Category Chemistry/Nanotechnology

CWRU chemists developed a space-saving method to store digital data optically, using four-symbol, or quaternary code. The four symbols are the absence of color and three colors — fluorescent green, ultramarine and cyan — produced when dyes contained in a common polymer are exposed to heat, ultraviolet light or both. Credit: Emily Pentzer

Chemists at Case Western Reserve University have found a way to possibly store digital data in half the space current systems require. From supercomputers to smartphones, the amount of data people generate and collect continues to grow exponentially, and the need to store all that information grows with it. To reduce storage space, engineers have traditionally used existing technology but made it smaller...

400 kilometres above the ground, in the ISS space station, you can’t just stick your head out the window and breathe fresh air, if harmful gases should leak into the indoor environment of NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson and her colleagues. Now, Norwegian and German technologists are developing new and fast working technology for monitoring the indoor air in the space station. Credit: NASA

How do we prevent astronauts in space from inhaling hazardous gases? A German-Norwegian hi-tech optical gas sensor provides a solution. “Astronauts must receive early warnings if harmful or unpleasant gases get mixed in with their breathing air,” says Senior Scientist Atle Honne at SINTEF. “Because in space you can’t just open a window to ventilate the room,” he says.

As a child he read everything he could l...

1. Laser sintering was used to 3-D print objects made of graphene foam, a 3-D version of atomically thin graphene. At left is a photo of a fingertip-sized cube of graphene foam; at right is a close-up of the material as seen with a scanning electron microscope. (Image courtesy of Tour Group/Rice University)
2.3-D graphene foam objects are produced by shining a laser on a mixture of powdered sugar and nickel powder. The laser is moved back and forth to melt sugar in a 2-D pattern, and nickel acts as a catalyst to spur the growth of graphene foam. The process is repeated with successive layers of powder to build up 3-D objects. (Image courtesy of Tour Group/Rice University)

Nanotechnologists from Rice University and China’s Tianjin University have used 3D laser printing to fabricate centimete...

Biomimetic Architectured Graphene Aerogel with Exceptional Strength and Resilience

Versatile, light-weight materials that are both strong and resilient are crucial for the development of flexible electronics, such as bendable tablets and wearable sensors. Aerogels are good candidates for such applications, but until now, it’s been difficult to make them with both properties. Now, researchers report in ACS Nano that mimicking the structure of the “powdery alligator-flag” plant has enabled them to make a graphene-based aerogel that meets these needs.

Aerogels are light, porous materials that are already used in many applications, such as pollution control and insulation...