【ARC Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science】Major infrared breakthrough could lead to solar power at night (2022.5.17)
The sun's enormous energy may soon be harnessed in the dark of night following a significant advance in thermal capture technology. Researchers within the School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering at UNSW Sydney have successfully tested a device capable of converting infrared heat into electrical power.
【Linköping University】New light on organic solar cells (2022.5.17)
Efficient and environmentally friendly solar cells are required for a transition to a fossil-free energy supply. Researchers at Linköping University have mapped how energy flows in organic solar cells, something that previously had been unknown. The results, which can contribute to more efficient solar cells, are published in Nature Communications.
【DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory】New silicon nanowires can really take the heat (2022.5.17)
A research team has demonstrated an ultrathin silicon nanowire that conducts heat 150% more efficiently than conventional materials used in advanced chip technologies. The device could enable smaller, faster, energy-efficient microelectronics. Electronic devices powered by microchips that efficiently dissipate heat would in turn consume less energy -- an improvement that could help mitigate the consumption of energy produced by burning carbon-rich fossil fuels that have contributed to global warming.
【National Korea Maritime and Ocean University】Key to reducing defects in multimaterials (2022.5.18)
Functionally graded materials (FGMs) are high-performance materials with expected applications in aerospace, automobiles, defense, and medicine. These materials are usually employed in conditions of extreme temperature and pressure, therefore making it important for them to be as defect-free as possible. Now, researchers have found a way to minimize defects in FGMs by manipulating the gradient of the elemental composition. Now, researchers from Korea Maritime and Ocean University have developed a way to synthesize a high-performance FGM made of Inconel 718 and stainless steel (STS) 316L and minimize its defects.
【ETH Zurich】Component for brain-inspired computing (2022.5.18)
Researchers from ETH Zurich, the University of Zurich and Empa have developed a new material for an electronic component that can be used in a wider range of applications than its predecessors. Such components will help create electronic circuits that emulate the human brain and that are more efficient at performing machine-learning tasks. Researchers from ETH Zurich, the University of Zurich and Empa have developed a new material for an electronic component that can be used in a wider range of applications than its predecessors. The memristors the researchers have developed are made of halide perovskite nanocrystals, a semiconductor material known primarily from its use in photovoltaic cells.
【Institute for Basic Science】Synthesis of two-dimensional holey graphyne (2022.5.18)
Researchers from Institute for Basic Science discovered that it is possible to endow many characteristics suitable for a semiconductor to graphene or graphene oxides by creating many holes in its structure. A new type of carbon allotrope, holey graphyne, has semiconductor properties and is applicable in various fields such as photoelectronics, sensors, and water purification.
【Waseda University】Broadening the scope of epoxide ring opening reactions with zirconocene (2022.5.19)
Epoxide, a cyclic ether, can be used to obtain important alcohols, pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and functional polymers. This transformation is facilitated by the reductive ring opening of epoxide. Traditionally, the reaction has been catalyzed using titanocene. However, in this case, the products are predominantly obtained via more stable radicals. Now, chemists turn the tables and broaden the scope of this reaction using zirconocene as a novel catalyst under visible light irradiation.
【University of California - Riverside】PFAS chemicals do not last forever (2022.5.20)
Once dubbed 'forever chemicals,' per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, might be in the market for a new nickname. Adding iodide to a water treatment reactor that uses ultraviolet (UV) light and sulfite destroys up to 90% of carbon-fluorine atoms in PFAS forever chemicals in just a few hours, reports a new study led by environmental engineers. The addition of iodide accelerates the speed of the reaction up to four times, saving energy and chemicals.
【University of Colorado at Boulder】Long-hypothesized 'next generation wonder material' created (2022.5.21)
For over a decade, scientists have attempted to synthesize a new form of carbon called graphyne with limited success. New research of University of Colorado at Boulder fills a longstanding gap in carbon material science, potentially opening brand-new possibilities for electronics, optics and semiconducting material research.
【Rice University】Spinning is key for line-dancing electrons in iron selenide (2022.5.23)
Quantum physicists have answered a puzzling question at the forefront of research into iron-based superconductors: Why do electrons in iron selenide dance to a different tune when they move right and left rather than forward and back? In a new study, the researchers report the discovery of high-energy spin anisotropy that occurs concurrently with electronic nematicity in iron selenide.