Conventional means of collecting solar energy, solar cells for example, have been notoriously inefficient. Now a team of chemical engineers at U-M is exploring new means of exploiting the abundant energy produced by Earth's nearest star. They have discovered a method for utilizing metal nano-particles, which act much like nanometer-sized light antennae, to help accelerate the production of renewable solar fuels and other chemicals. Read More
Engineering
Toward efficient harvesting of solar energy
Researchers inject nanofiber spheres carrying cells into wounds to grow tissue
For the first time, scientists have made star-shaped, biodegradable polymers that can self-assemble into hollow, nanofiber spheres, and when the spheres are injected with cells into wounds, these spheres biodegrade, but the cells live on to form new tissue. Developing this nanofiber sphere as a cell carrier that simulates the natural growing environment of the cell is a very significant advance in tissue repair, says Peter Ma, professor at the UM School of Dentistry and lead author of a paper about the research scheduled for advanced online publication in Nature Materials. Co-authors are Xiaohua Liu and Xiaobing Jin. Read More
Solar power without solar cells: A hidden magnetic effect of light could make it possible
A dramatic and surprising magnetic effect of light discovered by UM researchers could lead to solar power without traditional semiconductor-based solar cells. The researchers found a way to make an “optical battery,” said Stephen Rand, a professor in the departments of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Physics and Applied Physics. In the process, they overturned a century-old tenet of physics. “You could stare at the equations of motion all day and you will not see this possibility. We’ve all been taught that this doesn’t happen,” said Rand, an author of a paper on the work published in the Journal of Applied Physics. “It’s a very odd interaction. That’s why it’s been overlooked for more than 100 years.” Read More
Fundamental discovery could lead to better memory chips
Engineering researchers at the University of Michigan have found a way to improve the performance of ferroelectric materials, which have the potential to make memory devices with more storage capacity than magnetic hard drives and faster write speed and longer lifetimes than flash memory. With his colleagues at U-M and collaborators from Cornell University, Penn State University, and University of Wisconsin, Madison, Xiaoqing Pan, a professor in the U-M Department of Materials Science and Engineering, has designed a material system that spontaneously forms small nano-size spirals of the electric polarization at controllable intervals, which could provide natural budding sites for the polarization switching and thus reduce the power needed to flip each bit. Read More
New fluorescent OLEDs display greater efficiencies than believed possible
U-M engineering researchers have designed an exceptionally efficient fluorescent blue OLED, or organic light emitting diode. OLEDs are the next generation display technology. They are already used in televisions, cell phones and computers. John Kieffer and graduate student Changgua Zhen of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and collaborators have produced fluorescent OLEDs with close to 10 percent efficiency. "Our results clearly indicate that fluorescent material have a bright future for highly efficient and stable OLEDs for flat-panel display and lighting applications," Kieffer said. Read More
Silk moth’s antenna inspires new nanotech tool with applications in Alzheimer’s research
By mimicking the structure of the silk moth's antenna, University of Michigan researchers led the development of a better nanopore—a tiny tunnel-shaped tool that could advance understanding of a class of neurodegenerative diseases that includes Alzheimer's. This project is headed by Michael Mayer, an associate professor in the U-M departments of Biomedical Engineering and Chemical Engineering. A paper on the work is newly published online in Nature Nanotechnology. Read more
Jewel-toned organic phosphorescent crystals: A new class of light-emitting material
Pure organic compounds that glow in jewel tones could potentially lead to cheaper, more efficient and flexible display screens, among other applications. U-M researcher Jinsang Kim and his colleagues have developed a new class of material that shines with phosphorescence—a property that has previously been seen only in non-organic compounds or organometallics. Kim and his colleagues made metal-free organic crystals that are white in visible light and radiate blue, green, yellow and orange when triggered by ultraviolet light. This work is newly published online in Nature Chemistry. Read More
Three from CoE elected to National Academy of Engineering
Three professors from the College of Engineering — John Allison, Lawrence Burns and Mark Kushner — have been elected to the National Academy of Engineering. The honors, which were announced Tuesday, are among the highest professional distinctions that can be accorded to an engineer and recognize outstanding contributions to engineering research, practice or education. The three U-M faculty are among 68 new members and nine foreign associates newly elected to the academy. Read More
U-M updates innovation web site
The "Innovate!" web site has been launched as a refreshed version of the innovation economy site that has existed for the last 18 months. The new site also features a series of vignettes on faculty and student innovators and entrepreneurs. Read more
Personal solar panel could make electricity more accessible in the developing world
Electricity isn't always a plug away in much of the developing world. That's why Abdrahamane Traoré, Kettering University graduate, and University of Michigan engineering student Md. Shanhoor Amin teamed up to develop the Emerald, a personal solar panel the size of a paperback. The young engineers are the founders of June Energy, an award-winning start-up spending its second semester in the TechArb student business incubator. The company recently received more than $500,000 in venture capital, and it's about to ship its first 40 domestic orders. Amin and Traoré, along with chief technical officer Allan Taylor, are planning a trip to Kenya and Mali later this semester to test their prototype with the people it was primarily designed for. Read more