In most universes and dimensions, the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. This statement is true in the electronic realm as well. Now, researchers at the University of Michigan have aligned molecules of semiconducting polymers so that electricity can flow more easily. The innovation could create a breakthrough for computer processors, LED [...]
Wearable Polymer Becomes a Power Source
February 19, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Imagine being able to wear something that can generate electricity. That’s what some scientists in South Korea have come up with: a material that exploits a polymer with electrically conductive properties known as PEDOT, or poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene, to build an organic thermoelectric generator (TEG). Because the polymer can be formulated into a flexible, cuttable film, it [...]
Thin-Film Solar Cell Improves Efficiency
February 18, 2013 By Leave a Comment
A breakthrough has been achieved in efficiency with silicon solar photovoltaic cells. EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland) has produced a single-junction microcrystalline silicon solar cell that has a 10.7% efficiency rating, a world record, the institute claims. The rating passed the previous highest rating of 10.1% held by the Japanese company, Kaneka [...]
Lab Helps Make Polymer Solar Cells Efficient
January 10, 2013 By 1 Comment
In the quest for the most efficient polymer-based organic photovoltaic cell, scientists have discovered that size matters. Photovoltaic devices are less expensive to manufacture that silicon-based solar cells, reports e! Science News. The key to their efficiency, scientists have believed for quite a while, has been found in the purity of the polymer/organic cell’s two [...]
Virginia Tech Student Wins Solar Electricity Award
September 19, 2012 By 1 Comment
Solar energy production has its barriers to being more widely used, but there are conditions in the nation that create opportunities to store solar energy in existing residential power networks, writes a doctoral candidate at Virginia Tech University. Reza Arghandeh of Blacksburg, VA, won the best student paper award at the 20th International Conference on Nuclear [...]
Scientists Make More Uses for Polymers
May 22, 2012 By 1 Comment
Scientists from the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, VA, have developed a process that incorporates graphene oxide into polymers, which forms a range of enhanced plastics that are super-strong and super-versatile. The research adds to a growing field that finds more ways to toughen polymers. Graphene is one hundred times stronger than steel. [...]
Scientists Create Plastic Solar Cell
April 27, 2012 By 3 Comments
Scientists have discovered a method using polymers that could allow improved solar cells to be manufactured more cheaply and with more flexibility. Manufacturers already print or roll material onto surfaces to produce an electronically functional device, writes Jennifer Hicks in Forbes. This process is used to make organic solar cells and organic light-emitting diodes that [...]
