Topic description and stories

The demand continues for materials that are stronger, cheaper, lighter, more conductive – simply better.

Crystalline metal–organic framework

Machine learning predicts mechanical properties of porous materials

15 May 2019

Machine learning can be used to predict the properties of a group of materials which, according to some, could be as important to the 21st century as...

Read more
Air-conditioning units

Green material for refrigeration identified

18 Apr 2019

Researchers from the UK and Spain have identified an eco-friendly solid that could replace the inefficient and polluting gases used in most...

Read more

Cambridge spin-out starts producing graphene at commercial scale

12 Mar 2019

A recent University of Cambridge spin-out company, Paragraf, has started producing graphene – a sheet of carbon just one atomic layer thick – at up...

Read more

What does it take to make a better battery?

11 Feb 2019

Cambridge researchers are working to solve one of technology’s biggest puzzles: how to build next-generation batteries that could power a green...

Read more

‘Magnetic graphene’ switches between insulator and conductor

01 Feb 2019

Researchers have found that certain ultra-thin magnetic materials can switch from insulator to conductor under high pressure, a phenomenon that could...

Read more
Artistic impression of the perovskite-polymer heterostructure used in LEDs

New efficiency record set for perovskite LEDs

05 Nov 2018

Researchers have set a new efficiency record for LEDs based on perovskite semiconductors, rivalling that of the best organic LEDs (OLEDs).

Read more

Cambridge partners in new €1 billion European Quantum Flagship

29 Oct 2018

The University of Cambridge is a partner in the €1 billion Quantum Flagship, an EU-funded initiative to develop quantum technologies across Europe.

Read more

Graphene may exceed bandwidth demands of future telecommunications

12 Oct 2018

Researchers from the Cambridge Graphene Centre, together with industrial and academic collaborators within the European Graphene Flagship project...

Read more

Graphene paves the way to faster high-speed communications

31 May 2018

Researchers have created a technology that could lead to new devices for faster, more reliable ultra-broad bandwidth transfers, and demonstrated how...

Read more

Image showing light emission from the polymeric nanostructures and schematic of a single nanostructure

Plastic crystals hold key to record-breaking energy transport

24 May 2018

Scientists from the Universities of Cambridge and Bristol have found a way to create plastic semiconductor nanostructures that absorb light and...

Read more
Conceptual image of spin current flow in a superconductor

Some superconductors can also carry currents of ‘spin’

16 Apr 2018

Researchers have shown that certain superconductors – materials that carry electrical current with zero resistance at very low temperatures – can...

Read more
Cyphochilus beetle with cellulose-based coating

Ultra-white coating modelled on beetle scales

13 Mar 2018

Researchers have developed a super-thin, non-toxic, lightweight, edible ultra-white coating that could be used to make brighter paints and coatings...

Read more

Pages