King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST)

Smart skin for flexible monitoring

An electronic tag that stretches and flexes while it records location and environmental data can monitor marine animals in their natural habitat as reported in Printed Electronics World.

Clear leads to fully transparent devices

Large-area, two-dimensional semiconductors wired through transparent oxide conductors produce high-performance see-through electronics.

Flexible batteries for smart dental aids

Smart 3D-printed braces that incorporate nontoxic batteries and lights could reduce the time and costs involved in realigning and straightening teeth.

Thermoelectric developments continue

Despite a speed up of electrification which is bad news for thermoelectric based waste heat recovery in internal combustion engines, not all has been bad for this energy harvesting technology.

A simple additive to improve film quality

Thin films for use in solar cells are more effective when simple chemicals called glycol ethers are added to the film-forming mix.

QD Solar secures Series A Financing from an international consortium

QD Solar has announced the closing of Series A funding led by DSM Venturing with participation from existing investors, KAUST Innovation Fund and MaRS Innovation.

A good idea bubbles to the surface

Single thin-film crystals are required to utilize promising hybrid organic/inorganic perovskite materials to develop solar cells. Researchers have now shown how imploding bubbles in a solution can grow single crystals of the preferred orientation for manufacturing thin films.

Catching more of the sun

Combining quantum dots and organic molecules can enable solar cells to capture more of the sun's light.

Paper skin sensors for environmental monitoring

A paper-based sensor that mimics the sensory functions of human skin has been developed for the first time from low-cost and commonly available household materials.

Blackest material ever made sets new record

The perfect black body exists only in textbooks, absorbing as it does, theoretically, all energy hitting its surface and then subsequently emitting that energy without loss.

Stretchable far-field communication antenna for wearables

Due to the complex structuring, asymmetric surface of human body and atypical motion such as stretching in elbow, finger joints, wrist, knee, ankle, etc. electronics integrated to body need to be physically flexible, conforming and stretchable.

New family of light-converting materials

Engineers are shining new light on an emerging family of solar-absorbing materials that could clear the way for cheaper and more efficient solar panels and LEDs.

Remarkable flexibility with silicon-based electronic devices

Use of industry-compatible processes to demonstrate the most advanced transistor architecture on a flexible platform, with transistor obtaining a bending radius of 0.5 mm.

Smart sensors for better and safer living

Researchers claim a new system of mobile, floatable sensing, called Lagrangian sensing, is very promising for large scale sensing, or on-demand sensing, as it requires minimal infrastructure.

Quantum Materials Corporation (QTMM)

Quantum Materials Corp is using two proprietary disruptive technologies (1) a novel QD synthesis method licensed from Rice University, and (2) industrial scale production of QD using advanced flow chemistry microreactor technology to produce tetrapod quantum dots. QMC's strategy is to use its strengths in quantum dot synthesis and mass production, along with quantum dot printing abilities in creating new product paradigms in industrial and commercial applications.

Tiny power generator runs on spit

Saliva-powered micro-sized microbial fuel cells can produce minute amounts of energy sufficient to run on-chip applications, according to an international team of engineers.

Harvesting energy from chaos

Researchers have conducted groundbreaking work on wave propagation in complex systems.

Thermoelectric windows

A team of scientists has explored a novel idea to integrate micro- to nanoscale thermoelectric materials with the window glasses to generate thermoelectricity based on the temperature difference that exists between the hot outside and relatively cold inside.

Researchers develop polymer electronics to trace banknotes

Researchers at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) Functional Nanomaterials and Devices Laboratory have developed the first all-polymer non-volatile memory device on a banknote.