moisture tagged posts

Mr. Zafer Hawash setting up the hanging mercury drop electrode system for conductivity measurement. Credit: Image courtesy of Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University – OIST

Researchers have clarified the relationship between air exposure and enhanced electric proprieties in perovskite solar cells. Perovskite solar cells are the rising star in the photovoltaic landscape. Since their invention, <10 years ago, their efficiency has doubled twice and it is now over 22% – an astonishing result in the renewable energy sector. Taking the name ‘perovskite’ from the light-harvesting layer that characterizes them, these solar cells are lighter, cheaper, and more flexible than the traditional crystalline silicon-based cells.

Perovskite solar cells are usually exposed to ambient...

It’s surface changes appearance automatically when exposed to water, whether directly, or via humidity. Pinecones open when dry and close when wet, to provide optimal conditions for spreading seeds. They do so by simply reacting to water—it seeps into the woody leaves (microsporophylls) and causes them to droop. Inspired by this simple process, student Chao Chen of the Royal College of Art in London dissected cones to see how they were put together and then used what he learned to create objects or coverings.

He has created an artificial pinecone, a wall hanging (or covering) that self-modifies when it gets wet to reveal artful coloring, an overhang that allows light to pass through when the sun is shining, but closes when it rains to keep those underneath dry and a strip for insert...