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    Category Technology/Electronics

    Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs) are proving incredibly Flexible

    July 31, 2015, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics

    Over time, the zinc ions in MOF-5 (pink solutions) get replaced with cobalt ions, (blue solutions) demonstrating the dynamics of metal organic frameworks. Credit: American Chemical Society.

    Over time, the zinc ions in MOF-5 (pink solutions) get replaced with cobalt ions, (blue solutions) demonstrating the dynamics of metal organic frameworks. Credit: American Chemical Society.

    MOF’s have many potential apps: antimicrobial agents, H-storage materials and solar-cell components.

    Despite their rigid-sounding name, MOF structures are also dynamic – much more so than previously thought. This discovery could lead to the synthesis of brand-new types of materials. As the name implies, MOFs are composed of networks of organic (carbon-based) compounds interspersed with metal ions. Many different combinations of metals and organic components exist, but much of what we know about these systems comes from a zinc and benzene di-acid framework called MOF5...

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    Researchers create World’s Highest-Performance Single-Molecule Diode

    July 30, 2015, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics

    Major milestone in molecular electronics. Berkeley Lab and Columbia Uni team used a combination of gold electrodes and an ionic solution to create a single-molecule diode that outperforms the best of its predecessors by a factor of 50.

    “Using a single symmetric molecule, an ionic solution and two gold electrodes of dramatically different exposed surface areas, we were able to create a diode that resulted in a rectification ratio, the ratio of forward to reverse current at fixed voltage, in excess of 200, which is a record for single-molecule devices,” says Jeff Neaton, Director of the Molecular Foundry. “The asymmetry necessary for diode behavior originates with the different exposed electrode areas and the ionic solution,” he says...

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    World’s first White Lasers demonstrated

    July 30, 2015, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics

    This schematic illustrates the novel nanosheet with three parallel segments created by the researchers, each supporting laser action in one of three elementary colors. The device is capable of lasing in any visible color, completely tunable from red, green to blue, or any color in between. When the total field is collected, a white color emerges. Credit: ASU/Nature Nanotechnology

    This schematic illustrates the novel nanosheet with three parallel segments created by the researchers, each supporting laser action in one of three elementary colors. The device is capable of lasing in any visible color, completely tunable from red, green to blue, or any color in between. When the total field is collected, a white color emerges. Credit: ASU/Nature Nanotechnology

    More luminous, energy efficient than LEDs, white lasers look to be the future in lighting and Li-Fi, light-based wireless communication. Arizona State Uni researchers proved semiconductor lasers can emit over the full visible color spectrum: necessary to produce a white laser.

    They created a novel nanosheet – thin layer of semiconductor ~1/5 of the thickness of human hair in size -with 3 parallel segments, eac...

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    Twin discoveries, ‘Eerie’ Effect may lead to Manufacturing Advances

    July 28, 2015, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics

    This image, at left, shows a previously unknown type of metal deformation -- sinuous flow -- in which metal is deformed into folds while it is being cut. New research findings, in graph at right, reveal the cutting force can be reduced 50 percent simply by painting metal with a standard marking ink, suggesting that not only can energy consumption be reduced by 50 percent but also that machining metals can be achieved faster and more efficiently, and with improved surface quality. Credit: Purdue University image/ Ho Yeung and Koushik Viswanathan

    This image, at left, shows a previously unknown type of metal deformation — sinuous flow — in which metal is deformed into folds while it is being cut. New research findings, in graph at right, reveal the cutting force can be reduced 50 percent simply by painting metal with a standard marking ink, suggesting that not only can energy consumption be reduced by 50 percent but also that machining metals can be achieved faster and more efficiently, and with improved surface quality. Credit: Purdue University image/ Ho Yeung and Koushik Viswanathan

    Previously unknown type of metal deformation – sinuous flow – and a method to suppress could lead to more efficient machining and other manufacturing advances by reducing the force and energy required to process metals.

    Purdue team discovered the ph...

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