Green hydrogen and fuel technology are a new focus of the Export Initiative Environmental Technologies (EXI). The University of Bayreuth has recently become involved in this funding programme of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) with its “ECO-FCGen – decentralized power generator based on fuel cells” project. The aim of the project is to build two electricity generation prototypes based on green hydrogen in Germany and India. Research partners are CBC GmbH…

Pitt engineers create insect-inspired robots that can monitor hard-to-reach spots. These ancient creatures can squeeze through the tiniest cracks, fit snugly into tight spaces and survive in harsh environments: There aren’t many spaces that are off-limits to an insect. That’s why researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have created tiny bug-inspired robots that can carry out tasks in hard-to-reach spaces and inhospitable environments. “These robots could be used to access confined areas for imaging or environmental evaluation, take water samples,…

Many semiconducting materials are possible candidates for solar cells. In recent years, perovskite semiconductors in particular have attracted attention, as they are both inexpensive and easy to process and enable high efficiencies. Now a study with 15 participating research institutions shows how terahertz (TRTS) and microwave spectroscopy (TRMC) can be used to reliably determine the mobility and lifetime of the charge carriers in new semiconducting materials. Using these measurement data it is possible to predict the potential efficiency of the…

Original technique predicts and guides the ordered creation of strong, yet flexible, diamond nanothread. As hard as diamond and as flexible as plastic, highly sought-after diamond nanothreads would be poised to revolutionize our world—if they weren’t so difficult to make. Recently, a team of scientists led by Carnegie’s Samuel Dunning and Timothy Strobel developed an original technique that predicts and guides the ordered creation of strong, yet flexible, diamond nanothreads, surmounting several existing challenges.  The innovation will make it easier…

The highly adaptable materials could lead to new classes of wearable devices, diagnostic sensors and biological-electronic hybrid organisms. UCLA researchers have developed a unique design of ultrathin films for highly flexible yet mechanically robust bioelectronic membranes that could pave the way for diagnostic on-skin sensors that fit precisely over the body’s contours and conform to its movements. Science recently published a paper describing the research co-led by Xiangfeng Duan, professor of chemistry and biochemistry; and Yu Huang, professor and chair…

Discovery reveals role of oxygen impurities in semiconductor properties. A research team probing the properties of a semiconductor combined with a novel thin oxide film have observed a surprising new source of conductivity from oxygen atoms trapped inside. Scott Chambers, a materials scientist at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, reported the team’s discovery at the Spring 2022 meeting of the American Physical Society. The research finding is described in detail in the journal Physical Review Materials. The…

Technology could make it possible to use radio emissions from cell phone networks to wirelessly power sensors and LEDs. Researchers have developed a new metasurface-based antenna that represents an important step toward making it practical to harvest energy from radio waves, such as the ones used in cell phone networks or Bluetooth connections. This technology could potentially provide wireless power to sensors, LEDs and other simple devices with low energy requirements. “By eliminating wired connections and batteries, these antennas could…

Methanol reformers convert easy-to-transport methanol into hydrogen. But conventional reformers still come with a number of drawbacks – catalyst attrition, to name but one example. An innovative methanol reformer for mobile applications from the Fraunhofer Institute for Microengineering and Microsystems IMM is able to overcome these challenges. Hydrogen is the beacon of hope for the energy transition, as it is set to sustainably shape both mobility and industrial processes. But at present, there is still limited availability, as transporting hydrogen…

Large-scale construction projects usually involve extensive coordination. In practice, however, the way in which information is exchanged between construction stakeholders often ends up being an inconsistent multistep process. Now, a consortium project under the technical and scientific leadership of the Fraunhofer Institute for Experimental Software Engineering IESE is working on a digital solution in the form of the Infra-Bau 4.0 platform, which establishes a network that takes in every stakeholder in an infrastructure project. It provides a means of mapping…

New Research Findings… Coffee sloshing over the rim of a cup: annoying, but bearable. Sloshing fuel in rockets or tankers: more dangerous. Dr. Kerstin Avila from the University of Bremen conducts research on this topic and on turbulence – with success, as two outstanding publications now show. Sloshing coffee is known to many people as an annoying everyday problem that one can and must live with. In engineering, however, such dynamics can have fatal effects. “Sloshing fuel endangers the flight…

Micro supercapacitors could revolutionise the way we use batteries by increasing their lifespan and enabling extremely fast charging. Manufacturers of everything from smartphones to electric cars are therefore investing heavily into research and development of these electronic components. Now, researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, have developed a method that represents a breakthrough for how such supercapacitors can be produced. “When discussing new technologies, it is easy to forget how important the manufacturing method is, so that they can…

The introduction of lead-free metal halide powder into a scintillation screen took some tinkering. Once a KAUST team worked out the right technique, they were able to produce an exceptionally efficient, robust and flexible scintillation film to bring significant improvements in medical, industrial and security X-ray imaging. Scintillation materials release visible light, or “scintillate,” in response to absorbing invisible X-ray high-energy photons. They are used to construct digital images that reveal the relative passage and obstruction of X-rays as they…

Improvements in the material that converts X-rays into light, for medical or industrial images, could allow a tenfold signal enhancement. Scintillators are materials that emit light when bombarded with high-energy particles or X-rays. In medical or dental X-ray systems, they convert incoming X-ray radiation into visible light that can then be captured using film or photosensors. They’re also used for night-vision systems and for research, such as in particle detectors or electron microscopes. Researchers at MIT have now shown how…

Within the joint project LAOLA, which was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and has now been completed, large-area lighting applications with OLEDs on flexible substrates should be developed. The project focused on ultra-thin glass, which offers advantages compared to plastic as a substrate due to its excellent barrier properties. At the Fraunhofer FEP, the OLEDs were applied to the flexible glass using a roll-to-roll process. A surgical light designed using this process will be…

Tandem cells made of silicon and perovskite are able to convert the broad energy spectrum of sunlight into electrical energy more efficiently than the respective single cells. Now, for the first time, two teams from HZB and ISFH Hameln have succeeded in combining a perovskite top cell with a so-called PERC/POLO silicon cell to form a tandem device. This is an important achievement, since PERC silicon cells on p-type silicon are the “workhorse” of photovoltaics, with a market share of…

A superior new material for optoelectronic devices. Liquid crystals derived from borophene have risen in popularity, owing to their immense applicability in optoelectronic and photonic devices. However, their development requires a very narrow temperature range, which hinders their large-scale application. Now, Tokyo Tech researchers investigated a liquid-state borophene oxide, discovering that it exhibited high thermal stability and optical switching behavior even at low voltages. These findings highlight the strong potential of borophene oxide-derived liquid crystals for use in widespread applications….