Category Technology/Electronics

Circularly polarized light passed through silicon nanorods creates a multilayer image. Lower right inset: SEM image of the material. Credit: WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim

Silicon holograms harness the full visible spectrum to bring holographic projections one step closer. We can’t yet send holographic videos to Obi-Wan Kenobi on our droid, but researchers at A*STAR, Singapore, have got us a little bit closer by creating holograms from an array of silicon structures that work throughout the visible spectrum.

Many recent advances in hologram technology use reflected light to form an image; however the hologram made by Dong Zhaogang and Joel Yang from the A*STAR Institute of Materials Research and Engineering uses transmitted light...

Photon upconversion: Energy transfer between the molecules is based on electron exchange (Dexter electron transfer). Credit: Illustration: Michael Oldenburg

The upconversion of photons allows for a more efficient use of light: 2 photons are converted into a single photon having higher energy. Researchers at KIT now showed for the first time that the inner interfaces between surface-mounted metal-organic frameworks (SURMOFs) are suited perfectly for this purpose – they turned green light blue. The result opens up new opportunities for optoelectronic applications such as solar cells or LEDs.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are highly ordered molecular systems that consist of metallic clusters and organic ligands...

Wearable personal cloud graphic. Credit: Image courtesy of University of Alabama at Birmingham

A wearable cloud make the design of mobile and wearable devices simple, inexpensive and lightweight by having mobile device users tap into the resources of the wearable cloud, instead of relying solely on the capabilities of their mobile hardware. Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham are exploring the concept of a wearable personal cloud – a fully functioning, yet compact and lightweight cloud computing system embedded into clothing.

Assistant Prof Ragib Hasan, Ph.D and postdoc grad Rasib Khan, Ph...

Modeling how methanol interacts with platinum catalysts inside fuel cells in realistic environments becomes even more complicated because distances between the atoms can change as molecules dance near the charged surface. Credit: Manos Mavrikakis

Using a unique combination of advanced computational methods, University of Wisconsin-Madison chemical engineers have demystified some of the complex catalytic chemistry in fuel cells – an advance that brings cost-effective fuel cells closer to reality. “Understanding reaction mechanisms is the first step toward eventually replacing expensive platinum in fuel cells with a cheaper material,” says Prof. Manos Mavrikakis.

Fuel cells generate electricity by combining electrons and protons — provided by a chemical fuel such as methanol – with oxygen fr...