Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode! (https://rss.com/podcasts/professor-alex-volinsky/voicemail)
In 2016, Professor Alex Volinsky explained the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 battery fires on Fox 13 News with a balloon analogy. Elena and Marcus revisit that segment and connect it to his own lithium-battery research: germanium anodes that survive 400% swelling, chromium and tungsten oxide anodes, vanadium pentoxide cathodes, and protective cathode coatings.
Original 2016 Fox 13 News segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOt8kuklnbI
Deep dives in this series:
Episode 415 — Ion Beam-Mixed Ge Electrodes for High Capacity Li Rechargeable Batteries: https://rss.com/podcasts/professor-alex-volinsky/3234614
Episode 361 — Facile Route for Synthesis of Mesoporous Cr2O3 Sheet as Anode Materials for Li-Ion Batteries: https://rss.com/podcasts/professor-alex-volinsky/3233580
Episode 288 — Vanadium Sheets Power Batteries: https://rss.com/podcasts/professor-alex-volinsky/3230896
Episode 261 — Tungsten Oxide for Batteries: https://rss.com/podcasts/professor-alex-volinsky/3230841
Episode 272 — Nano Tungsten Oxide Anodes: https://rss.com/podcasts/professor-alex-volinsky/3230863
Episode 205 — Coating the Cathode: https://rss.com/podcasts/professor-alex-volinsky/3226323
Episode 212 — Amorphous Battery Boost: https://rss.com/podcasts/professor-alex-volinsky/3226334
20 Oct 2026
Taking the Droplet Worldwide: The PCT Application
Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode! (https://rss.com/podcasts/professor-alex-volinsky/voicemail)
Before the US patent was granted in 2014, the electrowetting invention traveled the world as an international PCT application, published in 2011. Elena and Marcus explain what the Patent Cooperation Treaty actually is (and is not — there is no "world patent"), why inventors file internationally, and how the Crane–Mishra–Volinsky droplet actuation invention was described and claimed for a worldwide audience, from its December 2009 priority filing to the granted US patent.
Note: voices in this episode are AI-generated.
20 Oct 2026
The Droplet That Obeys Voltage: The US Patent
Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode! (https://rss.com/podcasts/professor-alex-volinsky/voicemail)
How do you move a tiny droplet across a surface without touching it? In this episode, Elena and Marcus explore a US patent granted in 2014 to Nathan Crane, Pradeep Mishra, and Alex Volinsky: bidirectional electrowetting actuation. By building diodes directly into the electrowetting surface, a droplet glides smoothly and continuously on a single circuit — and reversing the voltage polarity reverses its direction. No electrode switching, no top plate. A story of microfluidics, lab-on-a-chip, and an elegant circuit insight.
Note: voices in this episode are AI-generated.
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