Category Technology/Electronics

Credit: Image courtesy of Technion – Israel Institute of Technology

Technion researchers have demonstrated, for the first time, that laser emissions can be created through the interaction of light and water waves. This “water-wave laser” could someday be used in tiny sensors that combine light waves, sound and water waves, or as a feature on microfluidic “lab-on-a-chip” devices used to study cell biology and to test new drug therapies. For now, the water-wave laser offers a “playground” for scientists studying the interaction of light and fluid at a scale smaller than the width of a human hair.

The study is the first bridge between two areas of research that were previously considered unrelated to one another: nonlinear optics and water waves...

As well as being the thinnest, strongest and lightest known material, graphene is flexible, impermeable and extremely electrically and thermally conductive. All properties well suited for next generation NFC antennas. Credit: Image courtesy of Graphene Flagship

Near-field communication (NFC) is a set of communication protocols that enables 2 electronic devices to transfer data. The most distinctive characteristic of NFC is the fact that it can transmit small amounts of data wireless only within a close range while other methods, such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, have a wide transmit range of up to 10 or even 100m. The reason why NFC technology is used to identify objects is that, with such a close transmitting range, it is more secure and less vulnerable to data hijacking...

Ketone (fluorenone) polymer can fix hydrogen via simple electrolytic hydrogenation in water at room temperature and release hydrogen when heated to 80 degrees C. Credit: Waseda University

Polymer addresses safety and energy loss. A Waseda University (Tokyo) research group has developed a polymer which can store hydrogen in a light, compact and flexible sheet, and is safe to touch even when filled with hydrogen gas. The conventional methods of storing and carrying hydrogen were accompanied by safety risks such as explosions. Recently, hydrogen-absorbing organic compounds have been studied as storage materials, for their ability to stably store and release hydrogen through chemical bonding...

The schematic image of molecular structure shows trapped gas (shown in green) in the nanospace of MOF/PCP. The materials acting like sponge capture, store, and release gas molecules. Credit: Copyright : Ryotaro MATSUDA

Prof. Ryotaro Matsuda, Nagoya University, and Prof. Susumu Kitagawa, Kyoto University, won the contest “Air Liquide Essential Molecules Challenge.” For the first edition of the challenge, their project was selected as 1 in 3 from a total of 130 scientific proposals submitted by academic teams, R&D departments, and start-ups from 25 countries.

Essential molecules, eg. O2, N2, C2H2, CO, CO2, NO, NO2, and/or noble gases, are fundamental resources for our cultural lives...