Category Technology/Electronics

Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboraotry are creating double-pane solar windows that generate electricity with greater efficiency and also create shading and insulation. It’s all made possible by a new window architecture which utilizes two different layers of low-cost quantum dots tuned to absorb different parts of the solar spectrum. The approach complements existing photovoltaic technology by adding high-efficiency sunlight collectors to existing solar panels or integrating them as semitransparent windows into a building’s architecture.

Using two types of “designer” quantum dots, researchers are creating double-pane solar windows that generate electricity with greater efficiency and create shading and insulation for good measure...

This flat metalens is the first single lens that can focus the entire visible spectrum of light — including white light — in the same spot and in high resolution. It uses arrays of titanium dioxide nanofins to equally focus wavelengths of light and eliminate chromatic aberration. Credit: Jared Sisler/Harvard SEAS

Metalenses—flat surfaces that use nanostructures to focus light—promise to revolutionize optics by replacing the bulky, curved lenses currently used in optical devices with a simple, flat surface. But, these metalenses have remained limited in the spectrum of light they can focus well. Now a team of researchers at the Harvard John A...

Figure 1. (a) Three-dimensional crystal structure of YbSi2, (b) view along the a-axis, and (c) along the c-axis. (© 2017 Kurosaki et al. Phys. Status Solidi RRL 2017, 1700372. doi: 10.1002/pssr.201700372)

Researchers create a thermoelectric material (ytterbium silicide) with a high power factor at room temperature. TE materials display the thermoelectric effect: apply heat on one side, and an electric current starts to flow. Conversely, run an external current through the device, and a temperature gradient forms; i.e., one side becomes hotter than the other. By interconverting heat and electricity, TE materials can be used as either power generators (given a heat source) or refrigerators (given a power supply).

The ideal TE material combines high electrical conductivity, allowing the curr...

The economic impact of SOEC, developed by Professor Guntae Kim in September, 2016. Credit: UNIST

A joint research team, affiliated with UNIST has introduced the Hybrid-Solid Electrolysis Cell (Hybrid-SOEC) system with highest reported electrochemical performance in hydrogen production. The proposed system has attracted much attention as a new promising option for the cost-effective and highly-efficient hydrogen production, as it shows excellent performance compared with other water-electrolysis systems.

A solid oxide electrolyzer cell (SOEC) consists of two electrodes and an electrolyte that are all in solid-state. They are strongly desired as novel candidates for the hydrogen production, as they require no need to replenish lost electrolytes, while eliminating the corrosion problems...