A polymer is a mesh of chains, which slowly break over time due to the pressure from ordinary wear and tear. When a polymer is squeezed, the pressure breaks chemical bonds and produces free radicals: ions with unpaired electrons, ...
Polymers
Mar 2, 2012
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists under the direction of ETH Zurich have created a minor sensation in synthetic chemistry. They succeeded for the first time in producing regularly ordered planar polymers that form a kind of "molecular ...
Polymers
Feb 13, 2012
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Developing solar energy that is low-cost, lightweight, and energy efficient has proven to be one of the greatest challenges the science world faces today. Although current plastic solar cells are low in cost and easy to produce, ...
Energy & Green Tech
Nov 22, 2011
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While most blood tests require shipping a vial of blood to a laboratory for analysis and waiting several days for the results, a new device invented by a team of engineers and students at the University of Rhode Island uses ...
Analytical Chemistry
Jan 10, 2011
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Conventional solar cells made from crystalline silicon are difficult and energy-intensive to manufacture. Organic solar cells are cheaper, but have always produced less electricity. Why this is so has never been fully explained. ...
General Physics
Oct 26, 2010
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Conductive polymers are plastic materials with high electrical conductivity that promise to revolutionize a wide range of products including TV displays, solar cells, and biomedical sensors. A team of McGill University researchers ...
Polymers
Sep 28, 2010
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Two scientists working in Europe have paved the way for improved plastic electronics by devising a technique that can be used to take images of plastic mixtures on the nanoscale simultaneously in the body ...
Nanomaterials
Jul 28, 2010
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A team of researchers from the University of Alberta and the National Institute for Nanotechnology has extended the operating life of an unsealed plastic solar cell, from mere hours to eight months.
Nanomaterials
Jun 21, 2010
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Every year, more than 250 billion pounds of plastic are produced worldwide. Much of it ends up in the world's oceans, a fact that troubles MIT biology professor Anthony Sinskey.
Materials Science
Nov 17, 2009
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers in The Netherlands are reporting development of a new plastic with potential for use in the first easy-to-recycle computer circuit boards, electrical insulation, and other electronics products ...
Polymers
Apr 23, 2009
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