Researchers harvest abundant clean energy from thin air, 24/7

“The air contains an enormous amount of electricity”

29-May-2023 - A team of engineers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has recently shown that nearly any material can be turned into a device that continuously harvests electricity from humidity in the air. The secret lies in being able to pepper the material with nanopores less than 100 nanometers in ...

Smart gifts will soon unwrap themselves

Cellulose-based actuators can be programmed and repair themselves

29-Nov-2022 - With the help of the high-brilliance X-ray source PETRA III, a German-Swedish research group has developed a new cellulose polymer material that can be specifically animated to move by moisture, making it an ideal base material for programmable actuators. In addition, the composite material is ...

Camels’ noses inspire a new humidity sensor

Device could reliably detect variations in humidity in settings that included industrial exhaust and the air surrounding human skin

21-Jan-2022 - Camels have a renowned ability to survive on little water. They are also adept at finding something to drink in the vast desert, using noses that are exquisite moisture detectors. In a new study in ACS Nano, researchers describe a humidity sensor inspired by the structure and properties of ...

New cellulose-based material gives three sensors in one

A multiparameter Pressure-Temperature-Humidity Sensor based on Mixed Ionic-Electronic Cellulose Aerogels

28-Mar-2019 - Cellulose soaked in a carefully designed polymer mixture acts as a sensor to measure pressure, temperature and humidity - at the same time! The measurements are completely independent of each other. The sensor may be highly significant in fields such as robotics, healthcare and security. The ...

Lone water molecules turn out to be directors of supramolecular chemistry

01-Jun-2018 - Scientists in supramolecular chemistry often run into surprising outcomes. A broken seal of a lab cuvette led an American researcher at the Eindhoven University of Technology to the origin of these inexplicable results: the weather. Or the humidity, to be more precise, because this determines the ...

Sartorius Campus expands: Official opening of the new manufacturing facility for laboratory instruments

The largest single investment of Sartorius Campus totaling around 42 million euros

15-Sep-2017 - With its new facility for the manufacture of laboratory instruments, Sartorius provides high-quality production conditions and an advanced, efficient work environment. The biopharmaceutical and laboratory equipment supplier officially opened its approximately 42-million-euro new building as part ...

Smart tomographic sensors control industrial processes of tomorrow

HZDR coordinates European Doctoral Training Network TOMOCON

01-Sep-2017 - Modern parallel computer architectures are capable of processing huge amounts of data at high speed. This allows for the increasing use of imaging techniques as sensors to control machines and process plants. In the new European collaborative project TOMOCON twelve research institutions and 15 ...

The unexpected hardness of gallium nitride

31-Oct-2016 - Gallium nitride (GaN) has emerged as one of the most important and widely used semiconducting materials. Its optoelectronic and mechanical properties make it ideal for a variety of applications, including light-emitting diodes (LEDs), high-temperature transistors, sensors and biocompatible ...

Thermal modification of wood and a complex study of its properties by magnetic resonance

27-May-2016 - Heat treatment has proved to be an effective method of improving some of the useful properties of wood. Recent developments of the technology have allowed to achieve, among other things, increased hydrophobic properties, better elasticity, and improved dimensional stability. The corresponding ...

Lawrence Livermore National Lab to explore spectral imaging to detect moisture in solar cells

18-Sep-2015 - A Lawrence Livermore National Lab engineer has been awarded $570,000 through the Department of Energy SunShot Initiative to explore spectroscopic technology as a means of detecting moisture buildup in solar photovoltaic cells. Over the next two years, Mihail Bora, a Materials Engineering Division ...