Category Chemistry/Nanotechnology

CuOx/3A2S selectively produces N2 and H2O from NH3 through a two-step reaction. Credit: Dr. Satoshi Hinokuma

Ammonia (NH3) has attracted attention in recent years as a carbon-free fuel that does not emit carbon dioxide. For use as a fuel, it should have a lower combustion temperature and produce only nitrogen (N2) and water. Now, researchers have succeeded in developing a new catalyst that burns NH3 at a low temperature and produces N2. The results are expected to contribute to climate change countermeasures and increased renewable energy use.

NH3 is a combustible gas that can be widely used in thermal power generation and industrial furnaces as an alternative to gasoline and light oil...

The potential of this discovery in terms of reducing energy use and therefore our energy bills is really exciting. Dr Lidija Šiller, joint lead author, Newcastle University

Experts have created a new form of highly-efficient, low-cost, sustainable insulation based on the wings of a dragonfly. The material, known as an aerogel, is the most porous material known to man and ultralight, with a piece the size of a family car weighing less than a kilogram. Starting out as a wet silica gel, similar in structure to jelly, the material is carefully dried to create a strong, porous material...

A: Food materials are pulverized under ultra-low temperature close to -100 degrees Celsius. B: Micro-sized food materials are reconstructed into a porous film-shaped material by jetting bonding an agent under optimized water content and heat conditions. The process to build film-type materials is repeated layer by layer to form to a three-dimensional food block. C: The exterior of foods and internal microstructure of a food block with specific porosity is designed to give texture with controlled human body absorption while eating and ingesting. Credit: Jin-Kyu Rhee, Ewha Womans University

Researchers 3D print food with customized texture and body absorption characteristics...

2018 EECS Forrest Organic Solar Cell. Credit: Michigan Engineering

In an advance that makes a more flexible, inexpensive type of solar cell commercially viable, University of Michigan researchers have demonstrated organic solar cells that can achieve 15% efficiency. This level of efficiency is in the range of many solar panels, or photovoltaics, currently on the market. “Organic photovoltaics can potentially cut way down on the total solar energy system cost, making solar a truly ubiquitous clean energy source,” said Stephen Forrest, the Peter A. Franken Distinguished University Professor of Engineering and Paul G. Goebel Professor of Engineering, who led the work.

At 15% efficiency and given a 20-year lifetime, researchers estimate organic solar cells could produce electricity at a cost o...