McGill researchers demonstrate new way to control light in semiconductor nanocrystals

11-Apr-2013

As demand for computing and communication capacity surges, the global communication infrastructure struggles to keep pace, since the light signals transmitted through fiber-optic lines must still be processed electronically, creating a bottleneck in telecommunications networks. While the idea of ...

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Findings could guide design of new embrittlement-resistant materials

20-Nov-2012

Hydrogen, the lightest element, can easily dissolve and migrate within metals to make these otherwise ductile materials brittle and substantially more prone to failures. Since the phenomenon was discovered in 1875, hydrogen embrittlement has been a persistent problem for the design of structural ...

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08-Jun-2012

While most people over a certain age are trying to slow down the ageing process, scientists from the UK and Canada are trying to speed it up to help them make new materials more cleanly. ‘Accelerated ageing’ could become a new paradigm for the clean, low energy and solvent-free synthesis of ...

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McGill researchers develop a new and inexpensive way of filtering water using silver nanoparticles

25-Feb-2011

Disasters such as floods, tsunamis, and earthquakes often result in the spread of diseases like gastroenteritis, giardiasis and even cholera because of an immediate shortage of clean drinking water. Now, chemistry researchers at McGill University have taken a key step towards making a cheap, ...

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30-Sep-2010

Conductive polymers are plastic materials with high electrical conductivity that promise to revolutionize a wide range of products including TV displays, solar cells, and biomedical sensors. A team of McGill University researchers have now reported how to visualize and study the process of ...

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New technique may help restorers identify decades-old pigments

06-Sep-2010

A team of McGill chemists have discovered that a technique known as photoacoustic infrared spectroscopy could be used to identify the composition of pigments used in art work that is decades or even centuries old. Pigments give artist’s materials colour, and they emit sounds when light is shone ...

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Breakthrough discovery enables nanoscale manipulation of the piezoelectric effect

25-Aug-2010

The generation of an electric field by the compression and expansion of solid materials is known as the piezoelectric effect, and it has a wide range of applications ranging from everyday items such as watches, motion sensors and precise positioning systems. Researchers at McGill University’s ...

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Researchers use metal crystal to organize organic materials, overcoming key stumbling block

17-Jun-2010

Although they could revolutionize a wide range of high-tech products such as computer displays or solar cells, organic materials do not have the same ordered chemical composition as inorganic materials, preventing scientists from using them to their full potential. But an international team of ...

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McGill researchers find new ways to manufacture nanotubes of controlled geometry, stiffness and porosities

15-Apr-2009

McGill researchers have succeeded in finding a new way to manufacture nanotubes. Their building material is biological DNA. A team of researchers, led by Prof. Hanadi Sleiman in collaboration with Prof. Gonzalo Cosa, both of McGill University's Department of Chemistry, can now tailor different ...

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