Category Physics

When exposed to sunlight, star-shaped gold nanoparticles coated with a semiconductor allow efficient production of hydrogen from water. Credit: Ashley Pennington/Rutgers University-New Brunswick

Rutgers study opens door to broader use of sunlight and advanced materials to combat climate change. Star-shaped gold nanoparticles, coated with a semiconductor, can produce hydrogen from water over 4X more efficiently than other methods – opening the door to improved storage of solar energy and other advances that could boost renewable energy use and combat climate change, according to Rutgers University-New Brunswick researchers.

“Instead of using ultraviolet light, which is the standard practice, we leveraged the energy of visible and infrared light to excite electrons in gold nanoparticles,” sa...

Photo shows PandaX, a xenon-based detector in China.
Credit: PandaX.

An international team of scientists that includes University of California, Riverside, physicist Hai-Bo Yu has imposed conditions on how dark matter may interact with ordinary matter – constraints that can help identify the elusive dark matter particle and detect it on Earth.

Dark matter – nonluminous material in space – is understood to constitute 85% of the matter in the universe. Unlike normal matter, it does not absorb, reflect, or emit light, making it difficult to detect. Physicists are certain dark matter exists, having inferred this existence from the gravitational effect dark matter has on visible matter. What they are less certain of is how dark matter interacts with ordinary matter – or even if it does.

In the s...

Spontaneous spikes being similar to nerve impulses of neurons was generated from a POM/CNT complexed network. Credit: Osaka University

Molecular/carbon nanotube network devices enable artificial spiking neurons that mimic nerve impulse generation. Researchers have created extremely dense, random SWNT/ POM network molecular neuromorphic devices, generating spontaneous spikes similar to nerve impulses of neurons. They conducted simulation calculations of the random molecular network model complexed with POM molecules, which are able to store electric charges, replicating spikes generated from ] random molecular network. They also demonstrated that this molecular model would very likely become a component of reservoir computing devices...

Researchers created nanomaterial-based white LEDs that exhibit a record high efficiency thanks to quantum dots that are suspended in solution rather than embedded in a solid. The new LEDs could offer an energy-efficient lighting source for homes, offices and televisions.
Credit: Sedat Nizamoglu, Koç University

Novel approach to white LEDs could lead to more energy-efficient lighting. Researchers have demonstrated nanomaterial-based white-light-emitting diodes (LEDs) that exhibit a record luminous efficiency of 105 lumens per watt. Luminous efficiency is a measure of how well a light source uses power to generate light...