Category Technology/Electronics

A molybdenum 3-atoms-thick selective membrane. Credit: © Steven Duensing / National Center for Supercomputing Applications, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Proponents of clean energy will soon have a new source to add to their existing array of solar, wind, and hydropower: osmotic power. Or more specifically, energy generated by a natural phenomenon occurring when fresh water comes into contact with seawater through a membrane. Researchers at EPFL’s Laboratory of Nanoscale Biology have developed an osmotic power generation system that delivers never-before-seen yields. Their innovation lies in a 3 atoms thick membrane used to separate the 2 fluids.

The concept is fairly simple. A semipermeable membrane separates 2 fluids with different salt concentrations...

Quantum-confined bandgap narrowing mechanism through which the absorption of two UV absorbers, namely the graphene quantum dots (GQDs) and TiO2 nanoparticles, can be easily extended into the visible light range in a controllable manner. Such a mechanism may be of great importance for light harvesting, photocatalysis and optoelectronics.

For the 1st time resesarchers have found a quantum-confined bandgap narrowing mechanism where UV absorption of the graphene quantum dots and TiO2 nanoparticles can easily be extended into the visible light range. Such a mechanism may allow the design of a new class of composite materials for light harvesting and optoelectronics...

This reproduction of The Starry Night contains 65,536 glowing pixels and is just the width of a dime across. Credit: Paul Rothemund and Ashwin Gopinath/Caltech

A hurdle for large-scale integration of molecular devices on chips has been removed by a technique that allows humanmade DNA shapes to be placed wherever desired, to within a margin of error of just 20nm. Using folded DNA to precisely place glowing molecules within microscopic light resonators, researchers at Caltech have created one of the world’s smallest reproductions of Vincent van Gogh’s The Starry Night...

A thermal probe tests heat conductance in a sample of silicon dioxide nanoparticles. The material could potentially conduct heat at an efficiency higher than that of conventional materials. Credit: Rob Felt, Georgia Tech

Not beach sand, but silicon dioxide nanoparticles coated with a high dielectric constant polymer can inexpensively provide improved cooling for increasingly power-hungry electronic devices. The silicon dioxide doesn’t do the cooling itself. Instead, the unique surface properties of the coated nanoscale material conduct the heat at potentially higher efficiency than existing heat sink materials. The theoretical physics is complicated, involving nanoscale electromagnetic effects created on the surface of the tiny silicon dioxide particles acting together.

The bottom line cou...