news 2023

Advanced infrared mirrors enhance climate and biofuel research via precision trace gas sensing. An international team of researchers from the United States, Austria, and Switzerland has demonstrated the first true supermirrors in the mid-infrared spectral region. These mirrors are key for many applications, such as optical spectroscopy for environmental sensing, as well as laser cutting and welding for manufacturing.

Pleasant to wear, extremely unpleasant to recycle: elastane makes it difficult to reuse textiles. A solution has been found at TU Wien. Clothing is far too valuable to simply dispose of and burn. Starting in 2025, used textiles are to be collected and recycled throughout the EU. Improved recycling processes are urgently needed to deal with the huge amount of textiles that will then be produced in an efficient and environmentally friendly way.

What happens when electric current flows through a "strange metal"- TU Wien (Vienna) and Rice University (Texas) show: The established picture of electrons and "quasi-electrons" collapses. At first glance, it all sounds so simple: there are electrons in a cable, and when we apply a voltage, the electrons dash from one side of the cable to the other, and an electric current flows.

An international project has developed stable and efficient artificial robot muscles based on new material combinations. An international cooperation between the Johannes Kepler University Linz, the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna di Pisa and the University of Trento combines technological progress with ecological sustainability.

By Philipp Jarke Photovoltaic cells made of organic materials are light and flexible, which is why they are considered very promising. An international research network led by TU Graz is now aiming to increase the stability of the materials. Solar cells made of silicon have been around for 70 years. Organic solar cells, on the other hand, are quite new, but open up new possibilities for emission-free electricity production.

The carbon material graphene has excellent electronic properties. But are they also stable enough to be useful in practice? Calculations from TU Wien say: Yes. Nothing in the world is perfect. This is also true in materials research. In computer simulations, one often represents a system in a highly idealized way; for example, one calculates the properties that an absolutely perfect crystal would have.

Calculations by TU Vienna show: Newly discovered material LK-99 actually has properties that could be advantageous for superconductivity . LK-99 is the name of the material that is being hotly debated around the world these days: A Korean research group published results at the end of July 2023 suggesting that it could be a superconductor that remains superconducting even at room temperature and normal atmospheric pressure, i.e. conducts electricity completely without electrical resistance.

Calculations by TU Wien (Vienna) show: Newly discovered material LK-99 indeed has properties that could be advantageous for superconductivity. LK-99 is the name of the material that is being hotly debated around the world these days: A Korean research group published results at the end of July 2023 suggesting that it could be a superconductor even at room temperature and normal atmospheric pressure.

The heating and cooling requirements of residential buildings account for around a quarter of total energy consumption worldwide. This is where the BIO-NRG-STORE research project at the Kuchl Campus of the Salzburg University of Applied Sciences comes in. An international team is researching how the use of biogenic materials can achieve a reduction in energy consumption.

Lubricants that reduce friction are created precisely where friction is high: At TU Wien, this was achieved with special 2D materials. This is important for space technology . Our bodies have a few things in common with machines: we have moving joints, friction and wear occur, so you need suitable lubricants.

By Birgit Baustädter Jurij Koruza and his team are working on electroceramics that are used in electronic devices. The team is part of a new and highly endowed collaborative research centre led by TU Darmstadt. Electroceramics are at the core of many electronic components. A mobile phone, for example, contains about 500 capacitors consisting of several layers of ceramic and metal.

The simplest explanation is often the best - this also applies to fundamental science. Researchers from TU Wien and Toho University recently showed that a supposed quantum spin liquid can be described by more conventional physics. For two decades, it was believed that a possible quantum spin liquid was discovered in a synthetically produced material.