Our hunger for energy is insatiable, it even continues to rise with the increasing supply of new electronic gadgets. What’s more, we are almost always on the move and thus permanently dependent on a power supply to recharge our smartphones, tablets and laptops. In the future, power sockets (at least for this purpose) could possibly Read more about Ready-to-wear solar cells[…]
Empa researchers have achieved a milestone in the search for a solid electrolyte, the conductive medium for future solid-state batteries. On the one hand, this material must be highly conductive for lithium ions, and on the other hand manufacturing costs should be as low as possible. Ultra-thin layers of a special ceramic (chemically speaking, Li7La3Zr2O12) Read more about Efficient thin-film batteries in the near future[…]
The European research initiative BATTERY 2030+ is now getting going. The ambition is to make Europe the world leader in the development and production of the batteries of the future. These batteries need to store more energy, have a longer lifetime, and be safer and more environmentally friendly than today’s batteries in order to facilitate Read more about BATTERY 2030+ an initiative for battery research[…]
How dangerous are burning electric cars? In the Hagerbach test tunnel in Switzerland, Empa researchers and tunnel safety expert Lars Derek Mellert set fire to battery cells of electric cars, analyzed the distribution of soot and smoke gases and the chemical residues in the extinguishing water. There’ s a loud bang, and then it starts: Read more about What happens if an electric car burns in a road tunnel or an underground car park?[…]
Empa researchers have succeeded in applying aerogels to microelectronics: Aerogels based on cellulose nanofibers can effectively shield electromagnetic radiation over a wide frequency range – and they are unrivalled in terms of weight. Electric motors and electronic devices generate electromagnetic fields that sometimes have to be shielded in order not to affect neighboring electronic components Read more about Protection against electromagnetic interference[…]
Laser welding is a process suitable for joining metals and thermoplastics. It has become particularly well established in highly automated production, for example in the automotive industry, because a laser operates with virtually no wear, is very fast and offers high precision. But until now, the quality of a weld seam could only be documented Read more about Artificial Intelligence brings real-time monitoring of the weld quality[…]
A research team from Empa and EPFL has developed a molecular motor which consists of only 16 atoms and rotates reliably in one direction. It could allow energy harvesting at the atomic level. The special feature of the motor is that it moves exactly at the boundary between classical motion and quantum tunneling – and Read more about The smallest motor in the world[…]
Cement production has to drastically reduce its environmental footprint. Empa researchers are, therefore working on alternative cement recipes that cause significantly fewer emissions or can even bind the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. It is the most widely used product in the world. Cement is indispensable yet its reputation has become quite tainted in the course Read more about Eco-concrete as alternative cement recipes[…]
A team of researchers from Empa, ETH Zurich and Zurich University Hospital has succeeded in developing a novel sensor for detecting the new coronavirus. In future it could be used to measure the concentration of the virus in the environment – for example in places where there are many people or in hospital ventilation systems. Read more about A new biosensor for the COVID-19 virus[…]
Empa researchers think so. In their experiments, they fed a new self-learning heating control system with temperature data from the previous year and the current weather forecast. The “smart” control system was then able to assess the building’s behavior and act with good anticipation. The result: greater comfort, lower energy costs. Factory halls, airport terminals Read more about Can buildings learn to save energy by themselves?[…]
Rubber in the environment The tread on the tyre is worn out, new tyres are needed. Everyday life for many drivers. But where do these lost centimetres of tyre tread “disappear” to? As micro-rubbers, they mainly end up in soil and water and, to a small extent, in the air. And the amount of these Read more about Micro rubber: another polymer that pollutes our air and water[…]
Never before has such an efficient flexible CIGS solar cell been built. Empa researchers achieve an efficiency of 20.8% for the first time – breaking their own record. Flexible solar cell with unprecedented efficiency: The Empa Laboratory for Thin Films and Photovoltaics, headed by Ayodhya N. Tiwari, has broken its own record. The researchers improved Read more about New record for flexible thin-film solar cells[…]