A Boost for Biofuel Cells
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- Written by Max-Planck-Institut für Intelligente Systeme
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In chemistry, a reaction is spontaneous when it does not need the addition of an external energy input. How much energy is released in a reaction is dictated by the laws of thermodynamics. In the case of the spontaneous reactions that occur in the human body this is often not enough to power medical implants. Now, scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart, together with an international team of researchers, found a way to boost the energy output by storing and bundling the energy of many spontaneous enzyme reactions. The work is published in the journal Nature Communications.
Tough Nuts, Cracked in a Smart Way
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- Written by Empa - Eidgenössische Materialprüfungs- und Forschungsanstalt
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Welding, printing, crushing concrete – an Empa team monitors noisy processes with the help of artificial intelligence. This way you can literally hear production errors and imminent accidents. Kilian Wasmer from the Empa lab for Advanced Materials Processing in Thun keeps shaking his head while speaking, as if he can’t believe the success story himself.
A Transparent and Thermally Stable Polyamide – 100 Percent Biobased
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- Written by Fraunhofer-Institut für Grenzflächen- und Bioverfahrenstechnik IGB
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The natural substance 3-carene is a component of turpentine oil, a waste stream of the production of cellulose from wood. Up to now, this by-product has been incinerated for the most part. Fraunhofer researchers are using new catalytic processes to convert 3-carene into building blocks for biobased plastics. The new polyamides are not only transparent, but also have a high thermal stability.
Protein Modifications Pointing to Cancer
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- Written by Universität Zürich
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Researchers from the University of Zurich can, for the first time, precisely characterize the protein modification ADP-ribosylation for all proteins in a tissue sample. The changes, which are a typical reaction to stress, provide information about the condition of a cell. Together with the University Hospital Zurich, they are now testing the new method to diagnose and treat cancer.
Added Disorder Drives Transition to Photonic Topological Insulator
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- Written by Universität Rostock
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As the journal Nature reported recently, a research group led by the Rostock physicist Professor Alexander Szameit, in collaboration with colleagues in Israel and the U.S., experimentally demonstrated that a messy topological insulator can be restored in its properties by inducing random disorder.
A Materials Scientist’s Dream Come True
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- Written by Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
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In the 1940s, scientists first explained how materials can deform plastically by atomic-scale line defects called dislocations. These defects can be understood as tiny carpet folds that can move one part of a material relative to the other without spending a lot of energy. Many technical applications are based on this fundamental process, such as forging, but we also rely on the power of dislocations in our everyday life: in the crumple zone of cars dislocations protect lives by transforming energy into plastic deformation. FAU researchers have now found a way of manipulating individual dislocations directly on the atomic scale – a feat only dreamt of by materials scientists.
It’s All in the Mix: Jülich Researchers are Developing Fast-charging Solid-state Batteries
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- Written by Forschungszentrum Jülich
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There are currently great hopes for solid-state batteries. They contain no liquid parts that could leak or catch fire. For this reason, they do not require cooling and are considered to be much safer, more reliable, and longer lasting than traditional lithium-ion batteries. Jülich scientists have now introduced a new concept that allows currents up to ten times greater during charging and discharging than previously described in the literature.
Color Effects from Transparent 3D-printed Nanostructures
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- Written by Institute of Science and Technology Austria
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Most of the objects we see are colored by pigments, but using pigments has disadvantages: such colors can fade, industrial pigments are often toxic, and certain color effects are impossible to achieve. The natural world, however, also exhibits structural coloration, where the microstructure of an object causes various colors to appear. Peacock feathers, for instance, are pigmented brown, but—because of long hollows within the feathers—reflect the gorgeous, iridescent blues and greens we see and admire.
Designing Nanocrystals for More Efficient Optoelectronics
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- Written by Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung GmbH
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New artificial materials for semiconductors used in solar cells or photoelectrochemical cells that are designed from scratch with totally new and tailored properties: this is the latest research topic of Stefan Wippermann, head of the group “Atomistic Modelling“ at the Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung), and his team. They characterized for the first time with atomic resolution a typical material system and are able to set design principles.
Slow, But Efficient
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- Written by Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V.
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For the past 30 years intense laser cluster interactions have been seen primarily as a way to generate energetic ions and electrons. In surprising contrast with the hitherto prevailing paradigm, a team of researchers has now found that copious amounts of relatively slow electrons are also produced in intense laser cluster interactions.
Quantum Chains in Graphene Nanoribbons
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- Written by Empa - Eidgenössische Materialprüfungs- und Forschungsanstalt
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Empa researchers, together with researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz and other partners, have achieved a breakthrough that could in future be used for precise nanotransistors or - in the distant future - possibly even quantum computers, as the team reports in the current issue of the scientific journal «Nature».
A Molecular Switch May Serve as New Target Point for Cancer and Diabetes Therapies
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- Written by Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V.
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If certain signaling cascades are misregulated, diseases like cancer, obesity and diabetes may occur. A mechanism recently discovered by scientists at the Leibniz- Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP) in Berlin and at the University of Geneva has a crucial influence on such signaling cascades and may be an important key for the future development of therapies against these diseases. The results of the study have just been published in the prestigious scientific journal 'Molecular Cell'.
Novel Approach to Coherent Control of a Three-level Quantum System
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- Written by Universität Basel
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For the first time, researchers were able to study quantum interference in a three-level quantum system and thereby control the behavior of individual electron spins. To this end, they used a novel nanostructure, in which a quantum system is integrated into a nanoscale mechanical oscillator in form of a diamond cantilever. Nature Physics has published the study that was conducted at the University of Basel and the Swiss Nanoscience Institute.
Electron Beam Patterning for High-resolution Full-color OLED Displays
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- Written by Fraunhofer-Institut für Organische Elektronik, Elektronenstrahl- und Plasmatechnik FEP
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OLED microdisplays are increasingly establishing themselves in wearables and data glasses. In order to meet the requirements for higher efficiency, higher contrast, and higher resolutions in these applications, Fraunhofer FEP scientists have developed a new micropatterning approach for OLEDs on silicon substrates. This might eliminate the use of color filters and shadow masks in the future and allow full-color displays to be developed by means of a new process.
Concepts for new Switchable Plasmonic Nanodivices
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- Written by Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V.
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Plasmonic waveguides open the possibility to develop dramatically miniaturized optical devices and provide a promising route towards the next-generation of integrated nanophotonic circuits for information processing, optical computing and others. Key elements of nanophotonic circuits are switchable plasmonic routers and plasmonic modulators.
New Approach to Terpene Syntheses
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- Written by Universität Basel
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Terpenes are natural products that are often very difficult to synthesize in the laboratory. Chemists from the University of Basel have now developed a synthesis method that mimics nature. The decisive step takes place inside a molecular capsule, which enables the reaction. The findings were recently published in the journal Nature Catalysis.
