Laser pulses enable faster creation of skyrmions in magnets A team of scientists led by the Max Born Institute (MBI), Berlin, Germany, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, USA, has demonstrated how tiny magnetization patterns known as skyrmions can be written into a ferromagnetic material faster than previously thought possible. The researchers have clarified how the topology of the magnetic system changes in this process. As reported in the journal Nature Materials, the findings are relevant for topological…

Nano-scientists at Münster University develop a molecular tool to change the structure of a metal surface. Researchers at the University of Münster have now developed a molecular tool which makes it possible, at the atomic level, to change the structure of a metal surface. The restructuring of the surface by individual molecules – so-called N-heterocyclic carbenes – takes place similar to a zipper. The study has been published in the journal “Angewandte Chemie International Edition”. The surface of metals plays…

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…

Semiconductive photocatalysts that efficiently absorb solar energy could help reduce the energy required to drive a bioelectrochemical process that converts CO2 emissions into valuable chemicals, KAUST researchers have shown. Recycling CO2 could simultaneously reduce carbon emissions into the atmosphere while generating useful chemicals and fuels, explains Bin Bian, a Ph.D. student in Pascal Saikaly’s lab, who led the research. “Microbial electrosynthesis (MES), coupled with a renewable energy supply, could be one such technology,” Bian says. MES exploits the capacity of…

C3PO Project The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE has developed an alternative process for producing solar cell contacts. The laser transfer and firing (LTF) technique offers several advantages compared to conventional processes, particularly for specific solar cell surfaces. Together with industry partners in the joint project “C3PO”, the Fraunhofer researchers in Freiburg have realized a fully automated LTF process for the first time on a system from Pulsar Photonics GmbH. Now the process can be systematically tested and…

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…

Digitalization in industrial manufacturing Automated assembly operations are a key to success. They enable stable manufacturing, high precision manufacturing and greater responsiveness to market demands. The Fraunhofer Institute for Factory Operation and Automation IFF’s innovative digital instrumentation and information networks are increasing the transparency of aircraft manufacturer Airbus’s manufacturing operations and optimizing collaboration between humans and machines. Was the cabin door delivered on schedule? Does it have the same temperature as the fuselage? And did its installation go as planned?…

Researchers at TU Graz have found a way to convert the aromatic substance vanillin into a redox-active electrolyte material for liquid batteries. The technology is an important step towards ecologically sustainable energy storage. “It is ground-breaking in the field of sustainable energy storage technology,” says Stefan Spirk from the Institute of Bioproducts and Paper Technology at Graz University of Technology. He and his team have succeeded in making redox-flow batteries more environmentally friendly by replacing their core element, the liquid…

Smart solutions for production facilities The volatile output of electricity from wind farms and photovoltaic plants can pose a real headache for energy companies. This is because of the need to maintain a stable supply of power at all times, even when such facilities are generating little or no electricity. Part of the solution to this problem is to adapt the power consumption of production plants to the fluctuating output from wind and solar generation. Researchers from the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft have…

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…

Innovative coating for bipolar plates in fuel cells. Electric cars which can be filled up within five minutes, reach ranges like a diesel and yet drive “cleanly”: This is already being achieved by hydrogen fuel cell vehicles today. However, so far they are still rare and expensive. Apart from efficiency problems, this is due, among other things, to one core component: Gold-coated bipolar plates (BiP) in fuel cells are expensive and complex to manufacture. The Fraunhofer Institute for Material and…

Metha-Cycle decouples wind power from electricity demand Chemists at the Leibniz Institute for Catalysis (LIKAT) in Rostock are able to produce hydrogen from methanol under mild conditions of less than one hundred degrees Celsius and ambient pressure, with the yield and purity required for fuel cells. To achieve this, they optimized a proprietary process that they had published in NATURE at the time. The catalytic reaction is at the heart of the Metha-Cycle project, a concept for the storage and…