AI system to discover new materials without requiring additional training from scientists

When the words “artificial intelligence” (AI) come to mind, your first thoughts may be of super-smart computers, or robots that perform tasks without needing any help from humans. Now, a multi-institutional team including researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has accomplished something not too far off: They developed an AI algorithm Read more about AI system to discover new materials without requiring additional training from scientists[…]

Expanding the capacity of the internet

Researchers at CRANN and the School of Physics at Trinity College Dublin have discovered that a new material can act as a super-fast magnetic switch. When struck by successive ultra-short laser pulses it exhibits “toggle switching” that could increase the capacity of the global fibre optic cable network by an order of magnitude. Switching between Read more about Expanding the capacity of the internet[…]

Environmentally friendly and low cost flexible X-ray detectors

Florida State University researchers have developed a new material that could be used to make flexible X-ray detectors that are less harmful to the environment and cost less than existing technologies. The team led by Biwu Ma, a professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, created X-ray scintillators that use an environmentally friendly material. Read more about Environmentally friendly and low cost flexible X-ray detectors[…]

A new material to improve energy-efficient technologies

 A team of international physicists including Jennifer Cano, PhD, of Stony Brook University, has created a new material layered by two structures, forming a superlattice, that at a high temperature is a super-efficient insulator conducting current without dissipation and lost energy. The finding, detailed in a paper published in Nature Physics, could be the basis of Read more about A new material to improve energy-efficient technologies[…]

Microlattice material could save better sportives head injuries

HRL Laboratories, LLC, has published test results showing shock-absorbing pads made from HRL’s microlattice an architected elastomeric material had up to 27% more energy absorption efficiency than the current best-performing expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam when sustaining a single impact and up to 48% improved absorption efficiency over the state-of-the-art vinyl nitrile foam when impacted repeatedly. Read more about Microlattice material could save better sportives head injuries[…]

Electricity for the Internet of Things

Thermoelectric materials can convert heat into electrical energy. This is due to the so-called Seebeck effect: If there is a temperature difference between the two ends of such a material, electrical voltage can be generated and current can start to flow. The amount of electrical energy that can be generated at a given temperature difference Read more about Electricity for the Internet of Things[…]

Toshiba Develops Next-Generation Lithium-ion Battery with New Anode Material

Toshiba Corporation (TOKYO: 6502), an industry leader in lithium-ion battery technology, today announced the development of its next-generation SCiBTM, which uses a new material to double the capacity of the battery anode. The new battery offers high- energy density and the ultra-rapid recharging required for automotive applications, and will give a compact electric vehicle (EV) Read more about Toshiba Develops Next-Generation Lithium-ion Battery with New Anode Material[…]

Lithium-ion batteries research revolutionize portable electronics

The modern world relies on portable electronic devices such as smartphones, tablets, laptops, cameras or camcorders. Many of these devices are powered by lithium-ion batteries, which could be smaller, lighter, safer and more efficient if the liquid electrolytes they contain were replaced by solids. A promising candidate for a solid-state electrolyte is a new class Read more about Lithium-ion batteries research revolutionize portable electronics[…]

New carbon nitride material coupled with ruthenium enhances visible-light CO2 reduction in water

The research group at Tokyo Institute of Technology has found a hybrid photocatalyst exhibits specifically high activity for the reductive conversion reaction of carbon dioxide (CO2) to formic acid under visible light irradiation. With the on-going depletion of fossil fuels, the rise in greenhouse gases, the issue of how to make clean, safe and affordable Read more about New carbon nitride material coupled with ruthenium enhances visible-light CO2 reduction in water[…]

The deepest black and highest stretch reflective material

Athletic apparel designers have a new, high-performance reflective material from 3M™ Scotchlite™ Reflective Material available to them as they create activewear that can be worn from the conference room to the coffee shop to the bike path. The patented* C790 Carbon Black Stretch Transfer Film is a rich, deep black-colored material when viewed in daylight. Read more about The deepest black and highest stretch reflective material[…]

New nano-coating for space tech applications

Experimental physicists in the research group led by Professor Uwe Hartmann at Saarland University have developed a thin nanomaterial with superconducting properties. Below about -200 °C these materials conduct electricity without loss, levitate magnets and can screen magnetic fields. The particularly interesting aspect of this work is that the research team has succeeded in creating Read more about New nano-coating for space tech applications[…]

A flexible semiconductor for electronics, solar technology and photo catalysis

It is the double helix, with its stable and flexible structure of genetic information, that made life on Earth possible in the first place. Now a team from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has discovered a double helix structure in an inorganic material. The material comprising tin, iodine and phosphorus is a semiconductor with Read more about A flexible semiconductor for electronics, solar technology and photo catalysis[…]