News by Subject Technology & Engineering

For molecular motors to be exploited effectively, they need to be able to operate in unison. However, integrating billions of these nanometer-sized motors into a single system, and getting them to operate in unison has proved to be quite a challenge. Organic chemists at the University of Groningen have now succeeded in integrating numerous unidirectional light-driven rotary motors into a metal-organic framework (a solid material with a 3D cage-like structure).

At the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, researchers have realized the swap of electron spins between distant quantum dots. The discovery is a step towards applications of quantum information, as the dots leave enough room for delicate control electrodes, enabling integration with traditional microelectronics and perhaps, a future quantum computer. The result is achieved via collaboration with Purdue University and the University of Sydney, Australia, now published in Nature Communications.

A new system for synthesizing quantum dots across the entire spectrum of visible light drastically reduces manufacturing costs, can be tuned on demand to any color and allows for real-time process monitoring to ensure quality control.

NIMS, the University of Tokyo, Niigata University and RIKEN jointly designed a multilayered metamaterial that realizes ultra-narrowband wavelength-selective thermal emission by combining the machine learning (Bayesian optimization) and thermal emission properties calculations (electromagnetic calculation). The joint team then experimentally fabricated the designed metamaterial and verified the performance. These results may facilitate the development of highly efficient energy devices.

A breakthrough by engineers at The University of Texas at Austin offers new solution through solar-powered technology that absorbs moisture from the air and returns it as clean, usable water. This 'super-sponge' could be used in disaster situations, poverty-stricken areas and developing countries.

German nanoscientists have succeeded in demonstrating a new reaction mechanism to cleave cellulose efficiently. This new reaction could lead to an efficient, environmentally friendly and cost-effective process for the conversion of biomass. The study was published in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition.

Researchers at DOE's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have developed a platform that uses living cells as 'scaffolds' for building self-assembled composite materials. The technology could open the door to self-healing materials and other advanced applications in bioelectronics, biosensing, and smart materials.