Category Chemistry/Nanotechnology

Researchers 3D Print lifelike Heart Valve Models

Model
Patient-specific organ models, which include integrated 3D-printed soft sensor arrays, are fabricated using specialized inks and a customized 3D printing process. Such models can be used in preparation for minimally invasive procedures to improve outcomes in thousands of patients worldwide. Credit: McAlpine Group, University of Minnesota

Organ model could improve surgical outcomes for thousands of patients worldwide. Researchers from the University of Minnesota, with support from Medtronic, have developed a groundbreaking process for multi-material 3D printing of lifelike models of the heart’s aortic valve and the surrounding structures that mimic the exact look and feel of a real patient.

These patient-specific organ models, which include 3D-printed soft sensor arrays integrated in...

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Wireless Device makes Clean Fuel from Sunlight, Carbon Dioxide and Water

Wireless device makes clean fuel from sunlight, CO2 and water
This device, developed by a team from the University of Cambridge, is a significant step toward achieving artificial photosynthesis – a process mimicking the ability of plants to convert sunlight into energy. It is based on an advanced ‘photosheet’ technology and converts sunlight, carbon dioxide and water into oxygen and formic acid – a storable fuel that can be either be used directly or be converted into hydrogen. Credit: University of Cambridge

Researchers have developed a standalone device that converts sunlight, carbon dioxide and water into a carbon-neutral fuel, without requiring any additional components or electricity.

The device, developed by a team from the University of Cambridge, is a significant step toward achieving artificial photosynthesis—a process mimicking the a...

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Quantum Materials quest could benefit from Graphene that buckles

Graphene buckling
Simulated mountain and valley landscape created by buckling in graphene. The bright linked dots are electrons that have slowed down and interact strongly. Image: Yuhang Jiang

Cooled graphene mimics effect of enormous magnetic fields that would benefit electronics. Graphene, an extremely thin two-dimensional layer of the graphite used in pencils, buckles when cooled while attached to a flat surface, resulting in beautiful pucker patterns that could benefit the search for novel quantum materials and superconductors, according to Rutgers-led research in the journal Nature.

Quantum materials host strongly interacting electrons with special properties, such as entangled trajectories, that could provide building blocks for super-fast quantum computers...

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Storing Energy in Red Bricks

smart brick

Chemists in Arts & Sciences have developed a method to make or modify “smart bricks” that can store energy until required for powering devices. (Image: D’Arcy laboratory)

Red bricks – some of the world’s cheapest and most familiar building materials – can be converted into energy storage units that can be charged to hold electricity, like a battery, according to new research from Washington University in St. Louis.

Brick has been used in walls and buildings for thousands of years, but rarely has been found fit for any other use. Now, chemists in Arts & Sciences have developed a method to make or modify “smart bricks” that can store energy until required for powering devices. A proof-of-concept published Aug...

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