Rising amounts of renewable energy coupled with an increase in decentralised power generation call for the modernisation and significant expansion of the European grids. The EU project SCARLET (“Superconducting cables for sustainable energy transition”) unites 15 partners from 7 countries around the goal of designing and industrially manufacturing superconducting cables to enable more efficient and less costly power transmission from renewable electricity generation sites. Superconductivity is a phenomenon occurring when specific materials are cooled to very low temperatures, allowing for…

Cosmic rays used to track and visualize tropical cyclones offer new perspectives. For the first time, high-energy muon particles created in the atmosphere have allowed researchers to explore the structures of storms in a way that traditional visualization techniques, such as satellite imaging, cannot. The detail offered by this new technique could aid researchers modeling storms and related weather effects. This could also lead to more accurate early warning systems. It’s hard not to notice the number of stories in…

Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) are a class of materials with physical properties that make them ideally suited for use in flexible optoelectronic applications, such as light detectors, light-emitting diodes and solar cells. For such applications to perform well, the crystalline quality of the TMDCs needs to be extremely high, however; defects in the crystal structure worsen device performance. The crystalline quality of a sample is related to the number of grain boundaries — interfaces between different grains, or domains, within…

– Low-energy electron beam. Electron beam technology can be used to reliably treat and functionalize surfaces. Now the Fraunhofer Institute for Organic Electronics, Electron Beam and Plasma Technology FEP has succeeded in producing anti-adhesive coatings on plastic film by applying low-energy-accelerated electrons without the use of additional chemical crosslinkers. The institute will present this topic at BIOEurope 2022, from 24 to 26 October 2022, in Leipzig, at Bio-Saxony booth No. 100, among others. Antifouling coatings prevent the growth of undesirable…

The ceramic-based material could be used for highly efficient actuators for aircraft or other uses, with minimal moving parts. Shape-memory metals, which can revert from one shape to a different one simply by being warmed or otherwise triggered, have been useful in a variety of applications, as actuators that can control the movement of various devices. Now, the discovery of a new category of shape-memory materials made of ceramic rather than of metal could open up a new range of…

… for extreme conditions. An innovative research project of the Chair of Ceramic Materials at the University of Bayreuth in cooperation with the SKZ Plastics Centre is investigating the transformation of additively manufactured green bodies into high-quality ceramics. A recently launched research project is investigating a novel process route to produce ceramics more cost-efficiently, sustainably and with greater geometric freedom. The special feature of the chosen approach is that a thermoplastically processable material is used for green body production. In…

Making the mobility of the future safe. Practical and environmentally friendly, e-scooters offer great flexibility. It is no wonder that more and more people are using this form of transport. However, this rise in popularity has been accompanied by an increase in accidents resulting in severe injuries. The risk associated with these speedy runabouts is widely underestimated. In response to this, Fraunhofer researchers studied a typical accident scenario and the associated injuries as part of the HUMAD project. The experts…

… in Ottobrunn/Taufkirchen, Germany. The next milestone for the Technical University of Munich (TUM) Hyperloop research program has been achieved. The groundbreaking for the 24-meter-long TUM Hyperloop test segment took place on September 30, 2022 at the Ottobrunn/Taufkirchen site. The event was attended by Bavaria’s Minister President Dr. Markus Söder and the Bavarian Minister of Science and the Arts Markus Blume. The test segment is the first of its kind in Europe. Almost two years after the beginning of the…

Self-driving vehicles. People use their eyes and ears to pick up on traffic situations involving potential hazards. For self-driving vehicles to do the same thing, they need a whole host of sensors. As the number of sensors they contain increases, however, so too does the amount of space required to fit them in – something that is often incompatible with the vision of designers. Now, researchers at the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft have discovered a method of integrating certain sensors discreetly. Their solution…

The world’s whitest paint – seen in this year’s edition of Guinness World Records and “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” – keeps surfaces so cool that it could reduce the need for air conditioning. Now the Purdue University researchers who created the paint have developed a new formulation that is thinner and lighter – ideal for radiating heat away from cars, trains and airplanes. “I’ve been contacted by everyone from spacecraft manufacturers to architects to companies that make clothes and shoes,” said Xiulin Ruan,…

… using grey box models. When you mix together black and white, you get gray — and with it, a new method that should allow complex electronic systems to monitor themselves. Using so-called grey box models, on which researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration IZM are working, it will be possible to detect signs of wear or manipulation in electronic systems at an early stage, before an actual failure occurs. The new process is being initially developed…

Potassium copper fluoride KCuF3 is considered the simplest model material realising the so-called Heisenberg quantum spin chain: The spins interact with their neighbours antiferromagnetically along a single direction (one-dimensional), governed by the laws of quantum physics. “We carried out the measurements on this simple model material at the ISIS spallation neutron source some time ago when I was a postdoc, and we  published our results in 2005, 2013 and again in 2021 comparing to new theories each time they became…

Quantum technique accelerates identification of entangled materials. The Science Quantum materials behave in surprising ways because of quantum physics. For example, they can be superconductors, which can allow electricity to flow with no resistance. These materials could lead to completely new technologies. In an advance for quantum materials, scientists tested the ability of techniques called entanglement witnesses to accurately identify pairs of entangled magnetic particles. Entanglement is when one of these particles, or “spins,” mirrors another’s properties and behavior regardless of…

To respond individual customer requirements and to meet social and political responsibility, a research project was carried out in cooperation between Ansmann AG and Fraunhofer Institute für Structural Durability and System Reliability LBF. Aim was the development of natural fibre-reinforced plastics for usage in Li-ion battery housings. Fraunhofer Researchers will present more details at the Fraunhofer booth, Hall 7, SC01, at the “K-Messe” in Düsseldorf from October 19 to 26. Current trends demonstrate the growing importance of sustainable products and…

Stanford engineers have designed a method of 3D printing that is 5 to 10 times faster than the quickest high-resolution printer currently available and is capable of using multiple types of resin in a single object. Advancements in 3D printing have made it easier for designers and engineers to customize projects, create physical prototypes at different scales, and produce structures that can’t be made with more traditional manufacturing techniques. But the technology still faces limitations – the process is slow…

Micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) have proven themselves a billion times over as sensors in smart cars, cell phones and mini insulin pumps, among other things. To make these MEMS even more powerful in the future, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT in Aachen have developed a CMOS-compatible deposition and laser crystallization process in collaboration with the Fraunhofer ISIT and IST. In contrast to other common processes, this new process eliminates the need for wires and solder joints, an…