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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.

What determines the durability of high-performance coatings for turbines or highly stressed tools? Surprising results from TU Wien show: It is not material fatigue. Extremely thin ceramic coatings can completely change the properties of technical components. Coatings are used, for example, to increase the resistance of metals to heat or corrosion.

By Birgit Baustädter Scientists at TU Graz in cooperation with the University of Surrey were able to observe and document the growth of hexagonal boron nitride for the first time. The material is mainly used in microelectronics and nanotechnology. Atomically thin 2D materials for applications in microelectronics or nanotechnology are grown by breaking down gas on a hot metal surface.

Because they are extremely stable, so-called "topological states" play an important role in materials research. Now, for the first time, it has been possible to switch such states on and off. A donut is not a breakfast roll. Those are two very clearly distinguishable objects: One has a hole, the other does not.

A seemingly paradoxical effect: friction normally causes more damage at higher speeds. But at extremely high speeds, it is the other way around. When two metal surfaces slide against each other, a variety of complicated phenomena occur that lead to friction and wear: Small crystalline regions, of which metals are typically composed, can be deformed, twisted or broken, or even fuse together.

At TU Wien (Vienna) and The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, a "light trap" was developed in which a beam of light prevents itself from escaping. This allows light to be absorbed perfectly. Whether in photosynthesis or in a photovoltaic system: if you want to use light efficiently, you have to absorb it as completely as possible.

Will we soon be able to print out houses with a printer? Georg Hansemann, who works on 3D printing of components in the Robot Design Lab, answers these and many other questions. Talk Science To Me is the most curious science podcast in the podcast world - but especially at TU Graz. We ask the questions, and our researchers provide the answers.

The migration of carbon atoms on the surface of the nanomaterial graphene was recently measured for the first time. Although the atoms move too swiftly to be directly observed with an electron microscope, their effect on the stability of the material can now be determined indirectly while the material is heated on a microscopic hot plate.

By Susanne Filzwieser The "smart skin" developed by Anna Maria Coclite is very similar to human skin. It senses pressure, humidity and temperature simultaneously and produces electronic signals. More sensitive robots or more intelligent prostheses are thus conceivable. Photographic material for Download at the end of the text The skin is the largest sensory organ and at the same time the protective coat of the human being.

By Christoph Pelzl The devices can be used to non-destructively observe and measure structural changes inside materials under real operating conditions. They were presented to the public by the inter-university Graz-µCT consortium on 20 April. What happens inside a piece of concrete when it comes into contact with acid?

By Birgit Baustädter Since the innovative Micro-CT Lab at TU Graz went into operation in 2022, researchers from TU Graz, the Uni Graz and the Med Uni Graz have been working together examining material structures. From the outside, the two new white cabinets are inconspicuous. Rather big. White. Each one with a viewing window and a sample stage.

By Jurij Koruza It is our imperfections that make us humans interesting. A similar statement can be made for many electroceramics. While oneand multidimensional defects are conventionally being avoided, we demonstrate that their selective use can lead to a strong enhancement of piezoelectric and dielectric properties.

Atoms bind together by sharing electrons. The way this happens depends on the atom types but also on conditions such as temperature and pressure. In two-dimensional (2D) materials, such as graphene, atoms join along a plane to form structures just one atom thick, which leads to fascinating properties determined by quantum mechanics.

By Susanne Filzwieser TU Graz, the University of Leoben, the Austrian Fire Brigade Association and ILF Consulting Engineers have investigated the effects of e-vehicle fires in tunnel systems. The results are reassuring for passenger cars, but not for commercial vehicles. For the latter, as well as for fires in multistorey car parks, further investigations are urgently needed.

By Susanne Filzwieser The new Christian Doppler Laboratory for Measurement Systems for Harsh Operating Conditions at TU Graz is conducting research into suitable measurement techniques that can deliver precise results in tough operating and environmental conditions. Although measurement technology has come a long way, established approaches often come up against their limits in difficult operating and environmental conditions, ultimately delivering inaccurate results or even none at all.

The new Christian Doppler Laboratory for Measurement Systems for Harsh Operating Conditions at TU Graz is conducting research into suitable measurement techniques that can deliver precise results in tough operating and environmental conditions. Although measurement technology has come a long way, established approaches often come up against their limits in difficult operating and environmental conditions, ultimately delivering inaccurate results or even none at all.

Researchers at the University of Vienna's Faculty of Physics in collaboration with colleagues from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the USA have uncovered a non-destructive mechanism to manipulate donor impurities within silicon using focused electron irradiation. In this novel indirect exchange process not one but two neighbouring silicon atoms are involved in a coordinated atomic "waltz", which may open a path for the fabrication of solid-state qubits.