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    Category Technology/Electronics

    Scientists just made it Cheaper to Produce Hydrogen from Water

    June 27, 2016, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics, Chemistry/Nanotechnology

    Electrocatalytic water splitting is about to get less costly, thanks to research at KTH Royal Institute of Technology. Credit: Image courtesy of KTH The Royal Institute of Technology

    Electrocatalytic water splitting is about to get less costly, thanks to research at KTH Royal Institute of Technology. Credit: Image courtesy of KTH The Royal Institute of Technology

    A hydrogen-fuel economy could finally become a reality with the recent discovery of a cheap, stable and efficient means of getting hydrogen from water. Scientists at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm have unlocked one major barrier to exploiting this renewable energy source. Because the best-performing catalysts for electrochemical oxidation, or “water splitting,” are expensive precious metals, the team led by KTH Professor Licheng Sun is one of many worldwide searching for cheaper alternatives. Sun had earlier developed molecular catalysts for water oxidation (Nature Chem...

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    This Message will Self-Destruct

    June 27, 2016, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics

    A new electron-beam (e-beam) technique adds carbon atoms to two-dimensional graphene, the equivalent of “writing” on the surface and controlling the electronic properties at the nanoscale. These electronic properties change over time, which could allow a device to function one way now and another way later – allowing the original information to “disappear.” The schematic shows the ability to draw an electron-rich carbon region (black rectangle labeled “FEBID Carbon”). Carbon deposition is induced near the e-beam and controlled by an electron dose. The atomic force microscopy image of the junction between the graphene domains shows an electron-rich, carbon-enhanced region (left) and electron-deficient region (right). Such a nanoscale junction between domains with different electronic properties could control how a device functions.

    A new electron-beam (e-beam) technique adds carbon atoms to two-dimensional graphene, the equivalent of “writing” on the surface and controlling the electronic properties at the nanoscale. These electronic properties change over time, which could allow a device to function one way now and another way later – allowing the original information to “disappear.” The schematic shows the ability to draw an electron-rich carbon region (black rectangle labeled “FEBID Carbon”). Carbon deposition is induced near the e-beam and controlled by an electron dose. The atomic force microscopy image of the junction between the graphene domains shows an electron-rich, carbon-enhanced region (left) and electron-deficient region (right)...

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    Ultrathin, Flat Lens resolves Chirality and Color

    June 24, 2016, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics

    Imaging with the multispectral chiral lens forms two images of the beetle, Chrysina gloriosa, on the color camera. The left image was formed by focusing left-circularly polarized light reflected from the beetle and the right image was formed from right-circularly polarized light. The left-handed chirality of the beetle's shell can clearly be seen. Credit: Image courtesy of the Capasso Lab/Harvard SEAS

    Imaging with the multispectral chiral lens forms two images of the beetle, Chrysina gloriosa, on the color camera. The left image was formed by focusing left-circularly polarized light reflected from the beetle and the right image was formed from right-circularly polarized light. The left-handed chirality of the beetle’s shell can clearly be seen. Credit: Image courtesy of the Capasso Lab/Harvard SEAS

    Multifunctional lens could replace bulky, expensive machines. Many things in the natural world are geometrically chiral, ie they cannot be superimposed onto their mirror image. Think hands – right and left hands are mirror images but if you transplanted a right hand onto a left, you’d be in trouble. Certain molecules are chiral, including DNA and amino acids.

    Image of optical fiber (pumped with braodband light) formed by Multispectral Chiral Lens (Image courtesy of the Capasso Lab/Harvard SEAS)

    Image of optical fiber (pumped wi...

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    ‘Flower Power’: Photovoltaic cells replicate Rose Petals

    June 24, 2016, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics, Chemistry/Nanotechnology, Biology/Biotechnology

    Biomimetics: the epidermis of a rose petal is replicated in a transparent layer which is then integrated into the front of a solar cell. Credit: Illustration: Guillaume Gomard, KIT

    Biomimetics: the epidermis of a rose petal is replicated in a transparent layer which is then integrated into the front of a solar cell. Credit: Illustration: Guillaume Gomard, KIT

    Scientists increase the efficiency of solar cells by replicating the structure of petals. With a surface resembling that of plants, solar cells improve light-harvesting and thus generate more power. Scientists of KIT reproduced the epidermal cells of rose petals that have particularly good antireflection properties and integrated the transparent replicas into an organic solar cell. This resulted in a relative efficiency gain of 12%.

    Photovoltaics works in a similar way as the photosynthesis of plants...

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