/ en-us Â鶹ÒùÔº internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Â鶹ÒùÔºics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. A collaborative research team has successfully developed a self-powered pollution prevention technology that can remove pollutants from the surface of solar panels without external power. This technology uses a wind-powered rotational triboelectric nanogenerator to generate power and combines said power with electrodynamic screen (EDS) technology to move dust in the desired direction for removal. /news/2025-07-powered-solar-panels-generated-electricity.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Mon, 21 Jul 2025 15:35:04 EDT news672330898 Researchers at Boise State University have developed a novel, environmentally friendly triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) that is fully printed and capable of harvesting biomechanical and environmental energy while also functioning as a real-time motion sensor. The innovation leverages a composite of Poly (vinyl butyral-co-vinyl alcohol-co-vinyl acetate) (PVBVA) and MXene (Ti3C2Tx) nanosheets, offering a sustainable alternative to conventional TENGs that often rely on fluorinated polymers and complex fabrication. /news/2025-06-mxene-polymer-composite-enables-eco.html Nanomaterials Mon, 16 Jun 2025 17:10:06 EDT news669312601 The behavior of water at hydrophobic interfaces has perplexed scientists for over a century, spanning chemistry, biology, materials science, geology, and engineering. Recent discoveries—such as the anomalous chemistry of water microdroplets and contact electro-catalysis—highlight the pivotal role of interfacial water. /news/2025-03-unfamiliar-familiar-substance-extraordinary-interfacial.html Analytical Chemistry Wed, 19 Mar 2025 17:02:03 EDT news661622521 An international team of researchers has discovered a new method to generate electricity using small plastic beads. By placing these beads close together and bringing them into contact, they generate more electricity than usual. This process, known as triboelectrification, is similar to the static electricity produced when rubbing a balloon against hair. /news/2025-03-scientists-smart-generate-energy-tiny.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Tue, 11 Mar 2025 12:25:03 EDT news660914701 A team dedicated to designing energy conversion devices, led by Weilin Chen from Northeast Normal University in Changchun, recently designed a triboelectric nanogenerator based on changing the nanomorphology of polyoxometalates for gait monitoring of teenagers. Flexible, lightweight, and portable triboelectric nanogenerators are currently widely used in the field of wearable devices and have potential application value in gait monitoring. The nanogenerator designed by the team can sensitively capture abnormal gaits of teenagers, which can advance research in this field. /news/2025-03-optimized-triboelectric-nanogenerator-abnormal-gait.html Bio & Medicine Nanomaterials Tue, 04 Mar 2025 15:29:03 EST news660324541 For centuries, static electricity has been the subject of intrigue and scientific investigation. Now, researchers from the Waitukaitis group at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) have uncovered a vital clue to this enduring mystery: the contact history of materials controls how they exchange charge. /news/2025-02-static-electricity-materials-contact-history.html Condensed Matter Wed, 19 Feb 2025 11:00:13 EST news659091661 Zaps of static electricity might be a wintertime annoyance, but to certain scientists, they represent an untapped source of energy. Using a device called a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG), mechanical energy can be converted into electrical energy using triboelectric effect static. Many TENGs contain expensive, specially fabricated materials, but one team has instead used inexpensive store-bought tape, plastic and aluminum metal. The researchers report an improved version of their tape-based TENG in ACS Omega. /news/2025-01-generating-electricity-tacky-tape-version.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Thu, 30 Jan 2025 12:38:43 EST news657463120 From smartwatches, and fitness trackers to medical sensors that can be worn on the body, wearables are transforming the way we interact with technology. As their popularity grows, triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) that convert mechanical energy such as body movement to electrical energy offer a solution to power these devices without relying on batteries. /news/2024-12-gel-based-stretchable-triboelectric-nanogenerators.html Nanomaterials Mon, 09 Dec 2024 12:57:03 EST news652971422 Anyone who has ever pet a cat or shuffled their feet across the carpet knows that rubbing objects together generates static electricity. But an explanation for this phenomenon has eluded researchers for more than two millennia. /news/2024-09-petting-cat-static-electricity.html Nanophysics Wed, 18 Sep 2024 15:10:27 EDT news645891019 A striking landmark in Vancouver, Canada, "The Big Yellow Sulfur Pile" is a testament to the massive amounts of elemental sulfur produced from the hydrodesulfurization process