…achieves 16,94% power conversion efficiency. Researchers at ICFO have fabricated a new four-terminal organic solar cell with a tandem configuration with a 16.94% power conversion efficiency (PCE). The new device is composed by a highly transparent front cell that incorporates a transparent ultrathin silver (Ag) electrode of only 7nm, which ensures its efficient operation. Two–terminal tandem organic solar cells (OSCs) represent one of the most promising approaches to address the transmission and thermalization losses in single-junction solar cells. These organic…
Researchers using Murriyang, CSIRO’s Parkes radio telescope, have detected unusual radio pulses from a previously dormant star with a powerful magnetic field. New results published today in Nature Astronomy describe radio signals from magnetar XTE J1810-197 behaving in complex ways. Magnetars are a type of neutron star and the strongest magnets in the Universe. At roughly 8,000 light years away, this magnetar is also the closest known to Earth. Most are known to emit polarised light, though the light this…
New modular, spring-like devices maximize the work of live muscle fibers so they can be harnessed to power biohybrid bots. Our muscles are nature’s perfect actuators — devices that turn energy into motion. For their size, muscle fibers are more powerful and precise than most synthetic actuators. They can even heal from damage and grow stronger with exercise. For these reasons, engineers are exploring ways to power robots with natural muscles. They’ve demonstrated a handful of “biohybrid” robots that use…
… with mechanically robust nanocellular graphene. Ever since its discovery in 2004, graphene has been revolutionizing the field of materials science and beyond. Graphene comprises two-dimensional sheets of carbon atoms, bonded into a thin hexagonal shape with a thickness of one atom layer. This gives it remarkable physical and chemical properties. Despite its thinness, graphene is incredibly strong, lightweight, flexible, and transparent. It also exhibits extraordinary electrical and thermal conductivity, high surface area, and impermeability to gasses. From high-speed transistors…
LZH schowcases innovations at Hannover Messe… Whether it’s cleaning ships under water, microstructuring skis or additive manufacturing: At the Hannover Messe from April 22 to 26, 2024, Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V. (LZH) will be demonstrating the many ways in which lasers can be used for greater sustainability. The LZH will be exhibiting at the Lower Saxony Pavilion in Hall 2, Stand A10. The LZH presents skis with an innovative microstructure at the Hannover Messe. Photo: LZH Laser-based processes open new…
Tests confirm quality of purified graphite from used lithium-ion batteries. Lithium-ion batteries have become an integral part of everyday life. The number of used batteries is correspondingly high. They contain considerable amounts of important raw materials such as graphite. Recycling this mineral for being reused for new batteries with the same performance is an important goal. Researchers at the Helmholtz Institute Ulm and the Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology (HIF) at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) have now demonstrated that…
– software automatically designs and optimises drainage systems. Germany provides a well-developed infrastructure with sewer networks and wastewater treatment plants to collect rainwater and wastewater. In developing countries, however, such infrastructure is very often not in place. A Kaiserslautern start-up has developed a solution: They offer software that automatically designs and optimises sustainable drainage systems. The technology also takes into account the blue-green infrastructure, i.e. possible water reservoirs and technical measures for the infiltration and evaporation of rainwater. As such,…
With the Flick of a Switch… Imagine switching on a light and being able to understand and control the inner dynamics of a cell. This is what the Dimova group has achieved: by shining lights of different colors on replicates of cells, they altered the interactions between cellular elements. Controlling these complex interactions enables us to deliver specific drugs directly into the cells. And with the flick of a switch, we could adjust or even reverse this delivery, potentially revolutionizing…
Columbia biomedical engineers use AI to build a transformative new tool to study and diagnose heart function. Understanding heart function and disease, as well as testing new drugs for heart conditions, has long been a complex and time-consuming task. A promising way to study disease and test new drugs is to use cellular and engineered tissue models in a dish, but existing methods to study heart cell contraction and calcium handling require a good deal of manual work, are prone…
Ring polymers show unexpected motion patterns under shear. It all depends on the linking: How ring polymers move… An international research team is attracting the attention of experts in the field with computational results on the behavior of ring polymers under shear forces: Reyhaneh Farimani, University of Vienna, and her colleagues showed that for the simplest case of connected ring pairs, the type of linkage – chemically bonded vs. mechanically linked – has profound effects on the dynamic properties under…
Biodegradable aerogel… At first glance, biodegradable materials, inks for 3D printing and aerogels don’t seem to have much in common. All three have great potential for the future, however: “green” materials do not pollute the environment, 3D printing can produce complex structures without waste, and ultra-light aerogels are excellent heat insulators. Empa researchers have now succeeded in combining all these advantages in a single material. And their cellulose-based, 3D-printable aerogel can do even more. The miracle material was created under…
… for the treatment of patients with myocardial infarction using umbilical cord stem cells. The results of a pioneering study support the safety of the bioimplants called PeriCord, made from stem cells of the umbilical cord and pericardium from a tissue donor, which aid in the regeneration and revascularisation of the affected area. The study has monitored 7 interventions of this pioneering tissue engineering surgery over three years, noting excellent biocompatibility and no rejection in patients. The therapy has been…
Microorganisms reflect ecosystem disturbances. The human gut is full of microbes. Some microbes can make people sick, while others are responsible for balancing gut health. But humans aren’t the only species who’s health depends on these microorganisms. Coral reef ecosystems rely on microorganisms to recycle organic matter and nutrients. These cells also help feed corals and other life reliant on reefs. Researchers from WHOI studied the microbes in coral reef water by examining eight reefs in the U.S. Virgin Islands…
A new study by researchers at the Department of Environmental Science, Stockholm University, published in Science Advances, reveals that PFAS re-emit into the air from crashing ocean waves at levels comparable to or greater than other sources, establishing a cyclical transport process for these “forever chemicals” between land and sea. “The common belief is that per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, PFAS, drain from the land into the oceans where they stay to be diluted into the deep oceans over the timescale…
Rice find could hasten development of nonvolatile quantum memory. Rice University physicists have discovered a phase-changing quantum material — and a method for finding more like it — that could potentially be used to create flash-like memory capable of storing quantum bits of information, or qubits, even when a quantum computer is powered down. Phase-changing materials have been used in commercially available non-volatile digital memory . In rewritable DVDs, for example, a laser is used to heat minute bits of…
Researchers from the University of Portsmouth’s Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation (ICG) have helped to detect a remarkable gravitational-wave signal, which could hold the key to solving a cosmic mystery. The discovery is from the latest set of results announced today (5 April) by the LIGO–Virgo–KAGRA collaboration, which comprises more than 1,600 scientists from around the world, including members of the ICG, that seeks to detect gravitational waves and use them for exploration of fundamentals of science. In May 2023,…
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