low cost tagged posts

Re-engineered device offers clinically accurate eye scans at a fraction of the cost. Biomedical engineers at Duke University have developed a low-cost, portable optical coherence tomography (OCT) scanner that promises to bring the vision-saving technology to underserved regions throughout the United States and abroad.

Thanks to a redesigned, 3D-printed spectrometer, the scanner is 15 times lighter and smaller than current commercial systems and is made from parts costing less than a tenth the retail price of commercial systems – all without sacrificing imaging quality.

In its first cl...

Schematic illustration of single-atom catalyst anchored on porous carbon.
Credit: WSU

Researchers at Washington State University have developed a new way to make low-cost, single-atom catalysts for fuel cells – an advance that could make important clean energy technology more economically viable. Hydrogen fuel cells are critical for the clean energy economy as they are more than two times as efficient at creating electricity than polluting combustion engines. Their only waste product is water.

However, the high price of the platinum-based catalysts that are used for the chemical reaction in fuel cells significantly hinders their commercialization. Instead of the rare platinum, researchers would like to use nonprecious metals, such as iron or cobalt...

The potential of this discovery in terms of reducing energy use and therefore our energy bills is really exciting. Dr Lidija Šiller, joint lead author, Newcastle University

Experts have created a new form of highly-efficient, low-cost, sustainable insulation based on the wings of a dragonfly. The material, known as an aerogel, is the most porous material known to man and ultralight, with a piece the size of a family car weighing less than a kilogram. Starting out as a wet silica gel, similar in structure to jelly, the material is carefully dried to create a strong, porous material...

In the long-range backscatter system developed by UW researchers, this sensor allows devices that run on extremely low power for the first time to communicate over long distances.. Credit: Dennis Wise/University of Washington

University of Washington researchers have demonstrated for the first time that devices that run on almost zero power can transmit data across distances of up to 2.8 km—breaking a long-held barrier and potentially enabling a vast array of interconnected devices. Eg, flexible electronics. But today’s flexible electronics and other sensors that can’t employ bulky batteries and need to operate with very low power typically can’t communicate with other devices more than a few feet or meters away...