Advanced Materials

An exciting advance in solar cell technology developed at the University of Kansas has produced the world's most efficient photovoltaic cells made from nanocarbons, materials that have the potential to dramatically drop the costs of PV technology in the future.

Graphene has long shown potential for use in electronics, but difficulties in producing the material to a high enough quality has so far prevented the commercialisation of graphene-based devices.

University of New Hampshire researchers and Conductive Compounds Inc. in Hudson recently received $450,000 from the National Science Foundation to help produce more conductive and cost-effective solar panels.

Graphene promises to offer excellent material properties in almost all applications. Its extraordinary performance has led many to call it the 'superlative' or 'wonder' material. However, the reality is different.

Seng Ghee Tan at the A*STAR Data Storage Institute and co-workers at the National University of Singapore have now shown that graphene has additional applications in magnetic data storage.