National Institute of Standards & Technology NIST

Optical trackers follow moving objects precisely

Throwing a perfect strike in virtual bowling doesn't require your gaming system to precisely track the position and orientation of your swinging arm. But if you're operating a robotic forklift around a factory the ability to pinpoint exactly where it is in three-dimensional space is critical.

Creating 3-D hands to keep us safe, increase security

Creating a 3-D replica of someone's hand complete with all five fingerprints and breaking into a secure vault sounds like a plot from a James Bond movie.

Proton diffusion discovery a boost for fuel cell technologies

Scientists at the University of Liverpool have made an important breakthrough which could lead to the design of better fuel cell materials.

Trapped electrons to blame for lack of battery efficiency

Research has the potential to create more efficient batteries by shedding light on the cause of one of their biggest problems -- a "traffic jam" of ions that slows down their charging and discharging process.

Rechargeable batteries that crush the competition

By chemically modifying and pulverizing a promising group of compounds, scientists have potentially brought safer, solid-state rechargeable batteries two steps closer to reality.

Nanotubes line up to form films

A simple filtration process helped researchers create flexible, wafer-scale films of highly aligned and closely packed carbon nanotubes.

BroadBit

Broadbit is a start up that develops metallic sodium battery technologies using solid sodium as electrode.

$160 million to be spent creating smart cities

The US Administration is announcing a new "Smart Cities" Initiative that will invest over $160 million in federal research and leverage more than 25 new technology collaborations to help local communities tackle key challenges such as reducing traffic congestion, fighting crime, fostering economic growth, managing the effects of a changing climate, and improving the delivery of city services.

Quick testing of candidate material for organic solar cells

Hunting for the best material from which to build organic solar cells can be like seeking the proverbial haystack needle, but now scientists may have a better search tool for the nascent industry.

Research roadmap traces the path to 'smart' fire fighting

A new Research Roadmap for Smart Fire Fighting charts the path toward overcoming technical obstacles so that those interconnected technologies, known collectively as cyberphysical systems, can be harnessed to greatly improve fire-protection and fire-fighting capabilities.

Greater than 99% semiconducting single-wall carbon nanotubes

SouthWest NanoTechnologies has received an SBIR Phase 1 Award from the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Scientists shed light on organic photovoltaic characteristics

Scientists have developed a method that allows the prediction of the current density-voltage curve of a photovoltaic device.

Lithium sulfur: a battery revolution on the cheap?

Whip together an industrial waste product and a bit of plastic and you might have the recipe for the next revolution in battery technology.

Novel laser system mimics sunlight to test solar cell efficiency

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a laser-based instrument that generates artificial sunlight to help test solar cell properties and find ways to boost their efficiency.

NCNR neutrons highlight possible battery candidate

Analysis of a manganese-based crystal by scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has produced the first clear picture of its molecular structure.

Characterizing solar cells with nanoscale precision

Researchers have demonstrated a new low energy electron beam technique and used it to probe the nanoscale electronic properties of grain boundaries and grain interiors in cadmium telluride (CdTe) solar cells.

Researchers find a cause of lithium-ion battery degradation in EVs

A new study of the batteries commonly used in hybrid and electric-only cars has revealed an unexpected factor that could limit the performance of batteries currently on the road.

nanoComposix

nanoComposix specializes in the fabrication, characterization, and integration of nanomaterials into products and systems.

'Cloning' could make structurally pure nanotubes for nanoelectronics

Researchers have demonstrated a technique for growing virtually pure samples of single-wall carbon nanotubes with identical structures, a process they liken to "cloning" the nanotubes.

Heartbeat power runs pacemaker

An experimental device converted energy from a beating heart to provide enough electricity to power a pacemaker , in a study presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2012.