Dec 10, 2022 (Nanowerk News) MIT engineers have developed ultralight fabric solar cells that can quickly and easily turn any surface into a power source. These durable, flexible solar cells, which are much thinner than a human hair, are glued to a strong, lightweight fabric, making them easy to install...
Molecules have an orientation, and scientists have a new way to measure it
Dec 10, 2022 (Nanowerk News) In some materials, the molecules line up in a regular, repeating pattern. In others, they all point in random directions. But in many advanced materials used in medicine, computer chip manufacturing and other industries, the molecules arrange themselves in complex patterns that dictate the material’s...
Bioengineered microbial community working together to store carbon
Dec 10, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Photosynthesis is a valuable natural system for sequestering carbon dioxide. However, simply forming biomass does not fully exploit this system. A Chinese team of researchers, whose study is published in the journal Angewandte Chemie ("A Highly Compatible Phototrophic Community for Carbon-Negative Biosynthesis"), has now genetically...
Recycled gold from SIM cards could help make drugs more sustainable
Dec 09, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Re-using gold from electronic waste prevents it from being lost to landfill, and using this reclaimed gold for drug manufacture reduces the need to mine new materials. Current catalysts are often made of rare metals, which are extracted using expensive, energy-intensive and damaging mining processes....
What do gecko feet and intelligent robotic gripping systems have in common?
Dec 09, 2022 (Nanowerk News) How can artificial intelligence be used to create a robot gripping system that is as versatile and energy-efficient as possible? Moreover, how can this system trigger a leap in development in the use of intelligent, self-regulating and flexibly scalable handling processes for SMEs and large...
Microbial miners could help humans colonize the moon and Mars
Dec 09, 2022 (Nanowerk News) The biochemical process by which cyanobacteria acquire nutrients from rocks in Chile’s Atacama Desert has inspired engineers at the University of California, Irvine to think of new ways microbes might help humans build colonies on the moon and Mars. Researchers in UCI’s Department of Materials...
Scientists produce electricity from wood
Dec 09, 2022 (Nanowerk News) At a time when energy is an issue affecting many millions of people worldwide, scientists at KTH have managed to harvest electricity by passing water through refined wood. Their work has recently been published in the journal Advanced Functional Materials ("Advancing Hydrovoltaic Energy Harvesting from...
Say hello to the toughest material on Earth
Dec 09, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Scientists have measured the highest toughness ever recorded, of any material, while investigating a metallic alloy made of chromium, cobalt, and nickel (CrCoNi). Not only is the metal extremely ductile – which, in materials science, means highly malleable – and impressively strong (meaning it resists...
The messy death of a star
Dec 09, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Around 2500 years ago, a star ejected most of its gas forming the beautiful Southern Ring Nebula, NGC 3132, one of the first five image packages from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). A team of nearly 70 astronomers from 66 organisations across Europe, North,...
New materials for the computer of the future
Dec 09, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Novel materials could revolutionise computer technology. Research conducted by scientists at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI using the Swiss Light Source SLS has reached an important milestone along this path. Microchips are made from silicon and work on the physical principle of a semiconductor. Nothing...