Day 1 :
Keynote Forum
Dieter M. Gruen
Dimerond Technologies LLC, USA
Keynote: High Temperature Solar Cell for Single Facility Co-Generation of Photovoltaic and Thermal Electricity: A Breakthrough Approach to Affordable Solar Power
Time : 09:30-09:55
Biography:
The author received his PhD in chemical physics from the University of Chicago. He was for many years Associate Director of the Argonne National Laboratory Materials Science Division and is the recipient of many honors and awards including the 2000 Medal of the US Materials Research Society for his discovery of ultrananocrystalline diamond films. He has published over 400 peer reviewed papers and holds more than 60 US patents.
Abstract:
Solar cells capable of converting sunlight to electricity at 400°C would enable the doubling of current Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) plant efficiencies without substantially increasing their capital cost. Being able to convert both photovoltaic and thermal energy in a single facility reduces the cost of solar electricity by a factor of almost two making it cost competitive with fossil and nuclear fuel generated power. A graphene/wide band-gap semiconductor (G/WBGS) diode that rectified current at temperatures approaching 900°C, constructed by the author and his collaborators some time ago, showed the remarkable temperature behavior of this new heterojunction. The elucidation of the properties of graphene in fact earned Geim and Novoselov the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics. Graphene absorbs light more strongly than any other material and does so independent of wavelength. The interaction of photons with the near relativistic electrons in graphene is determined by the theory of quantum electrodynamics formulated by Feynman, Tomonaga and Schwinger (Nobel Prize in Physics, 1965). The basic architecture of the high temperature solar cell consists of WBGS aligned nanowire cores surrounded by graphene shells. Crucially, experimental as well as theoretical studies show that at G/WBGS n/p junctions, the kinetics of charge transfer are strongly favored over electron hole recombination rates. Furthermore, the WBGS nanowires have been shown to be excellent optical waveguides whose nanophotonic properties ensure total light harvesting by the graphene shells over distances of only a few microns. Graphene’s large electrical conductivity and hole mobility, exceeding even the electron mobility, allows it to function as its own hole carrying electrode. Additionally, its demonstrated capacity for multiple carrier generation especially at the high light intensities of CSP plants suggests that graphene based solar cells could exceed the Shockley/Queisser conversion efficiency limit established for silicon solar cells. These recent developments set the stage for achieving the long sought goal to create high temperature solar cells. The straightforward design elaborated above is eminently suited to large scale economical fabrication using abundant, environmentally benign materials.
Keynote Forum
Haruo Sugi
Teikyo University Medical School, Japan
Keynote: Liquid cell electron microscopy revealed a number of mysteries in molecular mechanism of muscle contraction
Time : 09:55-10:20
Biography:
In 1962, Haruo Sugi graduated from Postgraduate School in the University of Tokyo with the degree of Ph.D.He worked in Columbia Uiversity as a research associate, and in National Institutes of Health as a visiting scientist from 1965 to 1967. He was a Professor and Chairman in the Department of Physiology, Teikyo University Medical Scool from 1973 to 2004, when he bacame Emeritus Professor.
Abstract:
Molecular mechanism of muscle contraction has been studied intensively over more than 50 years, since the monumental discovery that muscle contraction results from relative sliding between actin and myosin filaments coupled with ATP hydrolysis. It is generally believed that myosin heads (M) extending from myosin filaments first attach to actin in the form of M・ADP・Pi, perform power stroke producing myofilament sliding coupled with release of Pi and ADP, and then detach from actin when next ATP comes to bind it to form M・ATP. Myosin heads detached from actin perform recovery stroke coupled with reaction M・ATP → M・ADP・Pi, and again attach to actin. The amplitude of myosin head power and recovery strokes still remains to be a matter for debate and speculation. As early as late 1980s, we started to visualize ATP-induced myosin head movement in hydrated myosin filaments electron microscopically by using a carbon film-sealed liquid cell. We used synthetic myosin filaments, in which individual myosin heads were position-marked with colloidal gold particles and monoclonal antibodies to myosin head. Filaments were observed under a magnification of 10,000X, and their images were recorded with an imaging plate system. Care was taken to limit total incident electron dose below the value to impair function of muscle proteins. The results obtained are summarized as follows: (1) muscle myofilament sample attach firmly to carbon sealing film; (2) time averaged mean position of individual myosin heads do not change appreciably with time; (3) in the absence of actin filaments, myosin heads move in response to ATP by ~6nm away from the center of myosin filaments, indicating that myosin head recovery stroke takes place without being guided by actin filaments; (4) in the presence of actin filaments, myosin heads perform power stroke in response to ATP with amplitudes depending on experimental conditions.
Keynote Forum
Gerald H Pollack
University of Washington, USA
Keynote: The fourth phase of water: Beyond solid, liquid and vapor
Time : 10:35-11:35
Biography:
Gerald H Pollack received his PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania in 1968. He then joined the University of Washington faculty and is nowrn Professor of Bioengineering. For years, he had researched muscles and how they contract. It struck him as odd that the most common ideas about muscle contraction didrnnot involve water; despite the fact muscle tissue consists of 99 percent water molecules.
Abstract:
School children learn that water has three phases: solid, liquid and vapor. But, we have recently uncovered a fourth phase. This phasernoccurs next to water-loving (hydrophilic) surfaces. It is surprisingly extensive, projecting out from the surface by up to millionsrnof molecular layers. And, its properties differ markedly from those of bulk water. Of particular significance is the observation thatrnthis fourth phase is charged; and, the water just beyond is oppositely charged, creating a battery that can produce electrical current.rnWe found that light charges this battery. Thus, water can receive and process electromagnetic energy drawn from the environment inrnmuch the same way as plants. Absorbed electromagnetic (light) energy can then be exploited for performing work, including electricalrnand mechanical work. Recent experiments confirm the reality of such energy conversion. This energy-conversion framework seemsrnrich with implication. Not only does it provide an understanding of how water processes solar and other energies, but also it mayrnprovide a foundation for simpler understanding natural phenomena ranging from weather and green energy all the way to biologicalrnissues such as the origin of life, transport and osmosis. The talk will present evidence for the existence of this phase of water — howrncome nobody’s seen it before? It will also consider the potentially broad implications of this phase for materials and health.