Category Chemistry/Nanotechnology

The diamond in an anvil the scientists used to make nano-sized Lonsdaleite. Credit: Jamie Kidston, ANU

The Australian National University has led an international project to make a diamond that’s predicted to be harder than a jeweller’s diamond and useful for cutting through ultra-solid materials on mining sites. ANU A/Prof Jodie Bradby said her team and experts from RMIT, University of Sydney and United States — made nano-sized Lonsdaleite, a hexagonal diamond only found in nature at the site of meteorite impacts such as Canyon Diablo in the US.

“This new diamond is not going to be on any engagement rings. You’ll more likely find it on a mining site – but I still think that diamonds are a scientist’s best friend...

The structure of super-flexible LC device is created by ultra-thin plastic substrates bonded by polymer wall spacers.

Researchers at Tohoku University have developed a super flexible liquid crystal (LC) device, in which 2 ultra-thin plastic substrates are firmly bonded by polymer wall spacers. The team, led by Professor Hideo Fujikake and Associate Professor Takahiro Ishinabe of the School of Engineering, hopes the new organic materials will help make electronic displays and devices more flexible, increasing their portability and all round versatility. New usage concepts with flexibility and high quality display could offer endless possibilities in near-future information services.

Previous attempts to create a flexible display using an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) device with a th...

This foldable keyboard, created by Michigan State University engineer Nelson Sepulveda and his research team, operates by touch; no battery is needed. Sepulveda developed a new way to harvest energy from human motion using a pioneering device called a biocompatible ferroelectret nanogenerator, or FENG. Credit: Image courtesy of Michigan State University

The day of charging cellphones with finger swipes and powering Bluetooth headsets simply by walking is now much closer. Michigan State University engineering researchers have created a new way to harvest energy from human motion, using a film-like device that actually can be folded to create more power...

For the first time, a NIMS research team designed and fabricated single-component organic molecules that are conductive like metal under normal pressure, despite the fact that the molecules contain neither multiple molecules nor metal elements. Because the molecules are completely pure, they are more durable and stable compared to conventional chemically doped organic conductive materials. The new molecules may be applied to solar cell electrodes and touch panels.

Organic molecules consisting solely of light elements essentially do not have carriers by which an electric charge can pass through. As such, they are not high quality conductors...