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A UK-based clean technology leader – Oxford PV – recently set a new world record for conversion efficiency in a perovskite solar technology. These highly efficient solar panels have been touted by many to be the next step in the future of photovoltaics.

The new breed of electronic devices is all-digital and nanosized. However, to make these devices work, innovative materials solutions are required. New research from an international team headed by scientists at Russia’s South Ural State University has identified a nanocomposite material comprised of magnesium oxide (MgO) and barium titanate (BaTiO3).

The rapid increase in the world’s population has subsequently increased the demand for food supply. Farmers often lose their agricultural produce due to pathogenic infestations, poor soil conditions, water, and environmental factors. Scientists believe nanobiosensors can play a crucial role in revolutionizing the farming system by determining threats to prevent agricultural loss.

Scientists worldwide are trying hard to combat the spread of COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) with various technologies and approaches. Nanotechnologists are at the forefront of this vital mission, with one pioneering University of Houston scientist having already found an application for his research.

Thin film technology – the application of materials ranging between several micrometers and a fraction of a nanometer in thickness – is increasingly becoming a major focus of scientific and technological approaches to tackling climate change. A number of green thin film technologies are in use today or are being developed, from successful experiments with thin film biofilters to the growing use of thin film battery technology, and now to the mainstream application of thin film photovoltaics.

Thin-film optics is the branch of optics that focuses on thin, structured layers of different materials. These layers range from a fraction of a nanometer up to several micrometers thick but are usually in the order of the wavelengths of ultraviolet light, which is about 500nm. Their synthesis is controlled via deposition, with one or more layers of material layered onto the substrate, usually via physical vapor deposition.

Liquid crystals (LCs) are optically anisotropic materials, and they are widely used in electro-optical display technology, known as liquid crystal displays (LCDs).

A joint research team from Fudan University, Institute of Physics at Chinese Academy of Science, University of Cambridge, Wenzhou University, Shizuoka University, and Iowa State University has provided an example of on-demand control of quantum phenomena to design the quantum materials.

Imagine catching a comet.
Comets are clusters of frozen gases passing close to the Earth at high speed, whose fate is to gradually evaporate until disappearing.