Accurate rapid tests made from smart graphene paper

The potential range of applications covers virtually all chemical, biological and medical analyses that can be performed in aqueous solutions

29-Mar-2023 - A team led by ETH Zurich chemical engineers Chih-​Jen Shih and Andrew deMello have developed a rapid test system made of smart graphene paper. It only costs a few cents per test strip, is easy to use but is as accurate as lab measurements. The approach will impact more than just disease ...

Nature-inspired coatings could power tiny chemistry labs for medical testing and more

Researchers develop polymer coating that enables low surface tension liquids to be transported over distances 15 times longer than currently possible, without losing any of the liquid

27-Oct-2021 - A newly developed coating that allows for certain liquids to move across surfaces without fluid loss could usher in new advances in a range of fields, including medical testing. This new coating— created in theDREAM (Durable Repellent Engineered Advanced Materials) Laboratory, led by University ...

Researchers design microsystem for faster, more sustainable industrial chemistry

Lab reactor, liquefied catalyst, and machine learning for more efficient polymerization design

16-Apr-2020 - The synthesis of plastic precursors, such as polymers, involves specialized catalysts. However, the traditional batch-based method of finding and screening the right ones for a given result consumes liters of solvent, generates large quantities of chemical waste, and is an expensive, ...

Energy Flow in the Nano Range

Two new spectroscopic methods

23-Oct-2019 - It is crucial for photovoltaics and other technical applications, how efficiently energy spreads in a small volume. With new methods, the path of energy in the nanometer range can now be followed precisely. Plants and bacteria lead the way: They can capture the energy of sunlight with ...

Electric Cloth: Flexible, wearable supercapacitors based on porous nanocarbon nanocomposites

22-Oct-2019 - Evening gowns with interwoven LEDs may look extravagant, but the light sources need a constant power supply from devices that are as well wearable, durable, and lightweight. Chinese scientists have manufactured fibrous electrodes for wearable devices that are flexible and excel by their high ...

A catalytic flying carpet

Chemical engineering researchers develop self-powered microfluidic sheet that wraps, flaps and creeps

04-Jan-2019 - The "magic carpet" featured in tales from "One Thousand and One Nights" to Disney's "Aladdin" captures the imagination not only because it can fly, but because it can also wave, flap, and alter its shape to serve its riders. With that inspiration, and the assistance of catalytic chemical ...

Interactive size control of catalyst nanoparticles

10-Dec-2018 - 5, 10, or maybe 15? How many nanometers should nanoparticles of a catalyst be to optimize the course of the reaction? Researchers usually look for the answer by laborious, repetitive tests. At the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, a qualitatively new ...

Designer emulsions

Long-held dream of researchers and industry fulfilled

20-Nov-2018 - ETH material researchers are developing a method with which they can coat the droplets with controlled interfacial composition and coverage on demand in an emulsion in order to stabilise them. In doing so they are fulfilling a long-held dream of researchers and industry. Mayonnaise is a prime ...

What plants can teach us about oil spill clean-up, microfluidics

22-Mar-2018 - For years, scientists have been inspired by nature to innovate solutions to tricky problems, even oil spills -- manmade disasters with devastating environmental and economic consequences. A new USC study takes a cue from leaf structure to fabricate material that can separate oil and water, which ...

Artificial and biological cells work together as mini chemical factories

16-Mar-2018 - Researchers have fused living and non-living cells for the first time in a way that allows them to work together, paving the way for new applications. The system, created by a team from Imperial College London, encapsulates biological cells within an artificial cell. Using this, researchers can ...