Engineering researchers from North Carolina State University have demonstrated a new type of flexible, robotic grippers that are able to lift delicate egg yolks without breaking them, and that are precise enough to lift a human hair. The work has applications for both soft robotics and biomedical technologies. The work draws on the art of kirigami, which involves both cutting and folding two-dimensional (2D) sheets of material to form three-dimensional (3D) shapes. Specifically, the researchers have developed a new technique…
Reimagining the United States power grid could save consumers $50 billion a year. A novel plan that offers partnership in keeping the United States electric grid stable and reliable could be a win-win for consumers and utility operators. The largest ever simulation of its kind, modeled on the Texas power grid, concluded that consumers stand to save about 15 percent on their annual electric bill by partnering with utilities. In this system, consumers would coordinate with their electric utility operator…
First German-Austrian Collaborative Research Centre/Transregio approved. TU Darmstadt and TU Graz are intensifying their research into how electrical machines can be decisively improved through computer simulation. To this end, the first German-Austrian Collaborative Research Centre/Transregio (TRR) 361 has been approved. The German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Austrian Science Fund FWF are funding the TRR “Computational Electrical Machine Laboratory” with a total of over eight million euros. For decades, electrical machines have played a central role in energy conversion, not…
The cumbersome search for leaks in air compressor units could soon be made much easier: Along with SICK AG, Fraunhofer IPA is developing an ancillary leak detection service for a smart flow sensor. Self-learning algorithms evaluate the readings and in so doing identify leaks. Under ISO 50001, businesses are obligated to save energy. They must set their own targets outlining how much energy they aim to save over the next few years – and then meet this target. One area…
Mickael L. Perrin wants to build tiny power plants from graphene nanoribbons that generate electricity from heat. His ambitious project won him one of the prestigious ERC Starting Grants from the EU and one of the 32 Eccellenza Professorial Fellowships by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). He will take up an assistant professorship at ETH Zurich – and continue his research at Empa. Machines and electronic devices often generate waste heat that is difficult to utilize. If electricity could…
A novel, simple and extremely compact radiation source for terahertz waves has been developed at TU Wien. The possible applications are manifold. Terahertz radiation has a wavelength of typically a little less than one millimetre – a technically difficult range. Electromagnetic waves with longer wavelengths can be generated with ordinary electronic components (such as transistors) and antennas. Smaller wavelengths can be obtained with ordinary light sources, such as lasers or LEDs. However, the terahertz range in between is still a…
Maps are essential for exploring trackless wilderness or vast expanses of ocean. The same is true for scientific studies that try to open up new fields and develop brand-new devices. A journey without maps and signposts tends to end in vain. In the world of “neuromorphic devices,” an electronic device that mimics neural cells such as our brain, researchers have long been forced to travel without maps. Such devices will lead to a fresh field of brain-inspired computers with substantial…
Technology opens door to ubiquitous, more easily fabricated electronic screens. In a groundbreaking new study, researchers at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities used a customized printer to fully 3D print a flexible organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display. The discovery could result in low-cost OLED displays in the future that could be widely produced using 3D printers by anyone at home, instead of by technicians in expensive microfabrication facilities. The research is published in Science Advances, a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by…
New research introduces adaptable smart window design that can heat or cool a house. Homeowners know that the type of windows in a house contribute greatly to heating and cooling efficiency. And that’s a big deal—maintaining indoor temperatures consumes great amounts of energy and accounts for 20 to 40 percent of the national energy budgets in developed countries. New research from the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Oxford takes energy efficient windows a step further by proposing a…
The rechargeable battery can be woven and washed, and could provide power for fiber-based electronic devices and sensors. Researchers have developed a rechargeable lithium-ion battery in the form of an ultra-long fiber that could be woven into fabrics. The battery could enable a wide variety of wearable electronic devices, and might even be used to make 3D-printed batteries in virtually any shape. The researchers envision new possibilities for self-powered communications, sensing, and computational devices that could be worn like ordinary…
Researchers have developed a method to stabilise a promising material known as perovskite for cheap solar cells, without compromising its near-perfect performance. The researchers, from the University of Cambridge, used an organic molecule as a ‘template’ to guide perovskite films into the desired phase as they form. Their results are reported in the journal Science. Perovskite materials offer a cheaper alternative to silicon for producing optoelectronic devices such as solar cells and LEDs. There are many different perovskites, resulting from…
Discovery improves stability in ethylene and hydrogen production via artificial photosynthesis. A research team has developed a new artificial photosynthesis device with remarkable stability and longevity as it converts sunlight and carbon dioxide into two promising sources of renewable fuels – ethylene and hydrogen. The researchers’ findings, which they recently reported in the journal Nature Energy, reveal how the device degrades with use, then demonstrate how to mitigate it. The authors also provide new insight into how electrons and charge…
Perovskites are the great hope for further increasing the efficiency of solar modules in the future. Until now, their short service life has been considered the biggest hurdle to their practical use, but this could soon change. In the current issue of the renowned journal Nature Energy, researchers from the Helmholtz Institute Erlangen-Nuremberg of the Forschungszentrum Jülich have presented a variant that stands out for its special stability. In tests at elevated temperature and illumination over 1450 hours of operation,…
Breakthrough technology keeps you warm in the winter, and cool in the summer, without consuming natural gas or electricity. Scientists have developed an all-season smart-roof coating that keeps homes warm during the winter and cool during the summer – without consuming natural gas or electricity. Research findings reported in the Dec. 17 edition of the journal Science point to a groundbreaking technology that outperforms commercial cool-roof systems in energy savings. “Our all-season roof coating automatically switches from keeping you cool…
Once expended, eco-friendly batteries break down in soil within weeks. Scientists from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) have developed paper-thin biodegradable zinc batteries that could one day become an environmentally sustainable option for powering flexible and wearable electronic systems. The NTU Singapore-developed zinc batteries are made up of electrodes (through which the electrical current leaves or enters the battery) screen-printed on to both sides of a piece of cellulose paper that has been reinforced with hydrogel. Once the battery…
Metal halide perovskites have been under intense investigation over the last decade, due to the remarkable rise in their performance in optoelectronic devices such as solar cells or light-emitting diodes. The most efficient devices, fabricated in the so called ‘standard architecture’ commonly include processing steps performed at high temperature, thus increasing their energy payback time and limiting the possibility to integrate them in emerging applications such as flexible and wearable electronics. An alternative device architecture – termed the ‘inverted architecture’…
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