of petroleum refining. /news/2024-08-petroleum-high-sustainable-triboelectric-nanogenerator.html Polymers Materials Science Mon, 12 Aug 2024 16:26:04 EDT news642698762 In a study published in Device has reported a new self-powered electrostatic tweezer that offers superior accumulation and tunability of triboelectric charges, enabling unprecedented flexibility and adaptability for manipulating objects in various working scenarios. The research team was led by Dr. Du Xuemin from the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology (SIAT) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences /news/2024-07-powered-electrostatic-tweezer-microfluidics.html Soft Matter Fri, 26 Jul 2024 13:43:31 EDT news641220201 Researchers have unveiled a pioneering breeze wake-up anemometer (B-WA), employing a rolling-bearing triboelectric nanogenerator (RB-TENG) that provides a new strategy for low-energy consumption environmental monitoring. The ability of the B-WA to operate autonomously and efficiently in varying wind conditions marks a substantial advancement in the field of sustainable environmental monitoring. /news/2024-05-sensor-minimal-power-advanced-weather.html Nanomaterials Wed, 29 May 2024 16:24:26 EDT news636218664 A research team collaborated to identify the principle of an eco-friendly energy-based soft mechanoluminescent complex that emits light without batteries. It is expected to be applied in various fields, such as optical sensors, artificial skin, and displays. The team includes Dr. Jeong Soon-moon, Dr. Lim Sung-jun (Division of Nanotechnology) and Prof. Kim Young-hoon (Department of Applied Chemistry, Kookmin University). /news/2024-05-principle-soft-mechanoluminescent-complex.html Nanomaterials Mon, 20 May 2024 17:00:11 EDT news635443208 Researchers are studying data from a recent suborbital flight test to better understand lunar regolith, or moon dust, and its potentially damaging effects as NASA prepares to send astronauts back to the lunar surface under the Artemis campaign. The experiment, developed jointly by NASA and the University of Central Florida, sheds light on how these abrasive dust grains interact with astronauts, their spacesuits, and other equipment on the moon. /news/2024-02-nasa-highly-moon.html Space Exploration Planetary Sciences Fri, 16 Feb 2024 13:10:01 EST news627309924 Researchers at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) have created a new kind of triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) that produces electricity through the use of limestone putty, promising considerable cost savings over conventional manufacturing methods. /news/2023-12-limestone-putty-nanogenerator-harvest-energy.html Nanomaterials Mon, 04 Dec 2023 16:42:50 EST news620930568 In a rare collaboration, two scientists, who are brothers working in unrelated disciplines, combined complementary expertise to tackle a chemical problem relating to the use of silicon in electronic devices. /news/2023-11-properties-silicon-hydrogen-deuterium-surface.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Fri, 24 Nov 2023 09:46:03 EST news620041561 Formed by the coupling effect of contact electrification and electrostatic induction, triboelectric nanogenerators (TENG) effectively convert the most widely distributed micro-nano energy in our environment, including human motion, breeze, vibration, and rainfall, into electrical energy, providing a sustainable solution to power a plethora of sensors that the current battery supply failed to address. /news/2023-10-tribotronics-prospects-functional-devices-self-powered.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Tue, 17 Oct 2023 11:02:03 EDT news616759321 The story of Qi Chen's research is full of serendipity. In the first year of her Ph.D., she was hanging out with friends at the University's Zernike campus, discussing the topics of their research. Chen told them she was going to study foam-like materials. A friend was casually peeling the stem of a grass-like plant, thereby revealing its insides that appeared to have an open and airy structure. He suggested jokingly that Chen might want to study it. She put it in her backpack and then forgot all about it. /news/2023-09-self-powered-sensor.html Materials Science Tue, 12 Sep 2023 16:37:23 EDT news613755440 Corrosion causes significant losses to various industries. Cathodic protection is used to protect steel in marine industries. Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENG) converts mechanical energy into electricity based on triboelectrification and electrostatic induction. TENG cathodic protection is in line with the requirements of contemporary low-carbon energy conservation. /news/2023-09-team-sponge-based-triboelectric-nanogenerator-corrosion.html Nanomaterials Tue, 05 Sep 2023 10:34:52 EDT news613128889 Case Western Reserve University researchers are leading the development of a "smart packaging" system to monitor temperature fluctuations, moisture changes and pathogens in perishable food products during transportation. /news/2023-08-team-perishable-food-smart-packaging.html Nanomaterials Mon, 21 Aug 2023 15:49:03 EDT news611851741 Nanoscientists have developed a wearable textile that can convert body movement into useable electricity and even store that energy. The fabric potentially has a wide range of applications from medical monitoring to assisting athletes and their coaches in tracking their performance, as well as smart displays on clothing. /news/2023-06-wearable-textile-captures-energy-body.html Nanomaterials Mon, 05 Jun 2023 15:30:04 EDT news605197802 Controlling mosquito populations, especially in isolated or remote areas, is a global public-health priority. In a new study, a team of Chinese researchers advanced this agenda with a more efficient design of safe, self-powered triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) to zap mosquitos and mitigate the mosquito-borne diseases. /news/2023-05-mosquito-zappers-boost-static-electricity-harvester.html Nanomaterials Wed, 31 May 2023 09:22:18 EDT news604743735 Metal corrosion seriously affects the service life of marine steel structures. The traditional cathodic protection needs great consumption of energy and metal resources. Therefore, it's imperative to develop green and cost-effective energy sources for corrosion protection. /news/2023-04-green-energy-electrochemical-corrosion.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Tue, 04 Apr 2023 16:10:32 EDT news599843430 Although many measures are in place to prevent contamination, pollutants such as mercury and lead can still end up in the environment. Sensing them often requires complicated processes, but what if you could detect them with the tap of a fingertip? Researchers reporting in ACS Nano have developed a self-powered nanosensor that can discover small amounts of mercury ions and immediately report the result. /news/2023-02-sensor-mercury-ions.html Bio & Medicine Wed, 22 Feb 2023 16:28:24 EST news596305702 If you watched the most recent Super Bowl, you know the importance of a referee's call on the outcome of a game. Slow-motion replays and close-watching eyes help, but a new sensor technology could someday serve as an even more reliable tool for officials. Researchers reporting in ACS Applied Nano Materials have developed a self-powered, hybrid nanogenerator sensor that could help make more accurate calls and allow boxers and cricket players to practice more efficiently. /news/2023-02-sports-sensors-curb-bad-players.html Bio & Medicine Nanomaterials Tue, 21 Feb 2023 12:12:03 EST news596203922 Professor Juhyuk Lee of the Department of Energy Engineering has developed an elastic triboelectric generator that can be used in the daily lives of frequent movers. The cause of the output reduction of the elastic triboelectric sensor was identified during joint research with Professor Joohun Lee of Hanyang University's (ERICA campus) Department of Bio-Nanotechnology. Additionally, the professor used graphene to develop a touch sensor with stable output and expand the application of the triboelectric generator. The study is published in the journal Nano Energy. /news/2023-02-stretching-insensitive-stretchable-biocompatible-triboelectric-nanogenerators.html Bio & Medicine Nanomaterials Wed, 15 Feb 2023 09:23:45 EST news595675418 The popularity of wearable electronics has induced demand for their parts, including power sources such as triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs). Such power sources must be both stretchy and high-performance, holding up under various deformation conditions over hours of use. /news/2022-12-combination-materials-high-performance-stretchy-nanogenerator.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Mon, 12 Dec 2022 09:01:02 EST news590058061 Researchers led by Prof. Chen Tao at the Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering (NIMTE) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), in cooperation with researchers at Ningbo University, have developed a novel breakage-resistant conductive hydrogel (BRC hydrogel) with excellent mechanical reliability, extending the service life of triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs). This study was published in the Chemical Engineering Journal. /news/2022-12-breakage-resistant-hydrogel-life-triboelectric-nanogenerators.html Materials Science Wed, 07 Dec 2022 12:16:02 EST news589637761 The research team led by Professor Sanghoon Lee from the Department of Robotics and Mechatronics Engineering at DGSIT (President Yang Kuk) successfully developed a rotation-based triboelectric neuro-stimulator (RoTENS) capable of real-time modulations of stimulus parameters, including current amplitude, frequency, and pulse width. /news/2022-11-rotation-based-triboelectric-neurostimulator-real-time-modulation.html Bio & Medicine Wed, 16 Nov 2022 08:57:03 EST news587811422 Most of us have felt the shock from static electricity by touching a metallic object after putting on a sweater or walking across a carpet. This occurs as a result of charge build-up whenever two dissimilar materials (such as our body and the fabric) come in contact with each other. /news/2022-08-scientists-power-output-triboelectric-nanogenerators.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Tue, 09 Aug 2022 14:01:03 EDT news579272461