News

The main characteristic of Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) is that the pulsed or unpulsed DC or AC current directly passes through the graphite die as well as the powder compact, in case of conductive samples.

The main characteristic of Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) is that the pulsed or unpulsed DC or AC current directly passes through the graphite die, as well as the powder compact, in case of conductive samples. Joule heating has been found to play a dominant role in the densification of powder compacts, which results in achieving near theoretical density at lower sintering temperature compared to conventional sintering techniques.

Alloys that can return to their original structure after being deformed have a so-called shape memory. This phenomenon and the resulting forces are used in many mechanical actuating systems, for example in generators or hydraulic pumps. However, it has not been possible to use this shape-memory effect at a small nanoscale: Objects made of shape-memory alloy can only change back to their original shape if they are larger than around 50 nanometers.

In many respects, the human brain is still superior to modern computers. Although most people can’t do math as fast as a computer, we can effortlessly process complex sensory information and learn from experiences, while a computer cannot – at least not yet. And, the brain does all this by consuming less than half as much energy as a laptop.

The RoHS concept (Restriction of the use of certain Hazardous Substances) since 2006, requires that many electrical and electronic equipment must no longer contain a concentration by atomic weight of more than 0.1% of Pb, Me, Cr (hexavalent) etc…

For the last few decades, battery research has largely focused on rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, which are used in everything from electric cars to portable electronics and have improved dramatically in terms of affordability and capacity. But nonrechargeable batteries have seen little improvement during that time, despite their crucial role in many important uses such as implantable medical devices like pacemakers.

Nanoparticles, or tiny molecules that can deliver a payload of drug treatments and other agents, show great promise for treating cancers. Scientists can build them in various shapes with different materials, often as porous, crystal-like structures formed by a lattice of metal and organic compounds, or as capsules that enclose their contents inside a shell. When injected into a tumor, these particles can release treatments that attack cancer cells directly or complement other treatments like immunotherapy and radiation.

Researchers at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) are pursuing a completely new and unconventional strategy to improve the way data can be processed and – in particular – stored. Together with their partners at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, they have been granted funding by the Carl Zeiss Foundation (CZS). The project of this interdisciplinary team is among a total of five projects – all at early stages and considered to be especially innovative – to be funded through the new CZS Wildcard program. The team members, based in Mainz and Jerusalem, have come up with the idea of bringing together two different forms of chirality to develop new data storage systems that are faster, smaller, and more efficient than those currently available.

In a study published in Nature (“Functional CeOx nanoglues for robust atomically dispersed catalysts”), a research team led by Prof. ZENG Jie from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and international collaborators developed a novel “nanoglue” strategy to stabilize atomically dispersed metal catalysts.