Tuning thermoelectric materials for efficient power generation

24-Mar-2023 - How to make energy conversion more efficient and use waste heat for electricity? Researchers of the Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung tuned the microstructure of thermoelectric materials by doping the grain boundaries with titanium. This way they were able to achieve optimal low thermal and ...

New Measurement Method in Molecular Electronics

Method for measuring the conductivity of individual pharmaceutical and biological molecules

27-May-2022 - Controlling electrical signals using single molecules enables the miniaturization of transistors in integrated circuits down to the atomic level. This research area of molecular electronics not only paves the way for the next generation of ultra-powerful computers, but also for entirely new ...

How glass learns to illuminate itself and create heat

Among other things, this can be used to produce electrically conductive and self-heating glass microreactors for the chemical and pharmaceutical industries

31-Mar-2022 - Glass objects which glow in the dark, glass containers that heat up and cool down, or glass control knobs and switches that eliminate viruses and bacteria by themselves – all this seems to completely contradict our everyday experience of what glass can do. And yet, it is now within reach. To ...

Oxide tuning by ion transfer

Researchers discover new formula for changing the electronic and magnetic properties of oxide interfaces

21-Dec-2020 - Most materials are either magnetic, or they are not. However, scientists at Forschungszentrum Jülich have now discovered a new mechanism that allows for tailoring the electronic and magnetic properties of a material in a targeted and reversible manner. The effect depends on the transfer of ions ...

A touch of gold and silver

For the first time, it is possible to produce crystalline layers of precious metals that consist of a single atomic layer and which are semiconducting

05-Jun-2020 - Metals are usually characterized by good electrical conductivity. This applies in particular to gold and silver. However, researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research in Stuttgart, together with partners in Pisa and Lund, have now discovered that some precious metals lose ...

Doped Photovoltaics

Organic dye in zinc oxide interlayer stabilizes and boosts the performance of organic solar cells

20-Aug-2019 - Organic solar cells are made of cheap and abundant materials, but their efficiency and stability still lag behind those of silicon-based solar cells. A Chinese-German team of scientists has found a way to enhance the electric conductivity of organic solar cells, which increases their ...

Chaos that will keep you warm: Researchers improve heat insulation using deliberate chaos

04-Apr-2018 - Powder is extremely well-suited for thermal insulation when there is a jumble of different sized nanoparticles in it. This was discovered by a research group at the University of Bayreuth led by Prof. Dr. Markus Retsch. The scientists were able to determine how the thermal conductivity of powder ...

Fine felted nanotubes

New composite material made of carbon nanotubes

23-Nov-2017 - Extremely lightweight, electrically highly conductive, and more stable than steel: due to their unique properties, carbon nanotubes would be ideal for numerous applications, from ultra-lightweight batteries to high-performance plastics, right through to medical implants. However, to date it has ...

Low haze structures for transparent flexible electrodes by electrospinning processes

19-Apr-2017 - Flexible, transparent, and conductive electrodes (FTCE) are a key enabling technology for the new generation of flexible, printable and wearable electronics. The touchscreens and displays of the future will be curved and flexible and integrated into cars, phones, or medical technology. Tapping ...

Electric current at record speed

Scientists have generated the fastest electric current that has ever been measured inside a solid material

27-Oct-2016 - In the field of electronics, the principle 'the smaller, the better' applies. Some building blocks of computers or mobile phones, however, have become nearly as small today as only a few atoms. It is therefore hardly possible to reduce them any further. Another factor for the performance of ...