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<p style="text-align:justify"><em>Supercapacitors have the superb ability to capture and store energy. Researchers can use different materials and fabrication methods to make them flexible, thin and appropriate for use in wearable or implantable electronics, like smart watches or pacemakers, but those approaches tend to be intricate and costly. Now, however, a team from Jilin University in China has developed a new type of all-in-one adhesive electrode that solves one of th...

<p style="text-align:justify"><em>Current lithium-ion battery technology does not have the energy density necessary to meet the demands for renewable energy. In theory, lithium-sulfur batteries could be a viable alternative with a higher specific capacity and energy density. However, sulfur has disadvantages that currently limit its practical adoption. </em></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><em>Zinc-air batteries are an inexpensive, powerful battery alternative that can be used on the small scale to power electronics or on the large scale for electric vehicles or energy storage. These batteries work when oxygen from the air oxidizes zinc, but the difficulty in oxygen activation, which degrades battery performance, has prevented their wide commercial adoption.</em></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><em>In recent years, carbon-based catalysts — especially nitrogen-doped nanocarbons — have emerged as sustainable, reliable alternatives to the metal catalysts that have traditionally been used to support chemical reactions. Researchers from Fuzhou University synthesized nanocarbons from guanine molecules to better understand the precise role nitrogen plays in the carbon-based materials and explore the reaction mechanisms of...

<p style="text-align:justify"><em>A researcher from the New Jersey Institute of Technology has published a perspective paper that examines sentience and its application to artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics. Sentience describes the ability to sense and feel, drawing its meaning from the Latin word </em>sentire<em> which means “to feel.” The paper addresses a set of ideological commitments at stake in debates over sentient machines. The...

<p style="text-align:justify"><em>Optoelectronics detect or emit light and are used in a variety of devices in many different industries. These devices have historically relied on thin transistors, which are small semiconductors that control the movement of electrons and photons, made out of graphene and other two-dimensional materials. However, graphene and these other materials often have problems with band gap opening and other shortcomings that have researchers searchin...

Researchers who are working to find alternatives to lithium-ion batteries have turned their attention to potassium-ion batteries. Potassium is an abundant resource and the technology functions in much the same way as lithium-ion batteries, but these batteries have not been developed at a large scale because the ionic radius causes problems in energy storage and substandard electrochemical performance.

The fuels used today depend heavily on petroleum. As the demand grows, scientists are looking for ways to produce fuels that do not require petroleum. A research team set out to examine the role of zeolites in the conversion of synthetic gas to fuels. Wanting to better understand how zeolites regulate the reaction pathways, they reviewed the most recent advancements in synthetic gas conversion with catalysts containing zeolites.

Scientists are looking to plant tissues that are capable of motion to inspire the design and fabrication of artificial actuators. These bioinspired actuators hold significant potential in applications, such as soft robotics, prosthetics, and smart biomedical devices. A research team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences has published a perspective paper focusing specifically on the ways plants regulate their motion speed and how this might be applied with artificial actuators.

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