University of California

Applications of Printed Electronics in Health Monitoring

A really strong theme of 2016FLEX was applications in wearable technologies, and in particular in health monitoring. This article summarizes some of the key announcements and progress being made in this area.

Researchers turn carbon dioxide into sustainable concrete

A team of researchers has been working on a unique solution to create a closed-loop process: capturing carbon from power plant smokestacks and using it to create a new building material — CO2NCRETE — that would be fabricated using 3D printers.

New fuel cell design powered by graphene-wrapped nanocrystals

Hydrogen is the lightest and most plentiful element on Earth and in our universe. So it shouldn't be a big surprise that scientists are pursuing hydrogen as a clean, carbon-free, virtually limitless energy source for cars and for a range of other uses, from portable generators to telecommunications towers—with water as the only byproduct of combustion.

Nanomotors could help create self-healing electronics

As electronics grow ever more intricate, so must the tools required to fix them. Anticipating this challenge, scientists turned to the body's immune system for inspiration and have now built self-propelled nanomotors that can seek out and repair tiny scratches to electronic systems.

Researchers find security breach in 3D printing process

With findings that could have been taken from the pages of a spy novel, researchers have demonstrated that they can purloin intellectual property by recording and processing sounds emitted by a 3D printer.

New form of electron-beam imaging

The MIDI-STEM technique could prove particularly useful for directly viewing nanoscale objects with a mixture of heavy and light materials, such as some battery and energy-harvesting materials, that are otherwise difficult to view together at atomic resolution.

Researchers 3D print ultralight supercapacitors

For the first time ever, scientists have successfully 3D-printed supercapacitors using an ultra-lightweight graphene aerogel, opening the door to novel, unconstrained designs of highly efficient energy storage systems for smartphones, wearables, implantable devices, electric cars and wireless sensors.

X-rays reveal details of plastic solar cell production

Plastic solar cells are light, easy to install, and readily produced using a printer. Nevertheless, the processes that take place on the molecular scale during the production of organic solar cells are not yet entirely clear.

What new wearable sensors can reveal from perspiration

Researchers say this device is the first fully integrated electronic system that can provide continuous, non-invasive monitoring of multiple biochemicals in sweat.

Seeing the big picture in photosynthetic light harvesting

To understand the photosynthetic light-harvesting that takes place inside the chloroplast of a leaf, you can't just study the activity of a single antenna protein.

Scientists create nano-reactor for the production of hydrogen biofuel

Scientists have created a highly efficient biomaterial that catalyzes the formation of hydrogen -- one half of the "holy grail" of splitting H2O to make hydrogen and oxygen for fueling cheap and efficient cars that run on water.

2D Islands in graphene hold promise for future device fabrication

In what could prove to be a significant advance in the fabrication of graphene-based nanodevices, a team of Berkeley Lab researchers has discovered a new mechanism for assembling two-dimensional (2D) molecular "islands" that could be used to modify graphene at the nanometer scale.

New hybrid electrolyte for solid-state lithium batteries

Scientists have developed a novel electrolyte for use in solid-state lithium batteries that overcomes many of the problems that plague other solid electrolytes while also showing signs of being compatible with next-generation cathodes.

Domain size and purity key to efficient organic solar cells

As solar energy becomes more popular, the drive to create more efficient, less expensive solar cells increases.

Future batteries could charge in 30 seconds

Future cell phones and other electronics could have batteries that charge in less than a minute. This new capability will be in part thanks to a space experiment using hard, flexible material as a clean power source.

Engineer to build device to capture lost heat energy

An engineer is co-leading a team that is seeking ways to harness heat energy lost from automobiles, buildings and other devices.

Nanotechnology device to simplify blood sugar testing

This innovation depends on an injectable, near-infrared optical biosensor nanotube that would read a person's blood glucose constantly and an optical glucose scanner that can access the data collected by nanotube.

Study shows some 3D printed objects are toxic

Researchers have found parts produced by some commercial 3D printers are toxic to certain fish embryos. Their results have raised questions about how to dispose of parts and waste materials from 3D printers.

Coming to a monitor near you: a defect-free, molecule-thick film

An emerging class of atomically thin materials known as monolayer semiconductors has generated a great deal of buzz in the world of materials science.

New 3-D printing method creates complex micro objects

The technique, using patterned ultraviolet light and a custom-shaped flow of polymer material, creates 3-D objects that can be first designed with software and could be used in a variety of biomedical and industrial applications.