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Nanodots From Pencil Leads

If you want to improve the efficiency of solar cells, use your pencil. Well, the graphite in pencils can now be used to make tiny nanodots. Graphite rods in sodium hydroxide solution produce nanodots which can potentially be used to augment existing solar panels. The Pencil study involved using pencil "leads" as the cathode and anode, which were dropped into ethanolic sodium hydroxide. Nano particles of 3 nanometers (nm) were produced. Nanodots in a compound with carboxyl and hydroxyl collected on the anode. The nanodots were then drawn into the pores of a titanium and silicon dioxide template. Other mesoporous materials have been tested. They each have particular properties in regard to sensing, catalysis and optoelectronics. This allows for fine tuning of solar panels. The pencil lead system  improved current transfer from simulated sunlight by 38 per cent. ◆ Chemistry by Ty Buchanan   ◆ Adventure Australia Funny Animal Photos Funny Weird Things Articles News Re

Plastics are the Future for Solar Cells

The path to develop better solar energy products from silicon are exhausted. Other materials need to be examined to provide more efficient solar panel operation. Scientists are analyzing a wide spectrum of materials. Plastics show a great deal of promise, particularly at the molecular level. Organic sem-conductors appear to be the key to future developments. This is a type of plastic that conducts electricity.  More effective conductivity seems to be the key not so much heat generation. It is expensive to make silicon conductors for solar cells. OSCs can be manipulated at the molecular level to reduce energy loss, thus more energy is accumulated. Improved efficiency will see the whole production method change for solar cells.   ★ ✿   Economics by Ty Buchana n   ✿ Adventure Australia Funny Animal Photos Funny Weird Things Articles News Reviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vista Computer Solutions Blog                Australian Blog   ★   Adv

Australia Makes Quantum Computer Chip Breakthrough - Twice!

Australian scientists are still working feverishly toward producing a quantum computer. Two kinds of qubits, the building clocks of a quantum computer, have been made. Silicon is the base material which is the normal chip mineral. Below the silicon base, atoms are the working parts. They are the storage medium. More data can be manipulated than in traditional computers. The error rate for quantum computers has been dramatically reduced. Because two teams have made different chips and working computers, it means major production is imminent. Silicon is plentiful and relatively cheap so cost is not a major problem.  There will be a rush to make a working computer and mass produce it. The two systems are different. One uses an embedded phosphorus atom, the other an artificial atom. The Dzurak chip can be made in existing factories as it imitates normal transistors. Both chips can hold memory for 30 seconds which is sufficient to do complex work. Obviously one sys

Tiny Phosphorus Wires Means Computers Can Be Smaller

Moore's Law can still be valid. Computer power can continue to double every two years. As the diameter of "wires" in semiconductors get smaller resistance to electrical flow increases. This was thought to be a real barrier to improving computer chips. A team of researchers from the University of Melbourne, University of NSW and Purdue University in the US have made wires from phosphorus only four atoms in diameter. The tiny wires are encased in silicon and conductivity is retained. When the diameter of conventional wires is reduced, resistivity rises exponentially. This means that as computer power has doubled so resistance has doubled. The conductivity in current computers is very poor. Silicon on the surface of the new phosphorus wire isolates it from the general environment, so the flow of electrons is unaffected and is not slowed down. It will be some years before computer circuit boards can be made using the new technology. We are reaching the end-time