Category Chemistry/Nanotechnology

Electrocatalytic water splitting is about to get less costly, thanks to research at KTH Royal Institute of Technology. Credit: Image courtesy of KTH The Royal Institute of Technology

A hydrogen-fuel economy could finally become a reality with the recent discovery of a cheap, stable and efficient means of getting hydrogen from water. Scientists at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm have unlocked one major barrier to exploiting this renewable energy source. Because the best-performing catalysts for electrochemical oxidation, or “water splitting,” are expensive precious metals, the team led by KTH Professor Licheng Sun is one of many worldwide searching for cheaper alternatives. Sun had earlier developed molecular catalysts for water oxidation (Nature Chem...

The construction sector seeks economic and ecological cement replacement materials in order to meet an increasing demand for concrete. Copyright : Dmitry Kalinovsky

Dried sewage sludge could be recycled by adding it to cement to make concrete. Disposing sludge left over from treating sewage water is a major challenge for wastewater plants in Malaysia. While studies show that the volume of sludge is expected to rise, disposal options are limited due to strict environmental regulations, including a ban on burying sludge in soil due to its high heavy metal content. Meanwhile, the construction sector seeks economic and ecological cement replacement materials in order to meet an increasing demand for concrete.

Researchers from Universiti Teknologi MARA investigated the potential to replace vari...

Biomimetics: the epidermis of a rose petal is replicated in a transparent layer which is then integrated into the front of a solar cell. Credit: Illustration: Guillaume Gomard, KIT

Scientists increase the efficiency of solar cells by replicating the structure of petals. With a surface resembling that of plants, solar cells improve light-harvesting and thus generate more power. Scientists of KIT reproduced the epidermal cells of rose petals that have particularly good antireflection properties and integrated the transparent replicas into an organic solar cell. This resulted in a relative efficiency gain of 12%.

Photovoltaics works in a similar way as the photosynthesis of plants...

GraphExeter is a material adapted from the ‘wonder material’ graphene.

Exeter researchers have substantially improved the effectiveness of large, flat, flexible lighting via GraphExeter – a material adapted from the ‘wonder material’ graphene. By using GraphExeter, the most transparent, lightweight and flexible material for conducting electricity, instead of pure graphene, the team have increased the brightness of flexible lights by up to almost 50%. The research has also shown GraphExeter makes the lights 30% more efficient than existing examples of flexible lighting, based on state-of-the-art commercial polymers.

The research team believe the breakthrough could help significantly improve the viability of the next generation of flexible screens, which could be used for display screens...