Carbon-based quantum technology

Researchers contact single graphene nanoribbons

16-Aug-2023 - Graphene nanoribbons have outstanding properties that can be precisely controlled. Researchers from Empa and ETH Zurich, in collaboration with partners from Peking University, the University of Warwick and the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, have succeeded in attaching electrodes to ...

Imprinted Color Patterns

Azopolymer material allows light-assisted imprinting of nanostructures for structurally colored surfaces

17-Jan-2020 - Structural colors appear because the imprinted pattern on a surface changes the wavelengths of light. Chinese scientists have introduced an azopolymer that allows the imprinting of nanopatterns in a novel room-temperature lithographic process. A key aspect of the technique is the light-induced ...

Meter-sized single-crystal graphene growth becomes possible

25-Aug-2017 - "Preparation determines the future". Since the discovery of graphene, the synthesis of graphene has long been a hot spot in graphene community. Using transition metals such as Cu or Ni as substrate, scientists have realized the preparation of large-area graphene films. Especially, high-quality ...

Revolutionary discovery leads to invention of new 'building blocks'

University of Akron polymer researchers create a new class of hybrid materials

27-Apr-2015 - Polymer science will have to add a new giant molecule to its lexicon thanks to a cutting-edge discovery at The University of Akron. Taking a revolutionary "building blocks" approach, researchers have pioneered a way to create a new class of very large polymer molecules, called macromolecules, ...

Penta-graphene, a new structural variant of carbon, discovered

10-Feb-2015 - Researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University and universities in China and Japan have discovered a new structural variant of carbon called "penta-graphene" - a very thin sheet of pure carbon that has a unique structure inspired by a pentagonal pattern of tiles found paving the streets of ...

Fractional quantum Hall effect: Experimental progress and quantum computing applications

12-Jan-2015 - The Hall effect, discovered in 1879, is observable when a Hall voltage perpendicular to the current is produced across a conductor under a magnetic field. Although the Hall effect was discovered in a sheet of gold leaf by Edwin Hall, this effect does not require a two-dimensional condition.A ...

Knowing whether food has spoiled without even opening the container

19-Mar-2014 - A color-coded smart tag could tell consumers whether a carton of milk has turned sour or a can of green beans has spoiled without opening the containers, according to researchers. The tag, which would appear on the packaging, also could be used to determine if medications and other perishable ...

Build low-cost nanoscope - using LEGO

27-Sep-2013 - The world’s first low cost Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) has been developed in Beijing by a group of PhD students from University College London (UCL), Tsinghua University and Peking University - using LEGO. In the first event of its kind, LEGO2NANO brought together students, experienced makers ...

Researchers show applied electric field can significantly improve hydrogen storage properties

05-Feb-2010 - An international team of researchers has identified a new theoretical approach that may one day make the synthesis of hydrogen fuel storage materials less complicated and improve the thermodynamics and reversibility of the system. Many researchers have their sights set on hydrogen as an ...

Carbon Nanotube Sponges: Tough Water-Repellent Sponges Absorb Oils and Solvents up to 180 Times Their Own Weight

10-Nov-2009 - Scientists have invented a carbon-based sponge that can soak up organic pollutants, such as oils and solvents, from the surface of water. No water is absorbed and the sponge can then be wrung out and reused, like an ordinary household sponge. Absorbing up to 180 times its own weight in organic ...