Category Chemistry/Nanotechnology

Electric Eel-Inspired Device Reaches 110 Volts: This photo depicts the printed, high voltage implementation of the artificial electric organ. A 3-D bioprinter was used to deposit arrays of gel precursor droplets onto plastic substrates, which were then cured with a UV light to convert them into solid gels. Alternating high-salinity and low-salinity gels (red and blue gels, respectively) were printed onto one substrate, and alternating cation-selective and anion-selective gels (green and yellow gels, respectively) were printed onto a second substrate. When overlaid, these gels connect to form a conductive pathway of 612 tetrameric gel cells that can be used to generate up to 110 volts. Credit: Anirvan Guha and Thomas Schroeder

Using ion gradients across hydrogels, researchers developed a ‘s...

Under UV light, the SLAO phosphor emits either green-yellow or blue light depending on the chemical activator mixed in. Credit: David Baillot/UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering

A team led by engineers at the University of California San Diego has used data mining and computational tools to discover a new phosphor material for white LEDs that is inexpensive and easy to make. Researchers built prototype white LED light bulbs using the new phosphor. The prototypes exhibited better color quality than many commercial LEDs currently on the market.

Phosphors, which are substances that emit light, are one of the key ingredients to make white LEDs. They are crystalline powders that absorb energy from blue or near-UV light and emit light in the visible spectrum...

This is a lithium battery temperature sensor. Credit: WMG, University of Warwick

Researchers at WMG at the University of Warwick have developed a new direct, precise test of Lithium-ion batteries’ internal temperatures and their electrodes potentials and found that the batteries can be safely charged up to five times faster than the current recommended charging limits.

The new technology works in-situ during a battery’s normal operation without impeding its performance and it has been tested on standard commercially available batteries...

These are rectangular shapes printed at the TU Eindhoven 3-D-concrete printer. Suiker elaborated his equations for rectangular layouts like these. Credit: Rob Wolfs/Eindhoven University of Technology

3D-printed materials commonly are soft and flexible during printing, leaving printed walls susceptible to collapse or falling over. Akke Suiker, professor in Applied Mechanics at Eindhoven University of Technology, had a Eureka moment and saw the solution to this structural problem. He developed a model with which engineers can now easily determine the dimensions and printing speeds for which printed wall structures remain stable. His formulae are so elementary that they can become commonplace in the fast growing field of 3D printing.

Conventional concrete deposited in formwork typically is al...