Category Chemistry/Nanotechnology

Recycling of electric car batteries can be easier, cheaper, and more environmentally friendly, according to a new scientific article from Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, which outlines an optimised recycling process. The research, published in the journal Waste Management, has been carried out by some of the world’s foremost experts in the field, and represents a vital step towards the electromobility society of the future.

As the use of electric vehicles (EVs) increases, recycling and recovery processes for EV batteries and the critical raw metals used in their production are becoming an increasingly important area of research...

Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have succeeded in developing a simple hydrocarbon molecule with a logic gate function, similar to that in transistors, in a single molecule. The discovery could make electric components on a molecular scale possible in the future. The results are published in Nature Communications.

Manufacturing very small components is an important challenge in both research and development. One example is transistors – the smaller they are, the faster and more energy efficient our computers become...

ETH Zurich researchers have created artificial colors by 3D printing certain nanostructures inspired by those of a butterfly. This principle can be used in the future to produce color screens.

For their new technology, scientists in the group of Andrew deMello, Professor of Biochemical Engineering, drew inspiration from butterflies. The wings of the species Cynandra opis, native to tropical Africa, are decorated with brilliant colors. These are produced by extremely intricate regular surface structures in the size range of the wavelength of visible light...

Scientists at The University of Manchester and The University of Glasgow have today provided more insight into the possibility of establishing a pathway to generate oxygen for humans to potentially call the Moon or Mars ‘home’ for extended periods of time.

Creating a reliable source of oxygen could help humanity establish liveable habitats off-Earth in an era where space travel is more achievable than ever before. Electrolysis is a popular potential method which involves passing electricity through a chemical system to drive a reaction and can be used to extract oxygen out of lunar rocks or to split water into hydrogen and oxygen...