Laser controls ultra-fast liquid switch

Researchers unveil a brand new concept for switches with unprecedented speed

15-Dec-2022 - Researchers at Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, have developed an ultra-fast water-based switch. A short but powerful laser pulse converts the water into a conductive state within less than a trillionth of a second (10-12 seconds), during which time it behaves almost like a metal. This makes it ...

Discovery paves the way for faster computers, longer-lasting batteries

Researchers have has discovered a ‘recipe’ which allows molecular switches to work at room temperature

10-Jun-2022 - University of Queensland scientists have cracked a problem that’s frustrated chemists and physicists for years, potentially leading to a new age of powerful, efficient, and environmentally friendly technologies. Using quantum mechanics,Professor Ben Powellfrom UQ’sSchool of Mathematics and ...

Efficiently "switching on" bacteria to produce high-value chemicals

Researchers have found a cheap way to switch bacteria into chemical production mode

10-Jun-2021 - High-value chemicals used in biofuels and pharmaceuticals can be made from bacteria by switching their chemistry to produce novel products. Researchers from the University of Warwick have found a way to drastically cut the cost of turning on these switches.We use chemicals for almost everything, ...

Metallic surfaces help molecular quantum switch

Quantum molecular switches operate by hydrogen tunneling with some help

20-Nov-2020 - The quantum dynamics of hydrogen is central to many problems in nature, being strongly influenced by the environment in which it takes place. In their contribution to PRL, members of the Lise Meitner Group at the MPSD address hydrogen transfer within a supported molecular switch, showing that the ...

Smart bottle brushes

Neutrons make structural changes in molecular brushes visible: Promising candidates for a variety of applications

02-Nov-2020 - They look like microscopic bottle brushes: Polymers with a backbone and tufts of side arms. This molecular design gives them unusual abilities: For example, they can bind active agents and release them again when the temperature changes. With the help of neutrons, a research team from the ...

Researchers create a photographic film of a molecular switch

Following the motion of a light-responsive molecule

22-Jun-2020 - Molecular switches – they are the molecular counterparts of electrical switches and play an important role in many processes in nature. Such molecules can reversibly interconvert between two or more states and thereby control molecular processes. In living organisms, for example, they play a role ...

Programming with the Light Switch

How to control individual components of self-assembling molecular structures

08-May-2020 - In the development of autonomous systems and materials, self-assembling molecular structures controlled by chemical reaction networks are increasingly important. However, there is a lack of simple external mechanisms that ensure that the components of these reaction networks can be activated in a ...

Switching with molecules

Molecular switch will facilitate the development of pioneering electro-optical devices

28-May-2018 - A research team led by physicists at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has developed molecular nanoswitches that can be toggled between two structurally different states using an applied voltage. They can serve as the basis for a pioneering class of devices that could replace silicon-based ...

A molecular switch for on-demand cargo release

14-May-2018 - In an unexpected finding, chemist Sankaran "Thai" Thayumanavan and colleagues at the University of Massachusetts Amherst show for the first time how movement of a single chemical bond can compromise a membrane made up of more than 500 chemical bonds. Their system uses light as a switch to create ...

Turning polymer films into self-sensing high-tech actuators

28-Mar-2018 - They might only be made from thin silicon film, but they can squeeze down hard, deliver a powerful thrust, vibrate or hold any required position. And because they can act as sensors, they are becoming important tools in technical applications. Stefan Seelecke and his team at Saarland University ...