A research team from the Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology (Leibniz IPHT) in Jena has built electrodes with outstanding optical and electronic properties from leaves. The researchers have coated leaf veins with copper and thus transformed them into electrically conductive and optically transparent electrodes. Designed on the basis of nature, the leaf-structure electrodes could be used to design novel solar cells, LEDs or displays.

Solar cells based on perovskite compounds could soon make electricity generation from sunlight even more efficient and cheaper. The laboratory efficiency of these perovskite solar cells already exceeds that of the well-known silicon solar cells. An international team led by Stefan Weber from the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research (MPI-P) in Mainz has found microscopic structures in perovskite crystals that can guide the charge transport in the solar cell. Clever alignment of these "electron highways" could make perovskite solar cells even more powerful.

Quasi-continuous power exhaust developed as a wall-friendly method on ASDEX Upgrade

A research team of Mainz University has developed a technique that will potentially halve the energy required to write data to servers and make it easier to construct complex server architectures

Production lines and hygiene zones have to be spotlessly clean. And absolute cleanliness is critical wherever food is processed and medical instruments are handled. Now Fraunhofer researchers have come up with a mobile cleaning device that sanitizes equipment and production spaces to standards in a reproducible way. Equipped with self-learning and autonomous motility systems, this robot automatically detects the degree of fouling and selects the appropriate cleaning procedure.

Sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) plays an important role as an insulating gas in electrical switchgear at various voltage levels when interrupting and diverting current flows. But it is one of the most effective greenhouse gases with a very long lifetime and, although the concentration of SF6 in the atmosphere is currently still very low, it accumulates steadily over the years. The Fraunhofer IEE and the Grenoble Ecole de Management (GEM) finalized a research study investigating the development of MV switchgear installations under different boundaries showing the impact on SF6 emissions, and analyzing the market acceptance of SF6-free alternatives, as well as barriers and drivers to adoption.

Fraunhofer IWS prints heaters for space flight

How well do electric cars perform environmentally? How will their range, economic efficiency and charging infrastructure develop in the long term? Will electric mobility mean job losses? These and many other questions to do with the battery value chain are addressed by the Fraunhofer ISI in a Policy Brief, which was presented at the Battery Forum Germany in Berlin. Main message: there is nothing to stop the widespread market diffusion of electric cars between 2020 and 2030+, although numerous challenges still have to be addressed.

Although life cycle assessments do not save the environment, it can make industry think, as the example of life cycle assessments for electronics shows. Every electronic product, useful as it may be, comes with a heavy ecological backpack: From the extraction of raw materials used and design decisions to the use and disposal of an electronic product, every step in the manufacturing process leaves its mark on the environment. Researchers at Fraunhofer IZM analyse the entire life cycle of electronic products and product groups on the basis of standardised benchmarks and ISO norms and develop optimisation proposals.

Solo 8 is a new research robot, developed as an open-source project in the German cities of Tübingen and Stuttgart. The dog-resembling, torque-controlled quadruped is capable of very dynamic movements. It is made entirely of 3D printed parts and off-the-shelf components, which makes it an easy to replicate platform ideal for fundamental research in legged locomotion and robotic education. The project aims to provide robotic research labs around the world with an easy-to-assemble legged robot kit that doesn’t break the bank.