brake system at the wheels is one component that remains the same between EVs and IC engine-powered vehicles, the only significant similarity is that the brake fluid needs to be changed […]

New Products

Mercedes-Benz turns scrap tyres into door handles

Mercedes-Benz is replacing raw fossil resources with pyrolysis oil made in part from its scrap tyres. It aims to put components featuring the technology into series production in a number of its models this year. The company says it anticipates being able to chemically recycle several hundred tonnes of tyres every year and use the […]

Deep Insight

Supercapacitor applications

Although batteries and supercapacitors both store electrical energy, they do so in very different ways that bestow them with complementary characteristics. In a nutshell, batteries store energy chemically and offer high energy density (measured in Wh/litre) while supercapacitors store energy in electric fields and offer high power density, measured in kW/litre.

Grid

Wax works well for conducting heat

Researchers in the US and China have developed an economic but efficient battery thermal management strategy using paraffin wax (writes Nick Flaherty). The 3D, interconnected, thermally conductive boron nitride network greatly improves thermal conductivity compared to random distribution. “We designed a 3D network of boron nitride, and systematically studied its effect on the thermal management […]

Grid

SABIC cube cells pack more energy

Engineers at materials firm SABIC have patented a design for a battery pack using cuboidal cells (writes Nick Flaherty). The cells are inserted into a structural backbone made from a thermoplastic, and could increase battery pack energy density by 20% or more, with 10% more cells compared to a pack using cylindrical cells , along with […]

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AGRO explains importance of EMC-shielded cable glands

Like most small parts in complex vehicle systems, the glands that support, seal and protect the interfaces between HV cables and the components they link rarely receive the attention that the critical nature of the functions they fulfil perhaps ought to command (writes Peter Donaldson). AGRO’s EVolution EMC cable glands are a case in point, […]
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