Category Technology/Electronics

Using a layer of molybdenum disulfide less than one nanometer thick, researchers in Rice University’s Thomann lab were able to design a system that absorbed more than 35 percent of incident light in the 400- to 700-nanometer wavelength range. Credit: Thomann Group/Rice University

Mechanics know molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) as a useful lubricant in aircraft and motorcycle engines and in the CV and universal joints of trucks and automobiles. Rice University researcher Isabell Thomann knows it as a remarkably light-absorbent substance that holds promise for the development of energy-efficient optoelectronic and photocatalytic devices.

“Basically, we want to understand how much light can be confined in an atomically thin semiconductor monolayer of MoS2,” said Assitant/Prof Thomann...

Schematic to display the mesoporous structures in wood where the cell walls are aligned vertically. After lignin is removed and the index-matching polymer is filled in, the thick (up to centimeter) piece of wood becomes a highly transparent structural material. b) Pictures to show that wood becomes highly transparent after the two steps.

Materials scientist Liangbing Hu and his team at the University of Maryland, College Park, have removed the molecule in wood, lignin, that makes it rigid and dark in color. They left behind the colorless cellulose cell structures, filled them with epoxy, and came up with a version of the wood that is mostly see-thru. “It can be used in automobiles when the wood is made both transparent and high strength.” said Dr. Mingwei Zhu...

Researchers at Oregon State University use new technology to control the formation and release of bubbles. Here that technology is illustrated with the letters “OSU” printed on a substrate. Credit: Image courtesy of Oregon State University

Engineers at Oregon State University have found a new way to induce and control boiling bubble formation, that may allow everything from industrial-sized boilers to advanced electronics to work better and last longer. The concept could be useful to either to boil water and create steam more readily, like in a boiler or a clothing iron; or with a product such as an electronics device to release heat more readily while working at a cooler temperature.

“One of the key limitations for electronic devices is the heat they generate, and something that helps dis...

Atomically thin TaS2 devices. (a) Ball and stick model of the crystal structure of the 2H polytype of TaS2. The dashed prism encloses the content of a single unit cell and the metal coordination geometry is highlighted by the red polyhedron. (b) Atomic force microscopy image of two devices fabricated on a 3.5-nm 2H-TaS2 flake. The scale bar is 4 μm in length. The full colour scale of the topograph corresponds to a height of 100 nm. (c) Line profile of the flake taken at the location of the white dotted line in b.

Uni of Valencia researchers show superconducting state can be maintained even when the material in question is reduced from 3 to 2 dimensions, making the efficiency gains needed for technologies like those underlying the frictionless train possible...