Researchers reveal how photonic crystals were created by corrosion and crystallization over centuries. Some 2,000 years ago in ancient Rome, glass vessels carrying wine or water, or perhaps an exotic perfumes, tumble from a table in a marketplace, and shatter to pieces on the street. As centuries passed, the fragments were covered by layers of dust and soil and exposed to a continuous cycle of changes in temperature, moisture, and surrounding minerals. Now these tiny pieces of glass are being…

– research project aims for rapid industrial implementation. Stationary energy storage systems aiming to relieve the public power grid during peak loads play an important role in the implementation the energy transition. Zinc-ion batteries have been the focus of attention for these and other applications for some time – but so far without commercial success. The BMBF-funded research project “Aqueous Zinc-Ion Batteries ZIB2” is now investigating how an industrial implementation can be successful. The use of non-critical, low-cost materials, an…

IKST researchers develop analysis model using magnetic transport characteristics of molecules attached to the surface of MXene. Establishment of property prediction and classification system is expected to be utilized to produce uniform quality MXene. Developed in 2011, MXene is a two-dimensional nanomaterial with alternating metal and carbon layers, which has high electrical conductivity and can be combined with various metal compounds, making it a material that can be utilized in various industries such as semiconductors, electronic devices, and sensors. To…

The neuron, developed by Penn State researchers, processes visual and tactile input together. The feel of a cat’s fur can reveal some information, but seeing the feline provides critical details: is it a housecat or a lion? While the sound of fire crackling may be ambiguous, its scent confirms the burning wood. Our senses synergize to give a comprehensive understanding, particularly when individual signals are subtle. The collective sum of biological inputs can be greater than their individual contributions. Robots…

A team of scientists with the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has investigated the behavior of hafnium oxide, or hafnia, because of its potential for use in novel semiconductor applications. Materials such as hafnia exhibit ferroelectricity, which means that they are capable of extended data storage even when power is disconnected and that they might be used in the development of new, so-called nonvolatile memory technologies. Innovative nonvolatile memory applications will pave the way for the creation of…

… of fiber composites from rotor blades. Wind turbines typically operate for 20 to 30 years before they are undergoing dismantling and recycling. However, the recycling of fiber composites, especially from the thick-walled rotor blade parts, has been inadequate until now. The prevailing methods involve thermal or mechanical recycling. For a sustainable and holistic recycling process, a research consortium led by Fraunhofer IFAM is pooling their expertise to recover the fibers through pyrolysis. Subsequent surface treatment and quality testing of…

New material concept allows more cost-effective production of blue organic light-emitting diodes. Blue organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), which can be used in smartphones, televisions or other devices, are still difficult to manufacture today. A team of researchers led by Gert-Jan Wetzelaer of the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research has now developed a new material concept that allows blue OLEDs to be manufactured easily and cost-effectively. The efficiency of the developed light-emitting diode is already comparable to commercially available ones…

… forming a new phase of matter. A study led by Brown University scientists begins to address a longstanding question in condensed matter physics on whether disorder mimics or destroys the quantum liquid state in a prominent compound. Quantum spin liquids are difficult to explain and even harder to understand. To start, they have nothing to do with everyday liquids, like water or juice, but everything to do with special magnets and how they spin. In regular magnets, when the…

New electrolyte goes extra mile for faster EV charging. Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers are taking fast charging for electric vehicles, or EVs, to new extremes. A team of battery scientists recently developed a lithium-ion battery material that not only recharges 80% of its capacity in 10 minutes but keeps that ability for 1,500 charging cycles. When a battery operates or recharges, ions move between electrodes through a medium called the electrolyte. ORNL’s Zhijia Du led a team who developed new formulations…

New funding phase of the Kopernikus project SynErgie at University of Bayreuth. By 2035, the electricity generated in Germany is to come entirely from renewable sources. However, an electricity supply generated predominantly from sun and wind will fluctuate over the course of the day. Therefore, the Kopernikus project SynErgie, which has been funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) since 2016, is investigating how energy-intensive companies can flexibly adapt their demand to the electricity supply. On the…

Thermophotovoltaics: Researchers develop new resistant emitter based on iridium. Together with the Technical University of Hamburg and Aalborg University, researchers from the Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon have developed a new selective emitter based on iridium for thermophotovoltaics. Iridium was thus used for the first time as a material for an emitter, and in the experiments, it showed particular endurance at high temperatures around 1000 °C. Their study results were published today in the journal Advanced Materials and open up new perspectives for…

Theoretical extension of parametric amplification. Sensors in electronic devices work with high-frequency signals. For maximum accuracy in the measurements, the parametric amplification effect is used. Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) are investigating how this effect can significantly expand the functionality of sensors. Possible applications include improved location positioning with microelectromechanical sensors like those used in smartphones. Most people are probably familiar with the phenomenon from childhood: standing on a swing, a child rhythmically bends and straightens their…

Students from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have developed the longest range electric car in the world. The team drove more than 2.573 kilometers on a single battery charge. As part of the IAA Mobility fair, the team competed for the new world record at the Munich airport and successfully brought the title home to Munich. The test lasted an entire six days, during which the team slept on cots in an airplane hangar. The TUfast Eco team faced…

World-class technology technology for a 2-liter class hydrogen engine (or a passenger car hydrogen engine) capable of running entirely on hydrogen has been developed for the first time in the country. Emissions of carbon dioxide and fine dust reduced by 99% and 90%, respectively. Amid the fierce competition throughout the globe to develop hydrogen mobility technologies to achieve carbon neutrality, a new technology for a 2-liter class hydrogen-fueled engine (a passenger car hydrogen engine) capable of running entirely on hydrogen…

Newly discovered reaction mechanism overcomes rapid performance decline in lithium-sulfur batteries. Scientists discover surprising pathway to better lithium-sulfur batteries by visualizing reactions at the atomic scale. The road from breakthrough in the lab to practical technology can be a long and bumpy one. The lithium-sulfur battery is an example. It has notable advantages over current lithium-ion batteries powering vehicles. But it has yet to dent the market despite intense development over many years. That situation could change in the future thanks to…

A vital component of the batteries at the heart of electric vehicles and grid energy storage, lithium is key to a clean energy future. But producing the silvery-white metal comes with significant environmental costs. Among them is the vast amount of land and time needed to extract lithium from briny water, with large operations running into the dozens of square miles and often requiring over a year to begin production. Now, researchers at Princeton have developed an extraction technique that…