The self-cleaning wall paint

Catalysis research makes it possible: new wall paint can clean itself through exposure to sunlight and chemically break down pollutants from the air.

26-Mar-2024 - Beautiful white wall paint usually does not stay beautiful and white forever. Various substances from the air often accumulate on the surface. This can be a desirable effect because it makes the air cleaner for a short time - but over time the paint discolors and needs to be renewed. A research ...

Green hydrogen: Improving the stability of iridium catalysts with titanium oxides

High relevance for practical use

18-Dec-2023 - Anodes for the electrolytic splitting of water are usually iridium-based materials. In order to increase the stability of the iridium catalyst, a team at HZB and a group at HI-ERN have now produced a so-called material library: a sample in which the concentration of iridium and titanium oxides is ...

Clean water from fog

A property known as photocatalytic memory ensures that this also functions when skies are overcast and at night

25-Aug-2023 - Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research and ETH Zurich are using a specially coated metal mesh to extract water from fog while removing environmental pollutants. People in dry but foggy areas could benefit. It's already being done in Peru, Bolivia and Chile, but also in ...

Mystery of two-dimensional quasicrystal formation from metal oxides solved

"We are excited to learn whether this special arrangement will produce completely new and useful properties"

31-Jan-2023 - The structure of two-dimensional titanium oxide brakes-up at high temperatures by adding barium; instead of regular hexagons, rings of four, seven and ten atoms are created that order aperiodically. A team at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) made this discovery in colaboration with ...

FLASH reveals ultrafast dynamics of photocatalysis

Free electron laser study sheds light on the mechanism and timescale of the photocatalytic oxidation of carbon monoxide on titanium oxide

30-Nov-2020 - An international team of scientists have studied, for the first time, the light induced oxidation of carbon monoxide (CO) to carbon dioxide (CO2) on the surface of an oxide photocatalyst in real-time using the soft X-ray free-electron laser FLASH combined with theoretical calculations. According ...

Nanotechnology and sunlight clear the way for better visibility

07-Mar-2019 - A new coating developed by ETH researchers prevents fogging on transparent surfaces. Rather than using electricity, the coating relies on sunlight to heat the surface. Anyone who skis, wears glasses, uses a camera or drives a car is familiar with the problem: if you come into a humid environment ...

Zips on the nanoscale

New method of synthesising nanographene on metal oxide surfaces

04-Mar-2019 - Nanostructures based on carbon are promising materials for nanoelectronics. However, to be suitable, they would often need to be formed on non-metallic surfaces, which has been a challenge – up to now. Researchers at FAU have found a method of forming nanographenes on metal oxide surfaces. Their ...

Custom-made artificial mother-of-pearl

Researchers developed an imitation comparable to mother-of-pearl, the physical properties of which can be specifically adjusted

14-Dec-2018 - Natural mother-of-pearl, such as mussels, is one of the hardest, most stable and stiff natural materials. Researchers have always been fascinated by it. The structure of mother-of-pearl is exquisite under the electron microscope; it looks like a miniature brick wall, the joints of which are ...

A stabilizing influence enables lithium-sulfur battery evolution

Stable cathode and five-second fabrication technique could boost adoption of Li-S batteries

19-Oct-2018 - In late July of 2008 a British solar plane set an unofficial flight-endurance record by remaining aloft for more than three days straight. Lithium-sulfur batteries emerged as one of the great technological advances that enabled the flight -powering the plane overnight with efficiency unmatched by ...

The world’s cleanest water droplet

24-Aug-2018 - What effect does water have on ultra-clean surfaces? Using a novel method, researchers at TU Wien and Cornell University have succeeded in demonstrating that smallest impurities can have a surprising effect. In nature there is no such thing as a truly clean surface. Contact with normal air is ...