An international team of researchers has demonstrated a technique for producing perovskite photovoltaic materials on an industrial scale, which will reduce the cost and improve the performance of mass-produced perovskite solar cells. The technique is low-cost, simple, energy-efficient, and should pave the way for creating perovskite solar cells. Perovskite is of interest for solar cells…

Synthetic polymers have changed the world around us. However, It is hard to finely tune some of their properties, such as the ability to transport ions. To overcome this problem, researchers decided to take inspiration from nature and created a new class of polymers based on protein-like materials that work as proton conductors and might…

A new high-temperature polymer fuel cell that operates at 80-160 degrees Celsius, with a higher-rated power density than state-of-the-art fuel cells, solves the longstanding problem of overheating, one of the most significant technical barriers to using medium-and heavy-duty fuel cells in transportation vehicles such as trucks and buses. Because current fuel cells operate at 60-80…

A recent study has revealed how future structures of MOPs can be predicted and designed at the molecular level. The discovery of new structures holds tremendous promise for accessing advanced functional materials in energy and environmental applications. A research team, led by Professor Wonyoung Choe in the Department of Chemistry at Ulsan National Institute of…

Understanding the Sun’s magnetic dynamo could help predict solar weather, such as potentially dangerous geothermal storms, solar flares and sunspots. Mathematicians have proposed a new model of the Sun that matches observed data. The Sun’s internal magnetic field is directly responsible for space weather — streams of high-energy particles from the Sun that can be…

A metabolic engineering research group has developed a strategy to grow an E. coli strain to higher cell density solely on CO2 and formic acid. Formic acid is a one carbon carboxylic acid, and can be easily produced from CO2 using a variety of methods. Now, a metabolic engineering research group at KAIST has developed…

For more than a century, scientists have squabbled over how Earth’s moon formed. Now researchers say they may have the answer. Many theorists believe a Mars-sized object slammed into the early Earth, and material dislodged from that collision formed the basis of the moon. When this idea was tested in computer simulations, it turned out…

Daylight passing through smart windows results in almost complete disinfection of surfaces within 24 hours while still blocking harmful ultraviolet (UV) light, according to new research. For this research, she tested four strains of hazardous bacteria — methicillin-resistance Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, E. coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa — using a mini-living lab set-up. The lab…

The mechanism behind one of the first stages of coal creation may not be what we thought it was, according to a team of researchers who found that microbes were responsible for coal formation and production of methane in these areas, which has implications for methane fuel recovery from some coal fields. The researchers looked…

Electrolytic hydrogen production powered by renewable energy is seen as an environmentally friendly means to ameliorate global climate and energy problems. A research team has now introduced a novel and inexpensive material for electrodes that may provide for highly efficient, energy-saving hydrogen production: porous, phosphorized CoNi2S4 yolk-shell nanospheres. Both half reactions of water electrolysis —…