Apr 21, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Traditional solar cells are made from silicon, which has good efficiency and stability, but is relatively expensive to make and can only be manufactured in stiff panels. Perovskite solar cells offer an intriguing alternative; they can be printed from inks, making them low cost, high...
A solution to perovskite solar cell scalability problems
Apr 21, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Perovskites are hybrid materials made from metal halides and organic compounds. They have attracted a lot of interest in the field of solar energy because of their light-harvesting capacities combined with a low cost of manufacturing, making them prime candidates for overtake the market from...
Researchers use gold nanoparticles to develop accurate rapid test for viruses
Apr 21, 2022 (Nanowerk News) University of Texas at Dallas researchers have developed a rapid test for viruses that can deliver results as accurate as lab tests within 30 minutes. Dr. Zhenpeng Qin, associate professor of mechanical engineering and corresponding author of a new study demonstrating the method, called DIgitAl...
Researchers demonstrate label-free super-resolution microscopy
Apr 21, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Researchers have developed a new measurement and imaging approach that can resolve nanostructures smaller than the diffraction limit of light without requiring any dyes or labels. The work represents an important advance toward a new and powerful microscopy method that could one day be used...
Wearable material can generate electricity by capturing energy from body movements
Apr 21, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Dr Ishara Dharmasena, of the School of Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering (MEME), and a team of researchers at the University of Moratuwa (Sri Lanka) have developed a new, scalable manufacturing technique to create wearable fabrics embedded with very small power generators known as ‘Triboelectric...
Scientists develop low-cost, high-precision fabrication method for thin mirrors and silicon wafers
Apr 21, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Technologies that depend on lightweight, high-precision optical systems, like space telescopes, X-ray mirrors, and display panels, have developed significantly over the past several decades, but more advanced progress has been limited by seemingly simple challenges. For example, the surfaces of mirrors and plates with microstructures...
Revolutionary images of the birth of crystals
Apr 21, 2022 (Nanowerk News) At the interface between chemistry and physics, the process of crystallization is omnipresent in nature and industry. It is the basis for the formation of snowflakes but also of certain active ingredients used in pharmacology. For the phenomenon to occur for a given substance, it...
Engineers develop new kind of 3D printing with nanomaterials
Apr 20, 2022 (Nanowerk News) While 3D printing techniques have advanced significantly in the last decade, the technology continues to face a fundamental limitation: objects must be built up layer by layer. But what if they didn’t have to be? Dan Congreve, an assistant professor of electrical engineering at Stanford...
‘Dative epitaxy’- a new way to stack crystal films
Apr 20, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Scientists have grown thin films of two different crystalline materials on top of each other using an innovative technique called “dative epitaxy.” The researchers discovered the method by surprise. As University at Buffalo physicist Hao Zeng explains, dative epitaxy holds layers of different materials together...
Explanation for formation of abundant features on Europa bodes well for search for extraterrestrial life (w/video)
Apr 20, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Europa is a prime candidate for life in our solar system, and its deep saltwater ocean has captivated scientists for decades. But it’s enclosed by an icy shell that could be miles to tens of miles thick, making sampling it a daunting prospect. Now, increasing...