Discovery could allow industrial production of cables, sheets of pure carbon nanotubes

Researchers at Rice University have discovered how to create continuous fibers of out of pristine single-walled carbon nanotubes. The process, which is similar to the one used to make Kevlar® on an industrial scale, offers the first real hope of making threads, cables and sheets of pure carbon nanotubes (SWNTs).

The research is available online today from the journal Macromolecules.

In this PhD thesis, Eugenio Gubía proposed a solution for the problems of electric motors run from power converters. Controlling motors and electric generators by means of power converters has negative effects with the presence of overtvoltages and high-frequency currents throughout the installation. These effects accelerate the ageing process of the motors and, moreover, can provoke faults in the correct operating of the control circuits.

Thus, in his PhD, Mr Gubia has developed a generic m

A new way to manufacture a low-cost superconducting material should lead to cheaper magnetic resonance imaging machines and other energy-efficient applications, say Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists.

Hot isostatic pressing of wires made of magnesium diboride, or MgB2, significantly increased the amount of electrical current the wires can carry without electrical resistance. Wires made from MgB2 would reduce the costs of such products as MRIs and electrical generators, say the researc

A species of beetle, that squirts its predators with a high-pressure spray of boiling liquid, could provide the key to significant improvements in aircraft engine design.

The bombardier beetle’s unique natural combustion technique is being studied to see if it can be copied for use in the aircraft industry.

Scientists studying the bombardier beetle’s jet-based defence mechanism hope it will help to solve a problem that can occasionally occur at high altitude – re-igniting a gas t

Future sensors may take the form of microscopic finger-like structures developed at Ohio State University.

Engineers here have found an easy way to carve the surface of inexpensive ceramic material into tiny filaments, creating a platform for devices that detect chemicals in the air. They could also be used to clean up toxic chemicals or gather solar energy, or to form fog-free or self-cleaning surfaces.

Each filament, or “nanofinger,” consists of a single crystal of the com

Australia is set to be a safer place due to another outstanding piece of CSIRO technology and innovation.

Called a ’Contraband Scanner’, the device can accurately and rapidly detect illicit drugs and explosives.

Dr Geoff Garrett, the CEO of CSIRO, today welcomed the Federal Government’s announcement that $8.4 million dollars will be allocated to the Australian Customs Service to construct a commercial-scale Scanner and facility in Brisbane to trial the world-f

Penn State engineers have developed and simulation tested a copper wire transmission scheme for distributing a broadband signal over local area networks (LANS) with a lower average bit error rate than fiber optic cable that is 10 times more expensive.

Dr. Mohsen Kavehrad, the W. L. Weiss professor of electrical engineering and director of the Center for Information and Communications Technology Research who led the study, says, “Using copper wire is much cheaper than fiber optic cable and,

A coating that tethers DNA to a glass surface and allows the molecule to attach in three different places could make DNA microarrays denser and more affordable, according to Penn State material scientists.

DNA is the basis of enormous efforts in research and development in pharmaceutical and chemical industries across the country. To assay large numbers of DNA fragments, researchers use DNA microarrays – sometimes called biochips or genome chips. Currently, manufacture of these chips is time

The recently created “Photovoltaics Technology Research Advisory Council” will meet for the first time on 4 December 2003 in Brussels. The initiative of the European Commission involves 18 members representing all the major players in this technology.

Europe is now the world’s second largest manufacturer of photovoltaics, accounting for more than 24% of overall production, behind Japan (44%) and ahead of the USA (22%). Current forecasts show large potential for solar electricity produc

Researchers at the University of Michigan College of Engineering have developed an elegantly simple technique that dramatically reduces the interference microwave ovens create in telephones and wireless computer networks.

Worldwide, there are hundreds of millions of microwave ovens in kitchens, offices and laboratories, each with a magnetron that creates communications problems ranging from an aggravating crackle during a friendly telephone call, to the disruption of 911 calls and the flow

A new catalyst could help auto makers meet the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s deadline to eliminate 95 percent of nitrogen-oxide from diesel engine exhausts by 2007, while saving energy.

Developed by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory, the new catalyst is one of a family of related catalysts that also shows promise for reducing NOx emissions from industrial sources, such as coal-fired power plants and furnaces at chemical plants and refineries.

INASMET Technological Centre is working on a project to develop metallic foams. Metal foams and cellular metals have become one the preferred research fields in mew materials in recent times. Given their special structure and extreme lightness, they have enormous potential for use in a never-ending list of applications in diverse industrial sectors.

Metallic foams are, as their name indicates, metallic materials with a porous structure. They can take either the form an open structure of int

The Thermal Engineering group of researchers at the Public University of Navarre is working on the design of a domestic thermoelectric refrigerator. Unlike the conventional system of producing a cold environment – by vapour compression – the thermoelectricity used in the design of this refrigerator allows the manufacture of more compact and quieter units which respect the environment more.

This first prototype of the thermoelectric domestic refrigerator, commissioned by the multinational BSH

Materials fortified with carbon nanotubes are strongest when the embedded filaments run parallel to each other, but electronic and thermal conductivity are best when the nanotubes are oriented randomly. That the finding from a team of engineers at the University of Pennsylvania who have developed a production technique that permits a finer and more precise dispersion of nanotubes within a material.

The results, which could give scientists the tools to customize nano-tube-laced materials to

Engineers at Ohio State University have overcome a major barrier in the manufacture of high quality light emitting devices and solar cell materials.

Steven Ringel, professor of electrical engineering, and his colleagues have created special hybrid materials that are virtually defect-free — an important first step for making ultra-efficient electronics in the future.

The same technology could also lead to faster, less expensive computer chips.

Ringel directs Ohio Sta

Engineers at Ohio State University and their colleagues have taken an unprecedented look at the interface between layers of silicon and other materials in electronic devices.

What they have learned may help traditional microelectronics remain vital to industry longer than most experts expect. It may even aid the design of other devices where one material meets another — including medical implants.

Using computer simulation, the engineers demonstrated for the first time how