Sustainable Plastics from Plants

Innovative interdisciplinary education model

14-Oct-2025 - As a by-product from the wood and paper industries, millions of tonnes of lignin – which provides an important support function in the cells of woody plants – are accumulated worldwide each year. Although widely available, this renewable resource is only rarely used to produce other materials. ...

Autonomous AI Assistant to Build Nanostructures

“We want to develop a self-learning AI system that positions individual molecules quickly, specifically and in the right orientation, and all this completely autonomously”

17-Jan-2025 - The chemical composition of a material alone sometimes reveals little about its properties. The decisive factor is often the arrangement of the molecules in the atomic lattice structure or on the surface of the material. Materials science utilises this factor to create certain properties by ...

New Method for Analysing Nanoporous Materials

Innovative method opens up new possibilities for materials science

22-Mar-2024 - Using only a single electron microscope image, researchers at TU Graz can determine the type and exact position of so-called guest atoms in high-tech materials. They also come closer to solving the mystery of the blue colour of aquamarine. In addition to their main components, the properties of ...

Growth of Nanoholes Visible for the First Time Thanks to Helium Scattering

Scientists were able to observe and document the growth of hexagonal boron nitride for the first time

28-Oct-2022 - Atomically thin 2D materials for applications in microelectronics or nanotechnology are grown by breaking down gas on a hot metal surface. Due to the high temperatures and rapid transformation of the gas, it is extremely difficult to observe this process. Researchers from TU Graz have now joined ...

Electronic skin: multisensory hybrid material

Even more sensitive than a human fingertip

18-May-2022 - The “smart skin” developed by Anna Maria Coclite is very similar to human skin. It senses pressure, humidity and temperature simultaneously and produces electronic signals. More sensitive robots or more intelligent prostheses are thus conceivable. The skin is the largest sensory organ and at the ...

New simulation-experiment combination allows deeper insights into ultrafast light-induced processes

14-Feb-2020 - Researchers from Graz University of Technology and the University of Vienna are demonstrating for the first time how the energy flow between strongly interacting molecular states can be better described. Since the 1990s, femtochemistry has been researching ultrafast processes at the molecular ...

Combating sulphuric acid corrosion at wastewater plants

Microbial induced concrete corrosion causes massive damage to wastewater plants

26-Feb-2018 - Wastewater systems are integral to infrastructure in every community. In an ideal world, they operate smoothly and are long-lasting. But biogenic transformation processes in sewage and water treatment systems are a “natural enemy” of conventional plants, frequently causing damage to concrete and ...

Electrostatic design of materials: A fundamentally new approach

Collective electrostatic effects are used to intentionally manipulate material properties

12-May-2017 - Computational materials design is traditionally used to improve and further develop already existing materials. Simulations grant a deep insight into the quantum mechanical effects which determine material properties. Egbert Zojer and his team at the Institute of Solid State Physics of TU Graz go ...

Researchers show that enzyme function inhibits battery ageing

22-Mar-2017 - It has been known in biology for a long time that the excited oxygen molecule singlet oxygen is the main cause of ageing in cells. To counter this, nature uses an enzyme called superoxide dismutase to eliminate superoxide as a free radical. Superoxide also occurs in cell respiration for energy ...

Piggyback battery for microchips

TU Graz researchers develop new battery concept

19-Aug-2016 - Electrochemists at TU Graz have managed to use monocrystalline semiconductor silicon as an active storage electrode in lithium batteries. This enables an integrated power supply to be made for microchips with a rechargeable battery. Small electrical gadgets, such as mobile phones, tablets or ...