DIFFER group leader Thomas Morgan has won a prestigious Vidi grant to investigate the concept of liquid metal layers to protect the walls of future fusion power plants. Liquid metals are exciting as a wall design because they can repair and even shield themselves from the harsh conditions in such an artificial star. Developing robust reactor walls is one of the main challenges in the international quest for clean, safe and abundant fusion energy.
News
May 23rd 2019
Natuurkundige Thomas Morgan van DIFFER krijgt een van de prestigieuze Vidi-beurzen van NWO voor onderzoek naar het idee van vloeibaar metaal als beschermlaag voor de wand van een fusie-energiecentrale. Vloeibaar metaal is een veelbelovend idee voor zo'n kunstmatige zon, omdat het zichzelf kan repareren en zelfs beschermen tegen de extreme condities in fusiereactoren. De levensduur van de reactorwand is een van de grootste uitdagingen in het internationale onderzoek aan fusie-energie.
May 23rd 2019
During the Plasma Facing Components Conference PFMC2019, DIFFER has installed a Steering Committee for its research facility Magnum-PSI. Greg De Temmerman (ITER Organization), Dmitry Terentyev (SCK-CEN) and Jan Coenen (Forschungszentrum Jülich) will advise DIFFER on how to further strengthen the facility's research program for external users.
May 14th 2019
A protective layer of fluoride can increase the stability of perovskite solar cells significantly, writes an international research collaboration in the leading journal Nature Energy. The finding by scientists from DIFFER, Eindhoven University of Technology, Peking University and University of Twente holds much promise for the future of perovskite solar cells. Perovskite is cheap, easy to produce and almost as efficient as the traditional solar cell material silicon. However, perovskite degrades quickly, severely limiting its efficiency and stability over time. With an added fluoride layer, the researchers found that their cells retain 90 percent of their efficiency after 1000 hours operation at various extreme testing conditions.
May 6th 2019
In December 2018, DIFFER received a desktop Thermo Scientific Phenom Pharos Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). This small-sized SEM was one of the first of its kind in the Netherlands and it is now in regular operation at the institute. Due to its ease of use, the microscope speeds up DIFFER’s energy materials research significantly.
