There is room for just one small bottle in the world’s first refrigerator that is cooled with artificial muscles made of nitinol, a nickel-titanium alloy. But the mini-prototype that the team led by professors Stefan Seelecke and Paul Motzki will be presenting at the Hannover Messe from 22 to 26 April is groundbreaking: it shows that elastocalorics is becoming a viable solution for practical applications. This climate-friendly cooling and heating technology is far more energy-efficient and sustainable than current methods….

Fraunhofer researchers have developed a helmet with an integrated acceleration sensor for drivers of construction vehicles. The helmet sensor measures harmful vibrations that affect the body. A software analyzes the sensor signals and shows the stress on the affected person. This allows corresponding relief measures to be taken. A flexible piezo-electret film serves as the sensor. A demonstration model for the Flexeras project will be presented at the joint Fraunhofer booth at the Hannover Messe (April 22–26, 2024, Hall 2,…

To enable more wind turbines to be built in Switzerland, scientists are optimising vertical models that are more compact and quieter than conventional alternatives. One of the major challenges of Switzerland’s energy transition is the reduced electricity production from solar power plants and dams in winter. Wind turbines, which double their output in the winter months, could play a key role in the transition to renewables. However, they take up a lot of space and are noisy. This makes it…

New system revolutionizes production of bipolar plates. Climate-friendly fuel cell systems, which are set to power machines such as vehicles in the future, are still rare and expensive these days. There are several reasons for this, including the complex and costly process used to produce bipolar plates — a key component in electrolyzers and fuel cells, which are needed for many hydrogen systems. The Fraunhofer IWU has now taken a major step toward lower costs and mass production of bipolar…

Focusing a tailored laser beam through transparent glass can create a tiny spot inside the material. Researchers at Tohoku University have reported on a way to use this small spot to improve laser material processing, boosting processing resolution. Their findings were published in the journal Optics Letters on March 1,2024. Laser machining, like drilling and cutting, is vital in industries such as automotive, semiconductors, and medicine. Ultra-short pulse laser sources, with pulse widths from picoseconds to femtoseconds, enable precise processing…

Fraunhofer IWS Transfers Laser-based Sound Analysis of Surfaces into Industrial Practice with “LAwave”. Sound waves can reveal surface properties. Parameters such as surface or coating quality of components can be analyzed nondestructively using lasers and sensors. In research and some industrial laboratories, this laser-induced surface wave spectroscopy has already become an established measurement technology. With “LAwave”, the Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS in Dresden will present the second generation of a user-friendly measuring device at the International…

…from Saxony for material characterization of printed electronics. How efficient are new materials? Does changing the properties lead to better conductivity? The Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems IPMS develops and manufactures silicon substrates for this purpose. This enables the fundamental electrical characterization of materials such as a novel graphene emulsion. Customized designs enable the optimal measurement of semiconductors and conductors. OFET substrates from Fraunhofer IPMS as wafer. (c) Sebastian Lassak / Fraunhofer IPMS Organic semiconductors are key components in organic…

Perovskite-based solar cells were first proved in 2009 to have excellent light-absorbing properties of methylammonium lead bromide and methylammonium lead iodide, collectively referred to as lead halide perovskites or, more simply, perovskites. While the efficiency of these first perovskite solar cells was modest, it was the start of a new path in photovoltaic research. Today, it is clear that future solar cells are likely to include these perovskites in combination with traditional silicon. Erkan Aydin, Stefaan De Wolf and a…

Graz University of Technology and the “Große schützen Kleine” association have investigated abdominal injuries in children following bicycle accidents as part of a Master’s thesis. Result? The design of the handlebars makes a big difference. In Austria, around 8,000 children and young people are injured in cycling accidents every year and subsequently treated in hospital. Around 600 of the injuries are directly attributable to contact with the handlebars, and around 19 per cent of these require hospitalisation. It is striking…

Stanford materials engineers have 3D printed tens of thousands of hard-to-manufacture nanoparticles long predicted to yield promising new materials that change form in an instant. In nanomaterials, shape is destiny. That is, the geometry of the particle in the material defines the physical characteristics of the resulting material. “A crystal made of nano-ball bearings will arrange themselves differently than a crystal made of nano-dice and these arrangements will produce very different physical properties,” said Wendy Gu, an assistant professor of…

By capturing a rare glimpse into three-dimensional crack formation in brittle solids, EPFL researchers have found that complex cracks require more energy to advance than simple ones; a discovery that could improve materials testing and development. The last time you dropped a favorite mug or sat on your glasses, you may have been too preoccupied to take much notice of the intricate pattern of cracks that appeared in the broken object. But capturing the formation of such patterns is the…

Using only a single electron microscope image, researchers at TU Graz can determine the type and exact position of so-called guest atoms in high-tech materials. They also come closer to solving the mystery of the blue colour of aquamarine. In addition to their main components, the properties of crystalline and nanoporous materials often depend crucially on guest atoms or ions that are embedded in the tiny pores of their lattice structure. This applies to high-tech materials used in sensor or…

With groundbreaking developments in the field of chemical sensor technology, the Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems IPMS is setting new standards in the assessment of water quality for humans and the environment. In addition to key parameters such as conductivity and pH, nutrients such as nitrate, phosphate and potassium will also play an important role as key ions in the future. Their evaluation is particularly important in environmental analysis, agriculture and water management. In the Chemical Sensors and Systems business…

Researchers at Stanford have designed a spring-assisted actuator – a device that can accomplish dynamic tasks using a fraction of the energy previously required. Whether it’s a powered prosthesis to assist a person who has lost a limb or an independent robot navigating the outside world, we are asking machines to perform increasingly complex, dynamic tasks. But the standard electric motor was designed for steady, ongoing activities like running a compressor or spinning a conveyor belt – even updated designs…

… under mixed friction thanks to innovative thinfilm multisensor. The measurement of pressure and temperature plays a crucial role in various technical applications from rolling bearings to gears and seals. In particular, there have been no solutions to date for measurements under mixed friction, i. e. the simultaneous occurrence of liquid and solid friction. At the Hannover Messe from April 22 – 26, 2024, the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST will be presenting a newly developed thin-film…

A promising option for creating a productive and sustainable energy source on Earth is the fusion of hydrogen nuclei. The problem? Extremely high pressures and temperatures are required to set the nuclear fusion process off. Technologically, this could be achieved using laser flashes (“laser fusion” or “inertial confinement fusion”). By drafting the “X-ray laser optimization of laser fusion” (Röntgenlaser-Optimierung der Laserfusion, ROLF) project) Dr. Tobias Dornheim from the Center for Advanced Systems Understanding (CASUS) at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden Rossendorf (HZDR)…