Energy from seawater enabled by metal-organic frameworks

A new, inexpensive system for the direct electrochemical extraction of energy from seawater offers the advantage of also being able to handle short spikes in power demand, while maintaining longer term steady power. To do so, the system can autonomously switch between two modes of operation.

Ultrasensitive organic phototransistors based on novel hybrid-layered architecture

Researchers have developed a novel hybrid-layered architecture to improve the overall photodetection performance of organic phototransistor by simultaneously taking advantages of charge-trapping effect and efficient carrier transport.

How to pop open soft nanoparticles using sound waves

By observing the nanoscopic changes in lipid shells in real time as they are exposed to soundwaves, research has shown that lipid shells are easiest to pop when they?re close to melting.

Brittle pals bond for flexible electronics

Mixing two brittle materials to make something flexible defies common sense, but scientists have done just that to make a novel dielectric.

Smallest pixels ever created could light up color-changing buildings

The smallest pixels yet created - a million times smaller than those in smartphones, made by trapping particles of light under tiny rocks of gold - could be used for new types of large-scale flexible displays, big enough to cover entire buildings.

Better microring sensors for optical applications

Tweaking the design of microring sensors enhances their sensitivity without adding more implementation complexity.

A surprising experiment opens the path to new particle manipulation methods

Unexpected result from acoustics experiment could have applications in biomedical and microsystems research.