“The concept is broadly similar to an artificial leaf,” researchers said. Source: https://earthsky.org/human-world/solar-energy-via-water-splitting-module-artificial-leaf…
Tag: polymer
Why ‘Baking’ Damaged Reel-To-Reel Tapes Renders Them Playable Again
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Reel-to-reel tapes are experiencing a resurgence of interest among audio buffs, but they are prone to degradation, which has been a topic of active research for many years. It’s well known that applying heat can often reverse the damage sufficiently to enable playback, usually by baking the tapes in an oven. Now…
Infrared-reflecting paint can cool buildings even when it is black
Black paint usually absorbs heat, but a new two-layer polymer paint reflects infrared light and keeps objects 16°C cooler, which could help make buildings more energy efficient Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2241717-infrared-reflecting-paint-can-cool-buildings-even-when-it-is-black/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Scientists Invent a Lithium-Ion Battery That Works Even When It’s On Fire
A team of scientists led by Yi Cui, a materials scientist at Stanford, have created a new “fireproof” solid-state electrolyte for use in lithium-ion batteries. IEEE Spectrum reports: They used a flame-retardant material called decabromodiphenyl ethane, or DBDPE for short. To make their new solid-state electrolyte, the team first created a thin film by combining DBDPE with polyimide, a mechanical enforcer….
Nanocontainers Introduced Into the Nucleus of Living Cells
fahrbot-bot shares a report from Phys.Org: An interdisciplinary team from the University of Basel in Switzerland has succeeded in creating a direct path for artificial nanocontainers to enter into the nucleus of living cells. To this end, they produced biocompatible polymer vesicles that can pass through the pores that decorate the membrane of the cell nucleus. In this way, it might…
Coming Soon: an Open Source eBook Reader
Electronic component distributor Digi-Key will be producing a small manufacturing run of the “open hardware” ereader from the Open Book Project, reports Gizmodo: The raw hardware isn’t as sleek or pretty as devices like the Kindle, but at the same time there’s a certain appeal to the exposed circuit board which features brief descriptions of various components, ports, and connections etched…
A Lithium-Ion Battery That You Can Scrunch
An anonymous reader quotes a report from IEEE Spectrum: Busan-based firm Jenax has spent the past few years developing J.Flex, an advanced lithium-ion battery that is ultra-thin, flexible, and rechargeable. With the arrival of so many wearable gadgets, phones with flexible displays, and other portable gizmos, “we’re now interacting with machines on a different level from what we did before,” says…
A New Lithium-Sulphur Battery With an Ultra-High Capacity Could Lead To Drastically Cheaper Electric Cars and Grid Energy Storage
Mahdokht Shaibani at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, and her colleagues have developed a battery with a capacity five times higher than that of lithium-ion batteries. From a report: The battery maintains an efficiency of 99 per cent for more than 200 cycles, and a smartphone-sized version would be able to keep a phone charged for five days. To date, the…
Wild Silkworms Produce Proteins Primed for Bioprinting
A mix of silkworms’ proteins acts as a scaffold for 3-D-printed tissues and organs. From a report: Many research groups are testing “ink” made from silk proteins to print human tissues, implants and perhaps even organs. The process is a less costly alternative to conventional 3-D printing with collagen, a key protein in the body’s natural scaffolding. Researchers in Assam, a…
Solid State Battery Breakthrough Could Double the Density of Lithium-ion Cells
Researchers at Australia’s Deakin University say they’ve managed to use common industrial polymers to create solid electrolytes, opening the door to double-density solid state lithium batteries that won’t explode or catch fire if they overheat. Tangential writes: Dr. Fangfang Chen and Dr. Xiaoen Wang from Deakin’s Institute for Frontier Materials claim to have made a breakthrough with “the first clear and…