A new medical-diagnostic device made out of paper detects biomarkers and identifies diseases by performing electrochemical analyses – powered only by the user’s touch – and reads out the color-coded test results, making it easy for non-experts to understand. “You could consider this a portable laboratory that is just completely made out of paper, is […]
From Allergens to Anodes: Pollen Derived Battery Electrodes
Pollens, the bane of allergy sufferers, could represent a boon for battery makers: Recent research has suggested their potential use as anodes in lithium-ion batteries. “Our findings have demonstrated that renewable pollens could produce carbon architectures for anode applications in energy storage devices,” said Vilas Pol, an associate professor in the School of Chemical Engineering and […]
Microbots Individually Controlled Using ‘Mini Force Fields’
Researchers are using a technology likened to “mini force fields” to independently control individual microrobots operating within groups, an advance aimed at using the tiny machines in areas including manufacturing and medicine. Until now it was only possible to control groups of microbots to move generally in unison, said David Cappelleri, an assistant professor of […]
‘Hydricity’ Concept Uses Solar Energy to Produce Power Round-the-Clock
Researchers are proposing a new “hydricity” concept aimed at creating a sustainable economy by not only generating electricity with solar energy but also producing and storing hydrogen from superheated water for round-the-clock power production. “The proposed hydricity concept represents a potential breakthrough solution for continuous and efficient power generation,” said Rakesh Agrawal, Purdue University’s Winthrop […]
Expert Discusses Field of Flow Cytometry 50 Years After Its Invention
A pioneer in the field reflects on the history and future of flow cytometry on its 50th anniversary in an article in the journal Science. J. Paul Robinson, The SVM Professor of Cytomics in Purdue’s College of Veterinary Medicine and professor in Purdue’s Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, co-authored with National Institutes of Health senior […]
Improving Battery Performance for Android Apps
App developers could see the energy footprint of their programs on smartphone batteries reduced by participating in a program created by a Purdue-related software startup that promises to find an energy optimization plan or provide a money-back guarantee. Mobile Enerlytics LLC created its App Energy Challenge to pinpoint software coding that results in wasted energy dissipation of […]
Nanotweezer Is New Tool To Create Advanced Plasmonic Technologies
A new type of “nanotweezer” capable of positioning tiny objects quickly and accurately and freezing them in place could enable improved nanoscale sensing methods and aid research to manufacture advanced technologies such as quantum computers and ultra-high-resolution displays. The device, fabricated at Purdue University’s Birck Nanotechnology Center, uses a cylindrical gold “nanoantenna” with a diameter […]
Microresonators Could Bring Optical Sensors, Communications
Researchers have solved a key obstacle in creating the underlying technology for miniature optical sensors to detect chemicals and biological compounds, high-precision spectroscopy, ultra-stable microwave sources, and optical communications systems that transmit greater volumes of information with better quality. The technology is based on the reliable generation and control of laser pulses containing a number […]
Innovation Could Detect Radiation, Thwart Nuclear Terrorism
A Purdue innovation that could help thwart terrorist attacks from radiological “dirty bombs” and nuclear weapons by tracking potential attacks through smartphones and other devices has been licensed to a Marrero, Louisiana-based startup. FORSUGO Hi-Cell Inc. founder and president Ron Jones said he licensed the technology because it is an important tool in protecting society […]
Spinach Could Lead to Alternative Energy More Powerful than Popeye
Spinach gave Popeye super strength, but it also holds the promise of a different power for a group of scientists: the ability to convert sunlight into a clean, efficient alternative fuel. Purdue University physicists are part of an international group using spinach to study the proteins involved in photosynthesis, the process by which plants convert […]