Possible pathway to fast-switching, ultra-low energy electronics based on 2D materials. Moore’s law is an empirical suggestion describing that the number of transistors doubles every few years in integrated circuits (ICs). However, Moore’s law has started to fail as transistors are now so small that the current silicon-based technologies are unable to offer further opportunities for shrinking. One possibility of overcoming Moore’s law is to resort to two-dimensional semiconductors. These two-dimensional materials are so thin that they can allow the…
A good ten years ago, research teams discovered the class of semi-organic halide perovskites, which are now making a rapid career as new materials for solar cells. The mixed organic-inorganic semiconductors achieved efficiencies of over 25 percent within a few years. They take their name from their basic structure, which is very similar to that of the mineral perovskite (CaTiO3), but contains other components: halide anions, lead cations and organic molecular cations. In the case of the most important compound…
Manufacturing safer, more powerful batteries that use geopolitically stable resources requires solid electrolytes and replacing lithium with sodium. A chemical solution is now being offered to battery developers. The lithium batteries that power our electronic devices and electric vehicles have a number of drawbacks. The electrolyte – the medium that enables electrons and positive charges to move between the electrodes – is a flammable liquid. What’s more, the lithium they’re made of is a limited resource that is the focus…
Dyeing process gives textiles electronic properties Whether in fitness, medicine or in the entertainment industry, IT devices worn on the body, such as smart watches, are becoming increasingly popular. Such wearables benefit from the input device fitting as naturally as possible to the body – for example as electro-sensitive fabrics, so-called e-textiles. Computer scientists at Saarland University show how these special textiles can be produced in a comparatively easy way, thus opening up new use cases. “Our goal was to…
New method generates precisely controlled graphene microbubbles with perfectly spherical curvature for lenses. Tiny bubbles can solve large problems. Microbubbles–around 1-50 micrometers in diameter–have widespread applications. They’re used for drug delivery, membrane cleaning, biofilm control, and water treatment. They’ve been applied as actuators in lab-on-a-chip devices for microfluidic mixing, ink-jet printing, and logic circuitry, and in photonics lithography and optical resonators. And they’ve contributed remarkably to biomedical imaging and applications like DNA trapping and manipulation. Given the broad range of…
Researchers from Osaka University mechanically reprocess silk into a biologically compatible component of bioinks that improves the structural fidelity of 3D-printed hydrogels containing cells for use in drug development and regrowing lost or damaged body. How do you test, in early-stage research, whether a potential pharmaceutical effectively targets a human tumor, organ, or some other part of the body? How do you grow a new hand or some other body part? Researchers are in the early stages of using 3D…
The precisely controlled photon source, made from an atomically thin semiconducting material, could aid the development of advanced quantum communication. Secure telecommunications networks and rapid information processing make much of modern life possible. To provide more secure, faster, and higher-performance information sharing than is currently possible, scientists and engineers are designing next-generation devices that harness the rules of quantum physics. Those designs rely on single photons to encode and transmit information across quantum networks and between quantum chips. However, tools…
The powerful electronics packed inside the latest smartphones can be a significant challenge to keep cool. KAUST researchers have developed a fast and efficient way to make a carbon material that could be ideally suited to dissipating heat in electronic devices. This versatile material could also have additional uses ranging from gas sensors to solar cells. Many electronic devices use graphite films to draw away and dissipate the heat generated by their electronic components. Although graphite is a naturally occurring…
Team of materials researchers explores new domains of the compositionally complex metals. The most significant advances in human civilization are marked by the progression of the materials that humans use. The Stone Age gave way to the Bronze Age, which in turn gave way to the Iron Age. New materials disrupt the technologies of the time, improving life and the human condition. Modern technologies can likewise be directly traced to innovations in the materials used to make them, as exemplified…
Led by the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, a study of a solar-energy material with a bright future revealed a way to slow phonons, the waves that transport heat. The discovery could improve novel hot-carrier solar cells, which convert sunlight to electricity more efficiently than conventional solar cells by harnessing photogenerated charge carriers before they lose energy to heat. “We showed that the thermal transport and charge-carrier cooling time can be manipulated…
Two-dimensional crumpled nanostructure with 40% higher efficiency. Super-micro, low-power sensors and devices that can send and receive signals and information anytime, anywhere will become an integral part of people’s lives in a hyper-connected world driven by the Internet of Things (IoT). The question is how to continually supply electricity to the countless electronic devices connected to the system. This is because it is difficult to reduce the size and weight of the battery using the conventional way of charging and…
How nature is inspiring completely new material concepts for the technology of tomorrow. Smartphones, laptops, smart watches: The chemical element silicon is found in every electronic component and computer chip, no matter how small. Silicon also gives its name to Silicon Valley, the home of many technology companies. Scientists from Hamburg have now succeeded in giving silicon muscle power. This new property enables the material to convert electrical signals into mechanical movements for the first time. As the team writes…
Bolometers are devices that measure the power of incident electromagnetic radiation thru the heating of materials, which exhibit a temperature-electric resistance dependence. These instruments are among the most sensitive detectors so far used for infrared radiation detection and are key tools for applications that range from advanced thermal imaging, night vision, infrared spectroscopy to observational astronomy, to name a few. Even though they have proven to be excellent sensors for this specific range of radiation, the challenge lies in attaining…
Lower-cost production thanks to optimized distribution of atoms – publication in Nature Catalysis. Billions of noble metal catalysts are used worldwide for the production of chemicals, energy generation, or cleaning the air. However, the resources required for this purpose are expensive and their availability is limited. To optimize the use of resources, catalysts based on single metal atoms have been developed. A research team of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) demonstrated that noble metal atoms may assemble to form clusters…
Ecofriendly plastic alternative A new type of plastic made of reclaimed waste readily degrades in less than a year. The substance that will soon serve to manufacture and break down mainly disposable products in an ecofriendly way goes by the name of polyhydroxybutyrate. This innovative material can be produced on an industrial scale in a new process developed by the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Systems and Design Technology IPK and its partners. Everyday life devoid of plastics – that would…
Next-generation batteries using lithium-rich materials could be more sustainable and cost-effective, according to a team of researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory. The pivotal discovery, which aims to improve the understanding of advanced materials for transportation and grid storage, was published in the article, “Harbinger of hysteresis in lithium-rich oxides: Anionic activity or defect chemistry of cation migration,” on June 24 in the Journal of Power Sources. “Lithium-rich oxides offer the possibility of more sustainable and cost-effective options over…
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