Category Chemistry/Nanotechnology

Novel materials made with FDA-approved components could deliver large payloads of active ingredients. MIT chemical engineers have devised a new way to create very tiny droplets of one liquid suspended within another liquid, known as nanoemulsions. Such emulsions are similar to the mixture that forms when you shake an oil-and-vinegar salad dressing, but with much smaller droplets. Their tiny size allows them to remain stable for relatively long periods of time.

The researchers also found a way to easily convert the liquid nanoemulsions to a gel when they reach body temperature (37 degrees Celsius)...

Work resolves mystery and offers new path for light-emitting and other devices. Electrical engineers have reported solving a lingering question about how a 2D crystal composed of cesium, lead and bromine emitted a strong green light, opening the door to designing better light-emitting and diagnostic devices.

Crystals that produce light on the green spectrum are desirable because green light, while valuable in itself, can also be relatively easily converted to other forms that emit blue or red light, making it especially important for optical applic...

A research team has made a groundbreaking discovery in the quest to replace hydrofluorocarbons in refrigeration systems with natural refrigerants such as water and alcohol. Their study involved carrying-out a liquid-to-gas phase transition via a nanosponge, a soft, elastic material equipped with small nanopores less than 10 nanometers. Their findings could lead to more efficient refrigerants with a smaller carbon footprint.

Refrigeration systems are widely used in air conditioners and refrigerators. Conventional systems use hydrofluorocarbons as a refrigerant. However, hydrofluorocarbons are super pollutants. Their Global Warming Potential is about 1300 times higher than that of CO2.

The team of researcher...

Researchers have made a popular type of dye-sensitized solar cell (aromatic-fused porphyrin) more efficient by adjusting and updating their structure. The team report a series of adaptations with a power conversion efficiency of 10.7%, the highest yet for this kind of dye-sensitized solar cell, the most efficient solar technology available at present.

Current dye-sensitized solar cells are made up of a porous layer of titanium dioxide covered with a molecular dye. As sunlight is taken in, electrons are excited as they pass through, and are collected for power, before being ‘recycled’, reintroduced into the electrolyte and back to the dye molecule...