Device pulls water from dry air, powered only by the sun

Metal-organic framework sucks up water from air with humidity as low as 20 percent.

Researchers capture excess photon energy to produce solar fuels

Scientists have developed a proof-of-principle photoelectrochemical cell capable of capturing excess photon energy normally lost to generating heat.

Ancient material, new technology - using silver against microbes

Humans have appreciated silver's antimicrobial activity for millennia. But it takes 21st-century technology to push the amount of silver needed to combat disease-causing microbes into the nanoscale realm.

Green IT: New switching process in non-volatile spintronics devices

Physicists achieved a robust and reliable magnetization switching process by domain wall displacement without any applied fields. The effect is observed in tiny asymmetric permalloy rings and may pave the way to extremely efficient new memory devices.

A novel semiconductor nanofiber with superb charge conductivity

Researchers have developed a novel technology of embedding highly conductive nanostructure into semi-conductor nanofiber. The novel composite so produced has superb charge conductivity, and can therefore be widely applied, especially in environmental arena.

Nanopores could map small changes in DNA that signal big shifts in cancer

A new study describes a method to detect, count and map tiny additions to DNA called methylations, which can be a warning sign of cancer, with unprecedented resolution.

Self-cleaning membranes for sustainable desalination

Research team leverages advanced nanofibers and membrane fabrication know-how to develop two kinds of membranes that can clean themselves.

Getting rid of the cleanroom - 3D printing for more efficient chemical research (w/video)

With the help of some designing, a few grams of plastic filament and a 3D printer, researchers made a unique device for studying chemical reactions, and improved their experimental processes.

A quantum low pass for photons

Physicists observe novel quantum effect that limits the number of emitted photons.

Low haze structures for transparent flexible electrodes by electrospinning processes

Electrospinning is a technique that produces ultra-fine fibers that are up to 100 times thinner than a human hair. These fibers are collected on glass or on foils in an unstructured, wide mesh net. When conductive materials are spun, flexible conductive transparent electrodes could be produced.

Nanotubes that build themselves

Researchers have succeeded in producing nanotubes from a single building block using so-called molecular self-recognition. The tube can also change shape depending on the surrounding environment.

Shedding light on the absorption of light by titanium dioxide

Scientists have shed light onto the problem by a combination of cutting-edge steady-state and ultrafast spectroscopic techniques, as well as theoretical calculations.