Spontaneous wide-area spreading of oil on water inspires a facile energy-saving route of crafting electrically conductive nanostructures for future sensor/energy devices. Oil and water do not mix, but what happens where oil and water meet? Or where air meets liquid? Unique reactions occur at these interfaces, which a team of researchers based in Japan used to develop the first successful construction of uniform, electrically conductive nanosheets needed for next-generation sensors and energy production technologies. The research collaboration from Osaka Prefecture…

One of the solar energy market’s most promising solar cell materials—perovskite—is also the most frustrating. A research team in Sweden reports a possible solution to the environmental instability of perovskite—an alternative to silicon that’s cheap and highly efficient, yet degrades dramatically when exposed to moisture. The team, from KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, developed a new synthetic alloy that increases perovskite cells’ durability while preserving energy conversion performance. The researchers published their findings in Nature’s Communications Materials. “Perovskite…

Road map for organic-inorganic hybrid perovskite semiconductors and devices. Climate change and its consequences are becoming increasingly obvious, and solar cells that convert the sun’s energy into electricity will play a key role in the world’s future energy supply. Common semiconductor materials for solar cells, such as silicon, must be grown via an expensive process to avoid defects within their crystal structure that affect functionality. But metal-halide perovskite semiconductors are emerging as a cheaper, alternative material class, with excellent and…

… through use of pre-existing defects in semiconductor materials. The discovery demonstrates a practical method to overcome current challenges in the manufacture of indium gallium nitride (InGaN) LEDs with considerably higher indium concentration, through the formation of quantum dots that emit long-wavelength light. Researchers from the Low Energy Electronic Systems (LEES) Interdisciplinary Research Group (IRG) at Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART), MIT’s research enterprise in Singapore, together with collaborators at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), National University of Singapore (NUS) and…

Scientists from Skoltech and their colleagues have used a 3D printer to fuse two materials in an alloy whose composition continuously changes from one region of the sample to the other, endowing the alloy with gradient magnetic properties. Despite the nonmagnetic nature of the constituent materials, the alloy exhibits magnetic properties. Published in The Journal of Materials Processing Technology, the study also offers a theoretical explanation for the phenomenon. Once perceived as a mere novelty tool for rapid prototyping, 3D printing…

To limit climate change, joint global efforts are needed and international alliances must be forged. Coordinated by Dr. Paul Jerabek (Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon) and Prof. Sally Brooker (University of Otago in Dunedin), a bilateral hydrogen alliance between New Zealand and Germany is now starting its work. Its goal is to establish a German-New Zealand research presence in New Zealand for research and further development of green hydrogen technologies. The project is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research…

Stronger than spider silk … Using natural silk from bagworms and a synthetic conducting polymer, researchers at the University of Tsukuba have developed a strong conducting fiber that demonstrates promise for flexible electronic materials. Think spider silk is strong? Recent work has shown that bagworm silk is superior to spider silk in both strength and flexibility. Building on these findings, a research team at the University of Tsukuba, led by Professor Hiromasa Goto, has harnessed the strength of bagworm silk…

The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE is developing refrigeration circuits for heat pumps which shall operate as efficiently as possible with low amounts of the climate-friendly refrigerant propane. This research is carried out in project “LC150 – Development of a Refrigerant-reduced Heat Pump Module with Propane”, funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy BMWi. In an automated cross-evaluation, a team from the institute is testing various components of heat pumps on the large scale,…

In carrying out the rebuilding work in the disaster areas along the River Ahr and other rivers in North-Rhine Westphalia, how can settlements and infrastructure be adapted to future heavy rain events and floods in order to reduce the numbers of victims and the amount of damage caused? This is being investigated by a team led by the spatial planner Prof. Jörn Birkmann from the University of Stuttgart and the water management expert Prof. Holger Schüttrumpf from RWTH Aachen. The…

A research led by scientists from City University of Hong Kong (CityU) has successfully developed a super-strong, highly ductile and super-light titanium-based alloy using additive manufacturing, commonly known as 3D printing. Their findings open up a new pathway to design alloys with unprecedented structures and properties for various structural applications. The research team was led by Professor Liu Chain-Tsuan, University Distinguished Professor in the College of Engineering and Senior Fellow of CityU’s Hong Kong Institute for Advanced Study (HKIAS). Dr…

Iron (Fe) is known and utilized by mankind since thousands of years, but until now, we know very little about the local chemistry at the interfaces separating different crystallites, so-called grain boundaries. Beyond that, how different solute species interact remains elusive. What happens when two or more elements diffuse to the grain boundary and segregate there? How do they interact with each other and how will they influence the interfacial properties? Ali Ahmadian, researcher in the department Structure and Nano-/Micromechanics…

Vanderbilt and Penn State engineers have developed a novel approach to design and fabricate thin-film infrared light sources with near-arbitrary spectral output driven by heat, along with a machine learning methodology called inverse design that reduced the optimization time for these devices from weeks or months on a multi-core computer to a few minutes on a consumer-grade desktop. The ability to develop inexpensive, efficient, designer infrared light sources could revolutionize molecular sensing technologies. Additional applications include free-space communications, infrared beacons…

Totimorphic structural materials can achieve any shape. Researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have developed a shape-shifting material that can take and hold any possible shape, paving the way for a new type of multifunctional material that could be used in a range of applications, from robotics and biotechnology to architecture. The research is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. “Today’s shape-shifting materials and structures can only transition…

Scientists achieve stronger and more ductile pure titanium by processing it at ultra-low temperatures. Titanium is strong and lightweight, boasting the highest strength to weight ratio of any structural metal. But processing it while maintaining a good balance of strength and ductility – the ability of a metal to be drawn out without breaking – is challenging and expensive. As a result, titanium has been relegated to niche uses in select industries. Now, as reported in a recent study published…

Next-gen solar material could outshine other solar cells. An exciting new solar material called organic-inorganic halide perovskites could one day help the U.S. achieve its solar ambitions and decarbonize the power grid. One thousand times thinner than silicon, perovskite solar materials can be tuned to respond to different colors of the solar spectrum simply by altering their composition mix. Typically fabricated from organic molecules such as methylammonium and inorganic metal halides such as lead iodide, hybrid perovskite solar materials have…

From birds in the sky to fish in the sea, nature’s creatures possess characteristics naturally perfected over millennia. Studying them leads engineers to create new technologies that are essential to our way of life today. Mechanical engineers from Michigan Technological University share how they built a tiny, self-powered robot inspired by water-skimming insects. “Bio-inspired robotic technologies push the boundaries of what we think is possible when it comes to traveling on land, in the air and underwater,” said Hassan Masoud,…