The University of Glasgow has created a pH sensor for soil testing that can be composted at the end of its life. It is an impedance-based sensor, using screen-printed interdigitated carbon-based electrodes on a substrate made from the bio-degradeable polymer PHBV (poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate)). Also deposited using screen-printing, the sensitive layer over the electrodes is molybdenum disulfide which, said the university, breaks down ...
Active intelligent reconfigurable surfaces for 6G wireless comms are the subject of UL-Ireland research project announced today. Such surfaces can be used to intercept weak millimetre-wave and terahertz signals, boosting and guiding them to receivers, according to the University of Glasgow, which is working with the Tyndall National Institute’s Wireless Communications Laboratory on the project, called AR-COM. “Current materials used ...
Solar-powered electric cooking is becoming a viable alternative to charcoal and wood-based cooking in Rwanda, according to a project at Coventry University. “Around 25% of the world’s population lacks access to clean cooking facilities, while around 10% lack access to electricity, with both disproportionately affecting women and children,” according Coventry’s Jonathan Nixon. “As energy systems become more reliant on advanced ...
A two-terminal all-perovskite tandem solar cell with 24.1% power conversion efficiency and over 2V open-circuit voltage will be amongst the state-of-the-art perovskite research revealed in late October at the Cavendish Laboratory’s third Cambridge Cluster Tool symposium. Fine control of halide content in the cell is used to widen the bandgap, a self-assembling mono-layer is used for hole transport, and the ...
Kidney Research UK has announced winners of its MedTech competition, giving £25,000 each to projects with potential to improve the outcomes for kidney disease patients, or help prevent kidney disease. A team from the University of Leeds will be analysing routine blood tests using artificial intelligence to predict acute kidney injury with the hope of increasing early diagnosis. One from University ...
Engineers at Lancaster University have transmitted, received and decoded data sent over a stream of fast neutrons. The proof-of-concept involved modulating neutrons from a calfornium 252 source using an Arduino-controlled mechanical shutter built from high-density polythene. Detection involved a one litre tank of scintillating meterial, a photo-multiplier and a ‘mixed-field analyser’ (made by Hybrid Instruments, based at the university) to separate ...
University of Surrey researchers have been inventing ways to get electronic activity into every page of plain paper books, and have come up with two forms of ‘magic bookmark’ as they have dubbed them. Developed at Surrey’s Advanced Technology Institute and its Digital World Research Centre, the idea is that the bookmark communiates with a phone app via a bluetooth link. One of the ...
University of Cambridge micro-LED spin-out Porotech has raised £3m to develop its production technique and its supply chain ecosystem. Despite only spinning out in January 2020, Porotech claims to have been generating revenue for 10 months and be “working with some of the biggest global names in display technology” – the company launched a commercial native red InGaN LED epi-wafer for micro-LEDs ...
The University of Lancaster has taken a step forward with its novel non-volatile memory that can be written and erased for one hundredth of the energy needed by flash or DRAM. It is also fast enough to be used instead of DRAM. This article was originally published last week, but without a diagram It is around 10-17J for a device with ...
For the fourth year in a row, the UKESF has supported final-year female scholars to attend the annual Women’s Engineering Society (WES) Student Conference with all-expenses-paid places. Attendance was sponsored by Enigma, a recruitment company that specialises in the UK technology sector. The University of Warwick hosted the annual conference, which took place between the 8-9th November, bringing together students, ...
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