Category Chemistry/Nanotechnology

Graphene may be versatile, but there’s one thing it’s not all that good at – dispersing in water. Now, researchers at Umeå University have found a relatively simple way to do it. Graphene oxide is a different form of the material that can make for stable water dispersion, which can then be used as a kind of graphene paint.

Graphene is essentially a two-dimensional sheet of carbon atoms, arranged in a hexagonal pattern. This deceptively simple material has a range of useful properties – it’s incredibly lightweight, thin and flexible, but still strong. It’s also an excellent conductor of electricity and heat, so it’s turning up in everything from electronics to water filters to clothing.

Ideally, one useful way to get graphene into the right configurations could invol...

They say variety is the spice of life, and now new discoveries from Johns Hopkins researchers suggest that a certain elemental ‘variety’ – sulfur – is indeed a ‘spice’ that can perhaps point to signs of life.

These findings from the researchers’ lab simulations reveal that sulfur can significantly impact observations of far-flung planets beyond the solar system; the results have implications for the use of sulfur as a sign for extraterrestrial life, as well as affect how researchers should interpret data about planetary atmospheres.

A report of the findings was published today in Nature Astronomy...

Bacteria on nanowires convert sunlight, carbon dioxide and water to organic building blocks. Chemists have created a hybrid system of bacteria and nanowires that captures energy from sunlight and transfers it to the bacteria to turn carbon dioxide and water into organic molecules and oxygen. On Earth, such a biohybrid could remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. On Mars, it would provide colonists with raw material to manufacture organic compounds ranging from fuels to drugs...

The ‘best conversion performance in the world in a dark room’ is how the developers of a new organic PV device have described it. Such cells could be used as a wireless source of energy for IoT applications or in gadgets such as temperature-humidity and motion sensors.

Eight months ago, a state-funded French research institute and Japanese textiles company Toyobo announced they would join forces to develop superior organic solar cells for indoor applications. The partnership, the French organization said at the time, was aimed at developing thin, flexible solar cells which could function where conventional, inorganic solar cells could not.

The new energy technologies and nanomaterials (Liten) division of the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission and To...