Polymer

Piezoelectric materials convert mechanical stress into electricity, or vice versa, and can be useful in sensors, actuators and many other applications. But implementing piezoelectrics in polymers -- materials composed of molecular chains…

Strings of sugars called polysaccharides are the most abundant biopolymers on Earth. Because of their versatile and environmentally friendly properties, these molecules could eventually replace some plastics. Now, researchers reporting in…

The RBI has shelved its plan for polymer notes more than a decade after it invited interest from global manufacturers for one billion pieces of Rs 10 denomination polymer banknotes, reveals Tamal Bandyopadhyay. IMAGE: The Australian…

The development of highly secure but simple and inexpensive encryption technology for the prevention of data leaks and forgeries is decidedly challenging. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, a research team has introduced a "double lock"…

Researchers led by a team from the University of Massachusetts Amherst recently announced a major theoretical and experimental breakthrough that allows scientists to predict, with an unprecedented precision, when a soft material will crack…

Stretchy films and squishy gels help make wearable electronics, soft robotics and biocompatible tissues a reality. But too much force can cause these polymers to break apart without warning. To detect stress before it's too late,…

Hydrogen is considered a vital component of the energy transition: it can be produced from solar or wind power and therefore stores green energy in form of an environmentally friendly energy carrier, providing energy also at night and…

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…

All-polymer blend solar cells are expected to play an important role in the transition to clean energy technologies because they can be easily produced in large-scale flexible sheets. However, their performance has lagged behind that of…

A peptide sensor to detect water-soluble polymers in wastewater, a major contributor to pollution on par with microplastics, has been developed by scientists from Tokyo Institute of Technology. The new technique takes advantage of the…