Organic polymers show sunny potential

(Phys.org) —A new version of solar cells created by laboratories at Rice and Pennsylvania State universities could open the door to research on a new class of solar energy devices.

Coming round to stable self-assembly

Nanostructures that assemble themselves from polymer molecules could prove to be useful tools in chemistry and industry. However, it is difficult to develop structurally robust self-assembling materials because they are often ...

Two takes on lithium-ion batteries

Lithium-ion batteries have transformed our lives. Without them, we wouldn't have laptop computers or cell phones—at least, not the long-lived, lightweight kindwe're used to—and in the near future they may become more ...

Soft Lego built in the computer

Barbara Capone of the Computational Physics Group of the University of Vienna has developed a new method for the construction of building blocks at the nanoscale. The researcher in Soft Matter Physics, who works at the group ...

Building electronics from the ground up

(Phys.org)—There's hardly a moment in modern life that doesn't involve electronic devices, whether they're guiding you to a destination by GPS or deciding which incoming messages merit a beep, ring or vibration. But our ...

Photonic gels are colorful sensors

(Phys.org)—Materials scientists at Rice University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have created very thin color-changing films that may serve as part of inexpensive sensors for food spoilage or security, ...

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