Materials

News articles classified as Materials

Double-duty textile could warm or cool

A team led by Yi Cui has created clothing fabric that keeps in warmth on cool days and releases heat on warm ones. The new textile could save energy costs from cooling or heating buildings.

Stanford leads new LIGO mirror group

Stanford researchers are leading a national effort to improve the next generation of gravitational wave detectors by creating new and better coatings for LIGO’s mirrors.

New technique uses light to separate mirror-image materials

Left- and right-handed versions of molecules can be hard to tell apart but can have devastatingly different effects. The Dionne lab is developing an optical filter to sort these molecules, which could lead to purer and safer drugs and agrichemicals.

Sending excess heat into the sky

Stanford scientists cooled water without electricity by sending excess heat where it won’t be noticed – space. The specialized optical surfaces they developed are a major step toward applying this technology to air conditioning and refrigeration.

New solar cell inspired by insect eyes

A new solar cell inspired by the compound eyes of insects could help scientists overcome a major roadblock to the development of solar panels based on a promising material called perovskite.

Nanoscale view of energy storage

Through long shifts at the helm of a highly sophisticated microscope, researchers at Stanford recorded reactions at near-atomic-scale resolution. Their success is another step toward building a better battery.

SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory —

SLAC, Stanford launch ‘Bits & Watts’

Research program combines Silicon Valley technology with industry and regulatory expertise to create a first-of-its-kind 21st-century electric grid.

Stanford probes secrets of rechargeable batteries

An interdisciplinary team has developed a way to track how particles charge and discharge at the nanoscale, an advance that will lead to better batteries for all sorts of mobile applications.