15-05-2013

Leading nanoscientists created beautiful, tiled patterns with flat nanocrystals, but they were left with a mystery: Why did some sets of crystals arrange themselves in an alternating, herringbone style? To find out, they turned to experts in computer simulation at the University of Michigan ...

more

22-04-2013

Throughout decades of research on solar cells, one formula has been considered an absolute limit to the efficiency of such devices in converting sunlight into electricity: Called the Shockley-Queisser efficiency limit, it posits that the ultimate conversion efficiency can never exceed 34 ...

more

Focus on innovative materials for the automotive, building and construction, and energy sectors

12-03-2013

BASF SE has launched a research initiative called ”North American Center for Research on Advanced Materials” through which it is collaborating with Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and the University of Massachusetts (UMass) Amherst. One goal of this ...

more

27-02-2013

While the phenomenon of superconductivity has been known for more than a century, the temperature at which it occurs has remained too low for any practical applications. The discovery of "high-temperature" superconductors in the 1980s led to speculation that a surge of new discoveries might ...

more

New room-temperature process could lead to less expensive solar cells and other electronic devices

15-02-2013

Silicon, the material of high-tech devices from computer chips to solar cells, requires a surface coating before use in these applications. The coating "passivates" the material, tying up loose atomic bonds to prevent oxidation that would ruin its electrical properties. But this passivation ...

more

14-01-2013

An MIT researcher has developed a technique that provides a new way of manipulating heat, allowing it to be controlled much as light waves can be manipulated by lenses and mirrors. The approach relies on engineered materials consisting of nanostructured semiconductor alloy crystals. Heat is a ...

more

May reduce greenhouse gas emissions

13-04-2012

Copper — the stuff of pennies and tea kettles — is also one of the few metals that can turn carbon dioxide into hydrocarbon fuels with relatively little energy. When fashioned into an electrode and stimulated with voltage, copper acts as a strong catalyst, setting off an electrochemical ...

more

Work by University of Michigan and MIT team yields new understanding of crucial reaction in the body and in CO2-scrubbing bacteria

28-03-2012

You see it listed on the side of your cereal box and your multivitamin bottle. It's vitamin B12, part of a nutritious diet like all those other vitamins and minerals. But when it gets inside your body, new research suggests, B12 turns into a gymnast.In a paper published in Nature, scientists ...

more

By using optical equipment in a totally unexpected way, MIT researchers have created an imaging system that makes light look slow

15-12-2011

MIT researchers have created a new imaging system that can acquire visual data at a rate of one trillion exposures per second. That’s fast enough to produce a slow-motion video of a burst of light traveling the length of a one-liter bottle, bouncing off the cap and reflecting back to the ...

more

15-07-2011

A novel application of carbon nanotubes, developed by MIT researchers, shows promise as an innovative approach to storing solar energy for use whenever it's needed.Storing the sun's heat in chemical form — rather than converting it to electricity or storing the heat itself in a heavily ...

more