Single-walled carbon nanotube semiconductors could be favorable for photovoltaic systems.

Researchers at the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) discovered single-walled carbon nanotube semiconductors could be favorable for photovoltaic systems because they can potentially convert sunlight to electricity or fuels without losing much energy.

The research builds on the Nobel Prize-winning work of Rudolph Marcus, who developed a fundamental tenet of physical chemistry that explains the rate at which an electron can move from one chemical to another. The Marcus formulation, however, has rarely been used to study photoinduced electron transfer for emerging organic semiconductors such as single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) that can be used in organic PV devices.

To read more about the work being done by Jeffrey Blackburn, a senior scientist at NREL and the team from Colorado State University go here. To visit Skyspring Nanomaterials, Inc. and learn more about our single-walled, carbon nanotubes go here.

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In computing, this represents lightning-fast processor speed limits.

The research team, headed by Zhenqiang (Jack) Ma, the Lynn H. Matthias Professor in Engineering and Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor in electrical and computer engineering, and research scientist Jung-Hun Seo, designed a transistor that works at a record 38 gigahertz, even though their simulations highlight that the transistor is also capable of working at an overwhelming record of 110 gigahertz.

 

The high performance transistor uses less energy and works more efficiently with its novel, three-dimensional current-flow pattern. The researchers’ method allows the transistor to cut narrower trenches than that performed by the standard fabrication processes. The method also helps semiconductor manufacturers to squeeze an increasing number of transistors onto a single electronic device. Read more here. Visit Skyspring Nanomaterials here.

Cadmium Selenide surrounded by a Zinc Sulfide shell which then transfer the absorbed energy to layers of Tin Disulfide.

Harnessing the power of the sun and creating light-harvesting or light-sensing devices requires a material that both absorbs light efficiently and converts the energy to highly mobile electrical current. Finding the ideal mix of properties in a single material is a challenge, so scientists have been experimenting with ways to combine different materials to create “hybrids” with enhanced features.

The hybrid material exhibited enhanced light-harvesting properties through the absorption of light by the quantum dots and their energy transfer to tin disulfide, both in laboratory tests and when incorporated into electronic devices. The research paves the way for using these materials in optoelectronic applications such as energy-harvesting photovoltaics, light sensors, and light emitting diodes (LEDs).

Mircea Cotlet is the physical chemist who led this work at Brookhaven Lab’s Center for Functional Nanomaterials.

To read more about Mircea’s work, navigate here. To visit Skyspring go here.

Newly synthesized, ultrathin Si nanosheets are key components in the production of ever smaller electronic devices.

Silicon nanosheets (SiNSs) are one of most exciting recent discoveries. Owing to their unbeatable electro-optical properties and compatibility with existing silicon technology, SiNSs have been the most promising candidate for use in various applications, such as in the process of manufacturing semiconductors and producing hydrogen. Learn more about the research being done by Prof. Jae Sung Lee and Prof. Soojin Park of Energy and Chemical Engineering at UNIST here. And please visit Skyspring here.

Nanotechnology will play a major role in today’s contemporay life.

A matter’s physical properties, including its chemical reactivity, electrical conductivity, and melting point, become relatively different at the nanometer scale. The performance of a device would be affected if its size is reduced. Mastering this technology would not only help to enhance electronics, but it would also aid in improving different aspects of modern life. Dr. Themis Prodromakis discusses how here.