Basic scientific curiosity paid off in unexpected ways when Rice University researchers investigating the fundamental physics of nanomaterials discovered a new technology that could dramatically improve solar energy panels.
About 100 million Indian children do not have electricity in their schools. Of course, this means they are without computers, too. However, this may soon be changing. “Students in rural Indian villages are now in the process of testing the I-Slate, a solar-powered tablet PC developed by Rice University and … [continued]
Table sugar, that bane of nutritionists everywhere, may be on the verge of redeeming itself. A team of researchers at Rice University has found that ordinary table sugar can be manipulated to form sheets of graphene. Something of a new miracle material, graphene could be used to create a new … [continued]
Since its discovery in 2004, graphene has become the “Flat Stanley” of the sustainable new millennium. A two-dimensional material that seems to be popping up just about everywhere in nanomaterials research, graphene has wowed scientists with its potential for, among other things, replacing silicon in computer chips as a light, … [continued]
Like some 21st-century version of The Blob, a thick, gooey tide of glycerin is overwhelming world markets. A large part of the glycerin glut comes from biofuel refineries, which put out enormous quantities of crude glycerin as a byproduct. Though high grade glycerin is used to make products like soaps, … [continued]
Researchers at Rice University have announced the discovery of a new breakthrough method for producing carbon nanotubes in bulk fluids. Rice’s new nanotube “stew” could spur the inexpensive mass production of carbon nanotube-based products, much like the plastics industry employed bulk loads of melted polymers as a cheap base for … [continued]
