Natural Sciences - Materials Science

New research into why lithium-ion batteries tend to lose power over cycles of charge and discharge could help unlock the next generation of more durable, fast-charging power cells. An international team of chemists and engineers from the UK, China, and Germany have published a paper which challenges the conventional assumptions about how batteries should be optimised to maximise performance, highlighting the importance of electrical, rather than ionic, conductivity.

Two-dimensional (2D) materials promise revolutionary advances in electronics and photonics, but many of the most interesting candidates degrade within seconds of air exposure, making them nearly impossible to study or integrate into real-world technology.

Regius Professor Philip Withers FRS FREng has taken up a five-year joint appointment between The University of Manchester and Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, strengthening strategic links between the two institutions.

Robots are becoming increasingly capable in vision and movement, yet touch remains one of their major weaknesses. Now, researchers have developed a miniature tactile sensor that could give robots something much closer to a human sense of touch.

Graphene could transform everything from electric cars to smartphones, but only if we can guarantee its quality.

Scientists have found a way to make perovskite solar cells not only highly efficient but also remarkably stable, addressing one of the main challenges holding the technology back from widespread use.