Category Technology/Electronics

NUS Engineering researchers developed a novel air cooling technology that could redefine the future of air-conditioning.

All-weather friendly cooling technology works without mechanical compressors or chemical refrigerants, and generates drinking water. A team of researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) has pioneered a new water-based air-conditioning system that cools air to as low as 18C without the use of energy-intensive compressors and environmentally harmful refrigerants. This game-changing technology could potentially replace the century-old air-cooling principle that is still being used in our modern-day air-conditioners. Suitable for both indoor and outdoor use, the novel system is portable and it can also be customised for all types of weather conditions.

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HASEL actuators can be designed as soft grippers to handle and manipulate delicate objects, like this raspberry. Credit: Keplinger Lab / University of Colorado Boulder

A new class of soft, electrically activated devices mimics the expansion and contraction of natural muscles. These devices, which can be constructed from a wide range of low-cost materials, are able to self-sense their movements and self-heal from electrical damage, representing a major advance in soft robotics. Such soft robots contain tremendous potential for future applications as they adapt to dynamic environments and are well-suited to closely interact with humans.

A central challenge in this field known as “soft robotics” is a lack of actuators or “artificial muscles” that can replicate the versatility and performance ...

Simulations by Rice University scientists show how carbon nanomaterials may be optimized to replace expensive platinum in cathodes for electricity-generating fuel cells for transportation and other applications. Credit: Yakobson Research Group/Rice University

Simulations by scientists show how carbon nanomaterials may be optimized to replace expensive platinum in cathodes for electricity-generating fuel cells. Nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes, CNTs, or modified graphene nanoribbons may be suitable replacements for platinum for fast O2 reduction, the key reaction in fuel cells that transform chemical energy into electricity, according to Rice University researchers. Their study reveals the atom-level mechanisms by which doped nanomaterials catalyze oxygen reduction reactions (ORR).

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This is a closer look at the target of frozen solution that contains the building blocks for the solar cell material. Credit: E. Tomas Barraza

Delicate hybrid organic-inorganic crystals open new possibilities for light-based technologies. Materials scientists at Duke University have developed a method to create hybrid thin-film materials that would otherwise be difficult or impossible to make. The technique could be the gateway to new generations of solar cells, LEDs and photodetectors.

Perovskites are a class of materials that – with the right combination of elements – have a crystalline structure that makes them particularly well-suited for light-based applications...