Category Technology/Electronics

Salt crystals which can be turned into polyimide. Credit: Image courtesy of Vienna University of Technology, TU Vienna

Using a new synthesis procedure developed at TU Wien, it is now possible to produce the extremely resistant material polyimide in the form of angular particles for the first time. Polyimides withstand extreme heat and chemically aggressive solvents, while being considerably less dense than metals. That is why they are very popular in industry, for example as an insulation layer on PCBs or in aerospace applications. However, it is precisely their high stability, which makes polyimides very difficult to process. Neither melting nor etching can be used to bring them into the correct shape.

“Small plastic particles are usually obtained as spherical objects,” says Miriam Unter...

Schematic representation of printer and ultrasonic manipulation rig. (a) Switchable laser module is attached to the print head carriage, and traces out the shape of the printed part. The laser can be deliberately defocused to cure large regions slowly by increasing the height of the laser module. (b) Focused laser beam cures resin within the cavity of the ultrasonic manipulation device. P = PMMA, W = Water, PZT = lead zirconate titanate transducers, R = spot-a low Viscosity photocurable resin. Cross sections of the bundles of fibres lying within traps are shown, and are separated by half a wavelength.

An engineering team has developed a new type of 3D printing that can print composite materials, which are used in many high performance products eg tennis rackets, golf clubs and airplane...

A new Method for converting solar energy into electrical power using photo-bioelectrochemical cells. Credit: Image courtesy Prof. Itamar Willner

In the natural photosynthetic apparatus, photosynthetic reaction is coupled to biocatalytic transformations leading to CO2 fixation and O2 evolution. Although significant progress has been achieved in the integration of native photosystems with electrodes for light-to-electrical energy conversion, the conjugation of the photosystems to enzymes to yield photo-bioelectrocatalytic solar cells remains a challenge.

The photo-bioelectrochemical cells use glucose oxidase or glucose dehydrogenase and modified integrated electrodes that include the natural photosynthetic reaction center, known as photosystem I, conjugated to these enzymes...

This prototype bicycle helmet will protect your head with a biodegradable and renewable alternative to hazardous Styrofoam. The shock-absorbing foam material inside was developed at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, and it is one of the key features of an entirely wood-sourced helmet. Credit: Cellutech

We may soon be saying goodbye to polystyrene, the petroleum-based material that is used to make Styrofoam. In what looks like an ordinary bicycle helmet, designers have replaced Styrofoam with a new shock-absorbing material made with renewable and biodegradable wood-based material.

Researcher Lars Wågberg, a professor in Fibre Technology at Stockholm’s KTH Royal Institute of Technology, says the wood-based foam material Cellufoam offers comparable properties to Styrofoam.

The helmet was pr...