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An international team led by Fabian Garmroudi has succeeded in producing new, efficient thermoelectric materials that could compete with state-of-the-art materials, offering greater stability and lower cost. Thermoelectric materials enable the direct conversion of heat into electrical energy. This makes them particularly attractive for the emerging "Internet of Things", for example for the autonomous energy supply of microsensors and other tiny electronic components.

A breakthrough by researchers at The University of Manchester sheds light on one of nature's most elusive forces, with wide-reaching implications for medicine, energy, climate modelling and more. Researchers at The University of Manchester have developed a ground-breaking method to precisely measure the strength of hydrogen bonds in confined water systems, an advance that could transform our understanding of water's role in biology, materials science, and technology.

For the first time, ETH materials scientists are measuring the rolling friction of tiny, micrometre-sized particles. These measurements permit them to better understand everyday products such as concrete. Lacquers, paint, concrete-and even ketchup or orange juice: Suspensions are widespread in industry and everyday life.

After the groundbreaking creation of the first bio-based handbag made from mycelium leather, the Microbiology research group at Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) expands their research on mycelium-based materials into new product categories. Led by Prof. Eveline Peeters and Prof. Elise Vanden Elsacker, the team explores mycelium, the root structure of fungi, as viable alternative to animal and synthetic leather.

The [X-MAT] research team from the Chair of Nonferrous Metallurgy, in collaboration with international partners, has made a significant breakthrough in the development of radiation-resistant materials for nuclear fusion reactors. Their latest study, published in Advanced Science (DOI: 10.1002/advs.202417659), challenges conventional high-entropy alloy (HEA) concept by demonstrating that reduced chemical complexity can still achieve superior radiation tolerance.

New method can improve the efficiency and flexibility of displays, solar cells and transistors Scientists at the Institute of Organic Chemistry, University of Vienna, have unveiled an innovative approach for synthesizing azaparacyclophanes (APCs), a class of highly advanced ring-shaped molecular structures with immense potential in material science.

Scientists at the Universities of Basel and Cologne have revealed a key superconducting effect in topological insulator nanowires. Their findings bring topological insulator nanowires closer to serving as the foundation for stable, next-generation quantum bits (qubits). Physicists at the Universities of Basel and Cologne have taken an important step forward in the pursuit of topological quantum computing: They observed for the first time ever the so-called Crossed Andreev Reflection (CAR) in topological insulator (TI) nanowires.

When water freezes into ice or boils into vapour, its properties change dramatically at specific temperatures. These so-called phase transitions are fundamental to understanding materials. But how do such transitions behave in nanomaterials? In Nature Communications , a team of scientists led by TU Delft presents new insights into the complex nature of phase transitions in magnetic nanomaterials.

Tiny, individual, flexible ribbons of crystalline phosphorus discovered by UCL researchers in 2019 exhibit magnetic and semiconducting properties at room temperature, opening new possibilities for next-generation electronics, finds a new study involving members of the same team. The findings, published in the journal Nature , confirm the one-atom-thick ribbons, known as phosphorene nanoribbons, as a unique class of material that could enable more energy-efficient computing and unlock new quantum technologies.

Researchers are working on artificial muscles that can keep up with the real thing. They have now developed a method of producing the soft and elastic, yet powerful structures using 3D printing. One day, these could be used in medicine or robotics - and anywhere else where things need to move at the touch of a button.

A new way to measure male fertility has been discovered by researchers at the University of Waterloo, opening the door to the development of simple, inexpensive tests for clinical and at-home use. The research team combined expertise in sperm cell behaviour and interface science to determine that the movement of healthy sperm within semen reduces the force with which droplets stick to a water-repellent surface.

A team of researchers from Würzburg has for the first time experimentally demonstrated a quantum tornado. Electrons form vortices in the momentum space of the quantum semi-metal tantalum arsenide. Scientists have long known that electrons can form vortices in quantum materials. What's new is the proof that these tiny particles create tornado-like structures in momentum space - a finding that has now been confirmed experimentally.

Until now, old clothes have mainly been incinerated. Using adapted processes from paper production, it is possible to recover the cellulose fibres from used clothing and use them to produce cardboard and other packaging materials.

ISTA researchers 3D print high-performance, sustainable thermoelectric materials Rapid, localized heat management is essential for electronic devices and could have applications ranging from wearable materials to burn treatment. While so-called thermoelectric materials convert temperature differences to electrical voltage and vice versa, their efficiency is often limited, and their production is costly and wasteful.

From a tiny electric jolt when touching a doorknob to styrofoam peanuts that cling to a mischievous cat's fur-the well-known and seemingly simple phenomenon of static electricity has puzzled people since antiquity. How could this ubiquitous effect, frequently demonstrated to bedazzled children by rubbing a balloon on their hair, still not be completely understood by scientists? Static electricity goes by multiple names, but scientists prefer to call it 'contact electrification'.

Scientists at EPFL and the University of Southern Denmark have used holographic projections to bring unprecedented resolution to a light-based 3D printing technique. The method allows the fabrication of millimeter-scale objects within seconds using significantly less energy than previous approaches.

Breakthrough in materials research: an alloy of several metals has been developed that shows practically no thermal expansion over an extremely large temperature interval. Most metals expand when their temperature rises. The Eiffel Tower, for example, is around 10 to 15 centimetres taller in summer than in winter due to its thermal expansion.

A team of researchers from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) has developed an innovative technique that allows the production of regular oil lenses of uniform size on the surface of water in a simple and reproducible fashion. The technique will facilitate the study of the behaviour of oily substances dispersed on water surfaces.

The idea of traveling through interstellar space using spacecraft propelled by ultrathin sails may sound like the stuff of sci-fi novels. But in fact, a program started in 2016 by Stephen Hawking and Yuri Milner known as the Breakthrough Starshot Initiative has been exploring the idea. The concept is to use lasers to propel miniature space probes attached to "lightsails" to reach ultrafast speeds and eventually our nearest star system, Alpha Centauri.

Study Reveals for the First Time That Membrane Tension Regulates Cellular Repair One moment of carelessness and bang - you have cut your finger. It bleeds, but after a while the wound heals by itself. Every day, individual cells in our body also suffer "wounds" in their protective layer, the cell membrane, and have to repair them again.