News 2019

Researchers at the University of Sussex have developed a glue which can unstick when placed in a magnetic field, meaning products otherwise destined for landfill, could now be dismantled and recycled at the end of their life. Currently, items like mobile phones, microwaves and car dashboards are assembled using adhesives.

Technology developed at the University of Birmingham could protect the UK and other countries from national electricity blackouts. Britain has high-voltage, direct-current (HVDC) transmission links with neighbouring countries, including France, Ireland, Holland and Norway - an efficient way of transporting electricity, but vulnerable to alternating-current (AC) faults.

Researchers have developed washable, wearable 'batteries' based on cheap, safe and environmentally friendly inks and woven directly into fabrics. The devices could be used for flexible circuits, healthcare monitoring, energy conversion, and other applications. The team, led by Dr Felice Torrisi , who recently joined Imperial from the University of Cambridge, have shown how graphene - an atom-thick sheet of carbon - and other related materials can be directly incorporated into fabrics.

Researchers at the University of Bristol have successfully demonstrated the high thermal conductivity of a new material, paving the way for safer and more efficient electronic devices - including mobile phones, radars and even electric cars. The team, led by Professor Martin Kuball at the Center for Device Thermography and Reliability (CDTR) [MK1] , found that by making an ultra-pure version of Boron Nitride it was possible to demonstrate its thermal conductivity potential for the first time, which at 550W/mk is twice that of copper.

Researchers have found that certain ultra-thin magnetic materials can switch from insulator to conductor under high pressure, a phenomenon that could be used in the development of next-generation electronics and memory storage devices.