Scientists have investigated a simple biomimetic light-harvesting system using advanced spectroscopy combined with a microfluidic platform. The double-walled nanotubes work very efficiently at low light intensities, while they are able to get rid of excess energy at high intensities. These properties are useful in the design of novel materials for the harvesting and transport of photon energy.
Read moreResearchers have designed and tested a new electrolyte composition that could greatly accelerate the adoption of the next generation of lithium-ion batteries.
Read moreScientists have combined graphene and single-walled carbon nanotubes into a transparent hybrid material with conductivity higher than either component exhibits separately.
Read moreOxygen threatens sustainable catalysts that use hydrogen to produce electricity in fuel cells. Researchers have now developed a way to combat this.
Read moreChemists have succeeded in synthesizing two complex natural products from the group of dithiodiketopiperazines (DTPs). For this, they employed a new strategy based on ''C-H bond activation,'' resulting in a short and high yielding route. The researchers describe their new concept for the total synthesis of Epicoccin G and Rostratin A.
Read moreElectrical and computer engineering researchers have developed a new kind of optical lens that is much thinner and lighter than conventional camera lenses that also works with night imaging, a future boon for smartphones that could flatten those unsightly 'camera bumps' as well as for drones and night vision cameras for soldiers.
Read moreScientists have for the first time created and observed a single phonon in a common material at room temperature.
Read moreResearchers have reported an environmental transmission electron microscopy technique that has allowed in situ visualization of the atomic changes of a metal surface in an electric field under ambient conditions. The activation of oxygen gas molecules by electron tunneling was found to result in atomic migration that could be followed progressively. It is hoped that the tunneling-electron-attached-gas process will provide valuable insight for the development of nanoparticle catalyst and quantum material applications.
Read moreToday's computer processors are increasingly pushed to their limits due to their physical properties. Novel materials could be the solution. Physicists have investigated if and how these materials might be developed. They have created, tested and filed a patent for a concept that utilizes the latest findings from the field of spintronics.
Read moreAn organic material that can repeatedly change shape without breaking would have many useful applications, such as artificial muscles, pumps or as a switch. Physicists accidentally discovered a material with that property.
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