Nanotechnology
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Mar 5 | News
If harnessing the unlimited solar power of the sun were easy, we wouldn't still have the greenhouse gas problem that results from the use of fossil fuel. And while solar energy systems work moderately well in hot desert climates, they are still inefficient and contribute only a small percentage of the general energy demand. A new solution may be coming from an unexpected source—a source that may be on your dinner plate tonight.
Mar 5 | News
Solar cells made from silicon are projected to be a prominent factor in future renewable green energy equations, but so far the promise has far exceeded the reality. While there are now silicon photovoltaics that can convert sunlight into electricity at impressive 20% efficiencies, the cost of this solar power is prohibitive for large-scale use. Researchers with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), however, are developing a new approach that could substantially reduce these costs.
Mar 3 | News
A study reveals that thermocells based on carbon nanotube electrodes might eventually be used for generating electrical energy from heat discarded by chemical plants, automobiles, and solar cell farms.
Feb 16 | News
In research that gives literal meaning to the term "power suit," Univ. of California, Berkeley, engineers have created energy-scavenging nanofibers that could one day be woven into clothing and textiles.
Jan 28 | News
Power-generating rubber films developed by Princeton Univ. engineers could harness natural body movements such as breathing and walking to power pacemakers, mobile phones and other electronic devices.
12/8/2009 | News
Nanoscale machines expected to have wide application in industry, energy, medicine and other fields may someday operate far more efficiently thanks to important theoretical discoveries concerning the manipulation of famous Casimir forces that took place at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory.
12/4/2009 | News
A coating on windows or solar panels that repels grime and dirt? Expanded battery storage capacities for the next electric car? New Tel Aviv Univ. research details a breakthrough in assembling peptides at the nano-scale level that could make these futuristic visions come true in just a few years.
10/15/2009 | News
Four chemists from the Univ. of Rochester
are building a three-module system that is intended to produce hydrogen from
water using carbon nanotubes and artificial photosynthesis. The invention
involves the use of chromophores, complex natural molecules that absorb
sunlight, that will be re-engineered to generate reducing electrons that will
be captured by a nanotube-suffused membrane. The project shows promise and has
received federal support.
10/9/2009 | News
A team from Louisiana Tech Univ. is collaborating to capitalize on the environmental and financial benefits of “biofuels” by using nanotechnology to further improve the cellulosic ethanol processes. The nanotechnology processes developed at Louisiana Tech Univ. can immobilize the expensive enzymes used to convert cellulose to sugars, allowing them to be reused several times over and, thus significantly reducing the overall cost of the process.
9/24/2009 | News
Special cellulose extracted from a certain species of green
algae can be formed into a conductive polymer, polypyrrole. Until now, the
material was considered too inefficient. Researchers have discovered, however,
that coating a substrate with a carefully tailored molecular-level layer of this
material yielded much higher storage and discharge rates, enough to build a
battery out of nonmetal parts.