Oct 31, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Wearable devices like smartwatches and fitness trackers interact with parts of our bodies to measure and learn from internal processes, such as our heart rate or sleep stages. Now, MIT researchers have developed wearable devices that may be able to perform similar functions for individual...
Researchers develop artificial plants that purify indoor air, generate electricity
Oct 31, 2024 (Nanowerk News) On average, Americans spend about 90% of their time indoors, and the air we breathe at work, school or home affects our overall health and well-being. Most air purification systems, however, are expensive, cumbersome and require frequent cleaning or filter replacement to function at optimum...
MXene nanomaterials enable wireless charging in textiles
Oct 31, 2024 (Nanowerk News) The next step for fully integrated textile-based electronics to make their way from the lab to the wardrobe is figuring out how to power the garment gizmos without unfashionably toting around a solid battery. Researchers from Drexel University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Accenture Labs...
Researchers turn silicon into direct bandgap semiconductor
Oct 31, 2024 (Nanowerk News) By creating a new way for light and matter to interact, researchers at the University of California, Irvine have enabled the manufacturing of ultrathin silicon solar cells that could help spread the energy-converting technology to a vast range of applications, including thermoelectric clothing and onboard...
Fundamental quantum model recreated from nanographenes
Oct 31, 2024 (Nanowerk News) The smallest unit of information in a computer is the bit: on or off, 1 or 0. Today, the world's entire computing power is built on the combination and interconnection of countless ones and zeros. Quantum computers have their own version of the bit: the...
Researchers observe carbon nanotube fiber breaking due to molecular slippage
Oct 31, 2024 (Nanowerk News) The shapes of simple polyatomic molecules such as carbon dioxide and methane are characterized by a specific symmetry depending on the manner of linking of the atoms. Nano- to micrometer-sized particles that mimic the shapes of such polyatomic molecules are referred to as colloidal molecules,...
Advancements in molecular structures drive development of highly efficient solar cells
Oct 31, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Research on organic solar cells has been conducted for a long time. Recent advancements in understanding their molecular structures are now paving the way for the development of highly efficient solar cells. "By using atomic force microscopy-infrared spectroscopy, AFM-IR, we’ve been able to create clearer...
The silk thread that can turn clothes into charging stations
Oct 31, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Thermoelectric textiles convert temperature differences, for example between our bodies and the surrounding air, into an electrical potential. This technology can be of great benefit in our everyday lives and in society. Connected to a sensor, the textiles can power these devices without the need...
Linking energy loss to interfaces in organic solar cells could make them much more efficient
Oct 30, 2024 (Nanowerk News) New research from North Carolina State University provides a deeper understanding of precisely what is happening in organic solar cells as light is converted into electricity. Researchers developed a new method which visualizes interfaces where the sunlight’s energy is converted to electrical charges and used...
New method reveals how nanoplastics interact with human immune cells in blood
Oct 30, 2024 (Nanowerk Spotlight) Plastic pollution has emerged as one of the most pressing environmental challenges of our time, with an estimated 400 million tons of plastic waste generated annually worldwide. Of particular concern are nanoplastics – microscopic plastic particles smaller than one micrometer – which can enter living...