Category Technology/Electronics

This is especially in situations where the water is in the form of vapor or tiny droplets. Enhancing the mobility of liquid droplets on rough surfaces has applications ranging from condensation heat transfer for heat exchangers in power plants to more efficient water harvesting in arid regions where collecting fog droplets on coated meshes provides drinking water and irrigation for agriculture to the prevention of icing and frosting on aircraft wings.

“This represents a fundamentally new concept in engineered surfaces,” said Assistant Prof Tak-Sing Wong. “Our surfaces combine the unique surface architectures of lotus leaves and pitcher plants, in such a way that these surfaces possess both high surface area and a slippery interface to enhance droplet collection and mobility...

Schematic diagrams depicting the conformation of amphipathic binaphthyl and its molecular deformation caused by compression at the air-water interface. a) Pliers representing amphipathic binaphthyl (left), chemical formula of amphipathic binaphthyl (center), and three-dimensional conformation of amphipathic binaphthyl. b) and c) Schematic representation of compressed and expanded amphipathic binaphthyl molecules that are arranged in a line at the air-water interface. These forces cause conformational change similar to opening and closing pliers. Credit: Copyright NIMS

It takes advantage of the property that molecular machines aggregate on the surface of water and  will contribute to development of basic technology for operation of various molecular machines in sensors and other types of de...

Light waves trapped on a metal’s surface, ie surface plasmons, travel farther than expected, up to 250 microns from the source. While this distance is just 1-100th of an inch, it is far enough to possibly be useful in ultra-fast electronic circuits. Scientists captured the surface plasmons’ travel on video. Future computer circuits could use this phenomenon as interconnects.

Specially designed, extremely small metal structures can trap light. Once trapped, the light becomes a confined wave known as a surface plasmon. The plasmons can propagate almost as fast as light through the air.

Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory experimentally showcased the unique ability to study a surface plasmon...

“It can potentially revolutionize lighting technology,” said Assistant Professor of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering Zhibin Yu. “In general, the cost of LED lighting has been a big concern thus far. Energy savings have not balanced out high costs. This could change that.”

Yu developed this new LED technology using a combination of organic and inorganic materials. The material, which dissolves and can be applied like paint, shines a blue, green or red light and can be used to make a light bulb. But what makes it really special is that it’s far simpler to manufacture than existing products on the market.

Most LED materials require engineers to put 4 or 5 layers of material on top of each other to create the desired product or effect. Yu’s material only requires 1 layer.

The res...