Refrigerator cools by flexing artificial muscles

The new technology is based on an incredibly simple principle

04-Apr-2024 - There is room for just one small bottle in the world’s first refrigerator that is cooled with artificial muscles made of nitinol, a nickel-titanium alloy. But the mini-prototype that the team led by professors Stefan Seelecke and Paul Motzki will be presenting at the Hannover Messe from 22 to 26 ...

'Nano inks' could passively control temperature in buildings, cars

First 'phase-change' inks developed that could transform the way we heat and cool

28-Mar-2023 - World-first ‘phase change inks’ that could transform how we heat and cool buildings, homes and cars – to achieve sophisticated ‘passive climate’ control – have been developed, with enormous potential to help reduce energy use and global greenhouse gas emissions. New research published in The ...

How do we want to heat our homes in the future?

Researchers work on sustainable solutions for heating oil boilers

22-Mar-2023 - The question of heating is becoming increasingly important in times of scarce resources and of global warming. Are oil heating systems still future-proof? Moreover, if so, can they be operated with efficient, sustainable fuels? Researchers are striving to make heating with oil more sustainable as ...

Research team uses artificial muscles to develop an air conditioner for the future

14-Mar-2019 - It can be used to cool or heat the air in a room or to cool or heat liquids. And it looks like something that Q – the tech specialist and gadgeteer in the James Bond films – might have come up with. The prototype device, which has been developed by a research team led by Professors Stefan ...

Intense tests reveal elusive, complex form of common element

12-Nov-2018 - An unusually complex form of one of the most abundant chemical elements on Earth has been revealed in the lab for the first time. Researchers created a crystallised version of nitrogen - which at normal conditions is the main constituent of air - by subjecting it to extreme pressures and ...

Producing defectless metal crystals of unprecedented size

A new method to obtain large single crystals up to 32 square centimeters

22-Oct-2018 - A research group at the Center for Multidimensional Carbon Materials, within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS), have published a new method to convert inexpensive polycrystalline metal foils to single crystals with superior properties. It is expected that these materials will find many uses ...

A 'recipe book' that creates color centers in silicon carbide crystals

Different temperature and proton dosages for the generation of defects

05-Oct-2018 - Silicon carbide (SiC), a material known for its toughness with applications from abrasives to car brakes, to high-temperature power electronics, has enjoyed renewed interest for its potential in quantum technology. Its ability to house optically excitable defects, called color centers, has made ...

Material could help windows both power your home and control its temperature

05-Jul-2018 - Environmentally friendly building trends have boosted the popularity of window coatings that keep heating and cooling costs down by blocking out unneeded parts of sunlight. They have also inspired scientists and engineers to create thin, see-through solar cells to turn windows into miniature ...

Scientists create magnetic system transforming heat into motion

25-Oct-2017 - A team of scientists have found a new way to transform ambient heat into motion in nanoscale devices – a discovery which could open up new possibilities for data storage, sensors, nanomotors and other applications in the ever-shrinking world of electronics. An international team of researchers ...

Beating the heat with nanoparticle films

04-Sep-2017 - It is a truth acknowledged throughout much of the world, that a car sitting in the sun on a summer's day must be sweltering. However, a partnership between Sandia National Laboratories and Santa Fe, New Mexico-based IR Dynamics may soon challenge that truth. Together they are turning nano-size ...