University of Tokyo

Producing electrical power with cardboard, tape, and a pencil

A small device made from everyday materials can generate enough energy to power several diodes.

Flexible and transparent pressure sensor

Healthcare practitioners may one day be able to physically screen for breast cancer using pressure-sensitive rubber gloves to detect tutors.

Good solar cells from bad effects

Researchers used numerical simulations to demonstrate that energy dissipation and decoherence, which were thought to reduce solar cell efficiency, are counterintuitively helpful for the development of more efficient photovoltaics

Researchers develop tougher glass

Japanese researchers say they have developed a new type of glass which is almost as hard as steel, which could be ideal for screens used in mobile devices and displays.

Paper tubes make stiff origami structures

From shipping and construction to outer space, origami could put a folded twist on structural engineering.

Printable elastic conductors with a high conductivity

Researchers have developed a new ink that can be printed on textiles in a single step to form highly conductive and stretchable connections.

Breakthrough graphene production, revolution in artificial skin

A pioneering new technique to produce high-quality, low cost graphene could pave the way for the development of the first truly flexible 'electronic skin', that could be used in robots.

Key to quick battery charging time

Researchers have discovered the structure and transport properties of the "intermediate state" in lithium-ion batteries - key to understanding the mechanisms of charge and discharge in rechargeable batteries.

New electronic paper could make inexpensive electronic displays

Researchers have revamped an old e-paper concept to make an inexpensive handwriting-enabled e-paper well suited to large displays like whiteboards.

Will Printed Electronics & 3D Printing disrupt PCB rapid prototyping?

The vast majority of electronic circuits are currently made using Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) that are both rigid and flat. The market for traditional Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) currently stands at around $60bn. This established technology is used across a variety of different final applications. Several technologies related to traditional PCBs are now emerging in the form of commercial products that address one or more of the limitations with traditional PCBs. Some of these new technologies aim to improve the current workflow by allowing traditional PCB designs to be prototyped more quickly, cheaply and locally. Other new technologies aim to fill gaps in markets such as wearable technologies where rigid PCBs have significant limitations. Finally, some new technologies promise to completely revolutionise the electronics industry by allowing fully 3D printed electronics with traces and components used anywhere inside an object.

Fever alarm armband wearable temperature sensor

Researchers have developed a "fever alarm armband," a flexible, self-powered wearable device that sounds an alarm in case of high body temperature.

Ocean current power generation system

The unique "underwater floating type ocean current turbine system" developed by IHI and Toshiba will demonstrate power generation in a real ocean environment.

Printed RFID Tag from Japanese Consortium

Under the NEDO project, a group consisting of The University of Tokyo and others successfully transmitted an unique identification signal at a commercial frequency using high performance organic thin film transistor that can be manufactured by print process.

Boosting microelectronics with a little liquid logic

have now discovered a way to sweep away the stray charges that typically degrade the performance of ferroelectric materials by using an ionic liquid.

Innovative rechargeable battery

Researchers have developed a new rechargeable battery system operating on a redox reaction between oxide and peroxide in the cathode.

New implanted devices may reshape medicine

Researchers from The University of Texas at Dallas and the University of Tokyo have created electronic devices that become soft when implanted inside the body and can deploy to grip 3-D objects, such as large tissues, nerves and blood vessels.

Engineers show how to optimize carbon nanotube arrays for hot spots

Experimental evidence and computer simulations suggest how to grow structures with the best trade offs between three desired characteristics: strength, flexibility and the ability to dissipate heat.