Showing Spotlights 737 - 744 of 2784 in category All (newest first):
So far, most of the developed self-powered piezoelectric devices are rigid or have limited lateral stretchability and could not be used to harvest energy from lateral strain, which greatly limits their applications on large strain deformation. In new work, researchers have successfully fabricated a piezoelectric nanocomposite device with good transparency, high stretchability, and self-powered sensing characteristics. Attached to the human body, it can harvest biomechanical energy and monitor physiological signals.
Dec 4th, 2017
Block copolymer lithography is a cost-effective, parallel, and scalable nanolithography for the densely packed periodic arrays of nanoscale features, whose typical dimension scale is beyond the resolution limit of conventional photolithography. The directed self-assembly of block copolymers is one of the most promising techniques to enable the continued miniaturization of integrated circuits due to low cost, high speed, and simplicity of the process. Researchers have now designed for a novel block copolymer capable of easily changing its nanodomains at selective area and finally succeeded in development of dual nanopatterns.
Nov 27th, 2017
Liquid-impregnated coating technologies involve nanoscale texturing of a surface, which is then coated with a - usually lubricating - liquid. A lubricant infused surface is comprised of a textured solid surface into which a lubricating fluid is spontaneously wicked. Lubricant infused surfaces can exhibit excellent fluid repellency if designed properly. Scientists now have developed a model to determine which lubricant infused surfaces will work and which will fail based on material properties.
Nov 23rd, 2017
Moderate exposure to sunlight has significant health benefits, however, exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation also is a major risk factor for most skin cancers. That means that, while moderate exposure to sunlight is recommended, there is a fine line to walk between beneficial and harmful amounts of UV exposure. To take the guesswork out of assessing the exposure to damaging UV rays, several wearable consumer UV sensors have already hit the market. Researchers have now proposed a simple and low-cost stick-on nanoplasmonic patch made of optically active silver nanoparticles embedded in a film of nanopaper. The patch changes color once it has been exposed to a certain amount of UV light.
Nov 22nd, 2017
The wearable power sources required for wearable and implantable electronic devices are limited by the size of the gadgets they power. Microsupercapacitors are newly emerging miniaturized high-power microelectrochemical energy-storage devices that can deliver high power density, fast charge and discharge, and a superior cycling lifetime. A new study shows that electrode fractal design is a viable strategy for improving the performance of integrated microsupercapacitors that use thin-film electrodes at no extra processing or fabrication cost.
Nov 20th, 2017
Single-atom catalysts (SACs) have emerged as a new frontier in heterogeneous catalysis, and demonstrated distinguishing performances for various reactions due to their high catalytic activity with a significantly reduced amount of metals used. However, the catalytic performance of SACs for nitrogen fixation and conversion has been rarely explored. Scientists now have proposed a quite promising single-atom-based electrocatalyst for N2 reduction to NH3 under ambient conditions.
Nov 17th, 2017
Researchers have demonstrated a novel approach toward smart orthodontics based on near-infrared red light from a mechanically flexible LED powered by flexible bio-safe batteries all integrated in a single 3D-printed dental brace. Integration of electronic devices in 3D printed dental aligners is a pragmatic approach towards implementing a flexible electronic technology in personalized advanced healthcare, particularly in orthodontics. Key to this smart brace is the use of a high-performance flexible solid-state microbattery.
Nov 16th, 2017
Self-powered nanotechnology based on one type of nanogenerators - piezoelectric nanogenerators - aims at powering nanodevices and nanosystems using the energy harvested from the environment in which these systems are suppose to operate. This offers a completely new approach for harvesting mechanical energy using organic and inorganic materials. Researchers have now reported a novel bio-piezoelectric nanogenerator using naturally abundant, self-aligned cellulose fibrous untreated onion skin as efficient piezoelectric material.
Nov 15th, 2017
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