Category Chemistry/Nanotechnology

The economic impact of SOEC, developed by Professor Guntae Kim in September, 2016. Credit: UNIST

A joint research team, affiliated with UNIST has introduced the Hybrid-Solid Electrolysis Cell (Hybrid-SOEC) system with highest reported electrochemical performance in hydrogen production. The proposed system has attracted much attention as a new promising option for the cost-effective and highly-efficient hydrogen production, as it shows excellent performance compared with other water-electrolysis systems.

A solid oxide electrolyzer cell (SOEC) consists of two electrodes and an electrolyte that are all in solid-state. They are strongly desired as novel candidates for the hydrogen production, as they require no need to replenish lost electrolytes, while eliminating the corrosion problems...

A sophisticated X-ray scattering technique waa used to visualize and quantify the movement of water molecules in space and time, which provides new insights that may open pathways for liquid-based electronics. Credit: Jason Richards/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy 

A novel approach to studying the viscosity of water has revealed new insights about the behavior of water molecules and may open pathways for liquid-based electronics. A team led by the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory used a high-resolution inelastic X-ray scattering technique to measure the strong bond involving a hydrogen atom sandwiched between two oxygen atoms...

The blue perforated slab is the upper membrane, with the photonic crystal cavity in the middle. This captures the light of a specific near infrarad frequency and generates a current that is measured (A). If the distance to the red, lower slab is changed, the captured frequency changes. Credit: Eindhoven University of Technology

Use your smartphone to check how clean the air is, whether food is fresh or a lump is malignant. This has all come a step closer thanks to a new spectrometer that is so small it can be incorporated easily and cheaply in a mobile phone. The little sensor developed at TU Eindhoven is just as precise as the normal tabletop models used in scientific labs. The researchers present their invention on 20 December in the journal Nature Communications.

Spectrometry, the analy...

Illumination of a book (‘Paradise Lost,’ by John Milton) with the nanobionic light-emitting plants (two 3.5-week-old watercress plants). The book and the light-emitting watercress plants were placed in front of a reflective paper to increase the influence from the light emitting plants to the book pages. Credit: Seon-Yeong Kwak

Illumination from nanobionic plants might one day replace some electrical lighting. By embedding nanoparticles into the leaves of watercress, engineers have induced the plant to give off dim light for nearly 4 hours. They believe engineered plants will one day be bright enough to act as desk lamps or street lights. “The vision is to make a plant that will function as a desk lamp – a lamp that you don’t have to plug in...