Daily Magazine

For years, scientists have struggled to build graphene-based electronics that could do the same thing as silicon superconductor chips. A new breakthrough from an international team of scientists might just change all that. These geniuses just invented a new form of graphene that's ten times more conductive.

The trick to this new form of graphene is that it allows electrons to act like photons. The impressive material is simply nanoribbons of epitaxial graphene—that's the honeycomb arrangement of carbon atoms you're used to seeing to illustrate graphene—that's manufactured using a relatively simple process.

The scientists grew the nanoribbons on silicone carbide wafers in which they had etched circuit patterns using standard microelectronics techniques. The silicone was then heated to about 1,000º Celsius, melting the silicone off and leaving these novel graphene nanoribbons with perfectly smooth edges. The graphene forms spontaneously on the etched edges of the silicon.

.

Via Gust MEES

Researchers show that materials called piezoelectrics, packaged onto flexible strips attached to animal hearts, can supply power for medical devices where batteries pose problems. Read this article by Stephen Shankland on CNET News.

Via Gust MEES

Nanowire field-effect sensors show significant advantages of real-time, label-free and highly sensitive detection of a wide range of analytes in liquid phase, including proteins, nucleic acids, small molecules, and viruses in single-element or multiplexed formats. Motivated by the unique features of these sensors and the ease to integrate them in the currently available VLSI technology, researchers used molecularly modified silicon nanowire FETs to detect volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that are associated with environmental pollution, quality control, explosive materials, or various diseases.

Via Gust MEES