Category Technology/Electronics

This image illustrates changes in photocurrent before and after exposure to UV light. Persistent photoconductivity is demonstrated even hours after the UV light has been turned off. This is illustrated by the pictograms showing charge carriers that come into contact with cells at the interface during in vitro experiments. Credit: Albena Ivanisevic

Researchers have developed a new approach for manipulating the behavior of cells on semiconductor materials, using light to alter the conductivity of the material itself. Albena Ivanisevic, a professor of materials science and engineering at NC Stat said: “Our work here effectively adds another tool to the toolbox for the development of new bioelectronic devices.” The new approach uses a phenomenon called persistent photoconductivity...

Shape Memory Superelastic Poly(isocyanurate-urethane) Aerogels (PIR-PUR) for Deployable Panels and Biomimetic Applications

Polymeric aerogels are nanoporous structures that combine some of the most desirable characteristics of materials, eg. flexibility and mechanical strength. It is nearly impossible to improve on a substance considered the final frontier in lightweight materials. But chemists from Missouri University of Science and Technology have done just that by making aerogels that have rubber-like elasticity and can “remember” their original shapes.

Aerogels are created by replacing liquids with gases in a silica, metal oxide or polymer gel. They are used in a wide variety of products, from insulation of offshore oil pipelines to NASA space missions...

3-dimensional microstructures can be written using a laser, erased, and rewritten. Credit: KIT

3D printing by direct laser writing produces micrometer-sized structures with precisely defined properties. Researchers of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have now developed a method to erase the ink used for 3D printing. In this way, the small structures of up to 100 nm in size can be erased and rewritten repeatedly. This development opens up many new applications of 3D fabrication in biology or materials sciences, for instance.

Direct laser writing means that a computer-controlled, focused laser beam generates the structure in a photoresist similar to a pen...

With the new infrared 3D scanner, people can be measured without disturbing projections. Credit: Image courtesy of Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft

Infrared 3D scanners have been used in video games for quite some time. Whereas in video games the scanners are, for example, only able to identify if a player throws his arms up in the air while playing virtual volleyball, the new 3D scanner of Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering is able to be much more precise. With a resolution of 1 million pixels and real-time data processing, numerous applications are possible with this new device.

“The measuring technology works in a similar way to human vision. However, instead of 2 eyes we are using 2 near-infrared cameras,” Stefan Heist from Fraunhofer IOF explains...