A protective layer of epoxy resin helps prevent the leakage of pollutants from perovskite solar cells (PSCs), report scientists from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST). Adding a “self-healing” polymer to the top of a PSC can radically reduce how much lead it discharges into the environment. This gives a strong…

Magnetic balls provide exciting avenues for exploring many fundamental phenomena in physics. They can be assembled by hand into chains and more complex structures and used to model the properties of unstretchable materials that, like paper, crumple under certain loading conditions. Magnetic balls stacked on top of each other into vertical chains remain stable, but…

While solar cell technology is currently being used by many industrial and government entities, it remains prohibitively expensive to many individuals who would like to utilize it.. There is a need for cheaper, more efficient solar cells than the traditional silicon solar cells so that more people may have access to this technology. One of…

From a single ester, the same chemical process can create either an alcohol or multiple esters by slightly tweaking the reaction conditions. Finding new and effective ways to create alcohols and esters is a constant target in chemistry, as these substances are important industrial compounds and feedstocks — the raw materials from which many industrial…

OIST scientists have developed a new, simple and quick way to make any number microlasers on a single structure. Scientists from the Light-Matter Interactions Unit, led by Professor Síle Nic Chormaic at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST), have developed a new technique to fabricate glass microlasers and tune them using…