Rice, Oak Ridge labs make semiconducting films for atom-thick circuits Scientists at Rice University and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have advanced on the goal of two-dimensional electronics with a method to control the growth of uniform atomic layers of molybdenum disulfide (MDS). MDS, a semiconductor, is one of a trilogy of materials needed to […]
Rice University students engineer electricity-generating shoes
A group of Rice University mechanical engineering students are getting a charge out of having the coolest new shoes on campus. As their capstone project that is required for graduation, four seniors created a way to extract and store energy with every step. Their PediPower shoes turn motion into juice for portable electronics and, perhaps […]
Material Turns ‘Schizophrenic’ on Way to Superconductivity
Rice University physicists on the hunt for the origins of high-temperature superconductivity have published new findings this week about a material that becomes “schizophrenic” — simultaneously exhibiting the characteristics of both a metallic conductor and an insulator. In a theoretical analysis this week in Physical Review Letters (PRL), Rice physicists Qimiao Si and Rong Yu […]
Even Graphene Has Weak Spots
Graphene, the single-atom-thick form of carbon, has become famous for its extraordinary strength. But less-than-perfect sheets of the material show unexpected weakness, according to researchers at Rice University in Houston and Tsinghua University in Beijing. The kryptonite to this Superman of materials is in the form of a seven-atom ring that inevitably occurs at the junctions of […]
Rice uses light to remotely trigger biochemical reactions
Deep-sea microbes that thrive in high temperatures are key to light-activated catalysis HOUSTON – (Dec. 13, 2012) – Since Edison’s first bulb, heat has been a mostly undesirable byproduct of light. Now researchers at Rice University are turning light into heat at the point of need, on the nanoscale, to trigger biochemical reactions remotely on […]
Rice unveils super-efficient solar-energy technology
‘Solar steam’ so effective it can make steam from icy cold water HOUSTON — (Nov. 19, 2012) — Rice University scientists have unveiled a revolutionary new technology that uses nanoparticles to convert solar energy directly into steam. The new “solar steam” method from Rice’s Laboratory for Nanophotonics (LANP) is so effective it can even produce […]