Category Chemistry/Nanotechnology

This diagram depicts a new reaction mechanism that could be used to improve catalyst designs for pollution-control systems for diesel exhaust.
Credit: Purdue University photo/Maureen Lifton

Researchers have discovered a new reaction mechanism that could be used to improve catalyst designs for pollution control systems to further reduce emissions of smog-causing nitrogen oxides in diesel exhaust. The research focuses on a type of catalyst called zeolites, workhorses in petroleum and chemical refineries and in emission-control systems for diesel engines. New catalyst designs are needed to reduce the emission of nitrogen oxides, or NOx, because current technologies only work well at relatively high temperatures.

“The key challenge in reducing emissions is that they can occur over a very broad ...

Researchers team has developed inks made of graphene-like materials for inkjet printing. New black phosphorous inks are compatible with conventional inkjet printing techniques for optoelectronics and photonics. Credit: University of Cambridge

An international team has developed inks made of graphene-like materials for inkjet printing. New black phosphorus inks are compatible with conventional inkjet printing techniques for optoelectronics and photonics. Black phosphorus is a particularly interesting post-graphene nanomaterial for next generation devices. Yet despite remarkable performance in the lab, practical real-world exploitation of this material has been hindered by complex material fabrication and its poor environmental stability.

“Our inkjet printing demonstration makes possible for...

Self-healing rubber links permanent covalent bonds (red) with reversible hydrogen bonds (green). Credit: Image courtesy of Peter and Ryan Allen/Harvard SEAS

Potential applications include durable tires, wearable electronics, medical devices. Imagine a tire that could heal after being punctured or a rubber band that never snapped. Researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have developed a new type of rubber that is as tough as natural rubber but can also self-heal.

Self-healing materials aren’t new – researchers at SEAS have developed self-healing hydrogels, which rely on water to incorporate reversible bonds that can promote healing...

Candy cane supercapacitor. Credit: Stoyan Smoukov

Supercapacitors promise recharging of phones and other devices in seconds and minutes as opposed to hours for batteries. But current technologies are not usually flexible, have insufficient capacities, and for many their performance quickly degrades with charging cycles. Researchers at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) and University of Cambridge have found a way to improve all 3 problems in one stroke. Their prototyped polymer electrode, which resembles a candy cane achieves energy storage close to the theoretical limit, but also demonstrates flexibility and resilience to charge/discharge cycling.

The technique could be applied to many types of materials for supercapacitors and enable fast charging of mobile phones, smart clothes and ...