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Category: nanotechnology

DGIST research teams have developed a self-powered sensor that uses motion and pressure to generate electricity and light simultaneously. This battery-free technology is expected to be used in various real-life applications, such as disaster rescue, sports, and wearable devices.

Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENG) and mechanoluminescence (ML) have attracted attention as green energy technologies that can generate electricity and light, respectively, without external power. However, researchers in previous studies mainly focused on the two technologies separately or simply combined them. Moreover, the power output stability of TENG and the insufficient luminous duration of ML materials have been major limitations for practical applications.

The research team has developed a system that generates electricity and light simultaneously using motion and pressure. They added light-emitting zinc sulfide-copper (ZnS: Cu) particles to a rubber-like material (polydimethylsiloxane [PDMS]) and designed a single electrode structure based on silver nanowires to obtain high efficiency. The developed device does not degrade in performance even after being repeatedly pressed more than 5,000 times, and it stably generates voltages of up to 60 V and a current of 395 nA.

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As the fundamental flaw of today’s quantum computers, improving qubit stability remains the focus of much research in this field. One such stability attempt involves so-called topological quantum computing with the use of anyons, which are two-dimensional quasiparticles. Such an approach has been claimed by Microsoft in a recent paper in Nature. This comes a few years after an earlier claim by Microsoft for much the same feat, which was found to be based on faulty science and hence retracted.

The claimed creation of anyons here involves Majorana fermions, which differ from the much more typical Dirac fermions. These Majorana fermions are bound with other such fermions as a Majorana zero mode (MZM), forming anyons that are intertwined (braided) to form what are in effect logic gates. In the Nature paper the Microsoft researchers demonstrate a superconducting indium-arsenide (InAs) nanowire-based device featuring a read-out circuit (quantum dot interferometer) with the capacitance of one of the quantum dots said to vary in a way that suggests that the nanowire device-under-test demonstrates the presence of MZMs at either end of the wire.

Microsoft has a dedicated website to their quantum computing efforts, though it remains essential to stress that this is not a confirmation until their research is replicated by independent researchers. If confirmed, MZMs could provide a way to create more reliable quantum computing circuitry that does not have to lean so heavily on error correction to get any usable output. Other, competing efforts here include such things as hybrid mechanical qubits and antimony-based qubits that should be more stable owing to their eight spin configurations.

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Researchers, including those from the University of Tokyo, developed Deep Nanometry, an analytical technique combining advanced optical equipment with a noise removal algorithm based on unsupervised deep learning.

Deep Nanometry can analyze nanoparticles in medical samples at high speed, making it possible to accurately detect even trace amounts of rare particles. This has proven its potential for detecting indicating early signs of colon cancer, and it is hoped that it can be applied to other medical and industrial fields.

The body is full of smaller than cells. These include extracellular vesicles (EVs), which can be useful in early disease detection and also in drug delivery.

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Plastic that conducts electricity might sound impossible. But there is a special class of materials known as “electronic polymers” that combines the flexibility of plastic with the functionality of metal. This type of material opens the door for breakthroughs in wearable devices, printable electronics and advanced energy storage systems.

Yet, making thin films from electronic polymers has always been a difficult task. It takes a lot of fine-tuning to achieve the right balance of physical and . Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory have created an innovative solution to this challenge with artificial intelligence (AI).

They used an AI-driven, automated materials laboratory, a tool called Polybot, to explore processing methods and produce high-quality films. Polybot is located at the Center for Nanoscale Materials, a DOE Office of Science user facility at Argonne.

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Finding the right lubricant for the right purpose is a task that is often extremely important in industry. Not only to reduce friction, overheating and wear, but also to save energy. At TU Wien, the research groups of Prof Carsten Gachot (Tribology, Mechanical Engineering) and Prof Dominik Eder (Chemistry) are therefore working together to develop innovative, improved lubricants.

The team has now presented a new type of material with special properties: The lubricant COK-47 is not liquid like lubricating oil, but a powdery solid substance. On a nanoscale, it consists of stacks of atomically thin sheets, like a tiny stack of cards.

When the material comes into contact with , these platelets can slide past each other very easily—a so-called tribofilm is created, which ensures extremely low . This makes COK-47 a highly interesting in .

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Researchers have developed a freely available droplet microfluidic component library, which promises to transform the way microfluidic devices are created. This innovation, based on low-cost rapid prototyping and electrode integration, makes it possible to fabricate microfluidic devices for under $12 each, with a full design-build-test cycle completed within a single day. The components are biocompatible, high-throughput, and capable of performing multistep workflows, such as droplet generation, sensing, sorting, and anchoring, all critical for automating microfluidic design and testing.

Microfluidics, particularly droplet-based systems, has become a promising technology for diverse fields, including protein engineering, single-cell sequencing, and nanoparticle synthesis. However, the traditional methods of fabricating —typically using PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane)—are time-consuming and costly, often requiring cleanroom facilities or external vendors.

While alternatives like laser cutting and 3D printing have been explored, these methods often suffer from limitations in resolution, material compatibility, and scalability. As a result, there has been an urgent need for a more efficient, cost-effective, and accessible fabrication method to help propel innovation in microfluidic technology.

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Scientists are racing to develop new materials for quantum technologies in computing and sensing for ultraprecise measurements. For these future technologies to transition from the laboratory to real-world applications, a much deeper understanding is needed of the behavior near surfaces, especially those at interfaces between materials.

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory have unveiled a new technique that could help advance the development of quantum technology. Their innovation, surface-sensitive spintronic (SSTS), provides an unprecedented look at how behave at interfaces.

The work is published in the journal Science Advances.

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“ tabindex=”0” quantum computing and secure communications. Scientists have optimized materials and processes, making these detectors more efficient than ever.

Revolutionizing Electronics with Photon Detection

Light detection plays a crucial role in modern technology, from high-speed communication to quantum computing and sensing. At the heart of these systems are photon detectors, which identify and measure individual light particles (photons). One highly effective type is the superconducting nanowire single-photon detector (SNSPD). These detectors use ultra-thin superconducting wires that instantly switch from a superconducting state to a resistive state when struck by a photon, enabling extremely fast detection.

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