Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) researchers have devised a technique that allows  supramolecules (self-assembling nanoparticle arrays) to form a highly ordered thin film over macroscopic (large-scale) distances in one minute, instead of hours.

The supramolecules are based on block copolymers that were combined with gold nanoparticles to create nanocomposites. Under solvent annealing, these quickly self-assembled into hierarchically structured thin films spanning an area of several square… read more

Researchers at the University of California, Riverside have developed a new graphene-based nanoscale architecture that improves the performance of supercapacitors, a development that could mean faster acceleration in electric vehicles and longer battery life in portable electronics.

A supercapacitor is an energy storage device like a battery. The new design is based on ruthenium oxide anchored on a graphene foam electrode. It could deliver two times… read more

University of Central Florida researchers have invented a way to store energy in a copper wire by wrapping a supercapacitor* sheath around a core conductor wire, acting as a battery to power a connected device.

Applications could include electrical vehicles, space-launch vehicles, and portable electronic devices. By being able to store and conduct energy on the same wire, heavy, space-consuming batteries could become a thing of the… read more

Cadmium arsenide could yield practical devices with the same extraordinary electronic properties as 2D graphene, researchers from Oxford, SLAC, and Berkeley Lab have found.

In addition, the new “semimetal” material exists in a sturdy 3D form that should be much easier to shape into electronic devices such as very fast transistors, sensors and transparent electrodes, the researchers say.

The results are described… read more