Researchers in Italy have made a rechargeable battery from edible materials like almonds and capers. What’s the recipe? The Milan-based researchers made the rechargeable prototype’s anode from riboflavin, a vitamin found in almonds. The cathode of the battery was made from quercetin, found in capers and is also sold as a food supplement. The researchers, from the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, mixed activated charcoal into the electrode materials to increase electrical conductivity. Nori seaweed was used for the separator, while a mixture of sodium hydrogen sulphate and water made up the el ..read more

Gordon Moore, co-founder of Intel and creator of Moore’s Law, has passed away at the age of 94. The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation announced on March 24 that Moore had passed away at his home in Hawaii. Humble beginnings As a child, Moore was more interested in chemistry than electronics. After completing his bachelor’s, Moore achieved a doctorate in physical chemistry in at the California Institute of Technology in 1954. After working at the Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University in Maryland, Moore wanted more. He was given the opportunity in 1956 to work at the recently f ..read more

One of the most interesting areas of electronics research right now is into the potential applications of haptic technology. What is haptic technology? Anything ‘haptic’ refers to touch. As such, haptic technology encompasses technical devices or innovations that create tactile simulations. Haptics can be used across a huge variety of products, from the vibrations when you press a button on your smartphone, to life-like human-robot interactions. There are three main types of technology in haptics: graspable, wearable, and touchable. Touchable: One of the most ubiquitous uses of haptics is in t ..read more

The government has responded to a report released late last year on the UK semiconductor industry. The report, released by the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee, details recommendations on how the UK semiconductor industry needs to improve to keep up with global development. It also emphasises the urgency to publish the UK’s long-awaited semiconductor strategy. The Department of Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) released the response to the report in early February. It is the latest in a chain of government responses to increased calls for government support f ..read more

Decades ago we wouldn’t have thought it possible to create printed circuit boards (PCBs). Now, in 2023, we’re discussing the possibility of biodegradable ones. A research group from the Johannes Kepler University in Austria developed the biodegradable base for the PCBs. The mix consists of beech wood shavings, organise full-grain spelt flour, fine plaster (CaSO4) dust and beech wood-based inoculum. After storing the mixture in a flat plastic box in a cupboard for a few weeks a tissue grew. The fungal fibres, called mycelium, formed a kind of soft white skin, similar to paper. A layer of coppe ..read more

Improvements to smart materials in the works A team of scientists and engineers has developed a new way of producing thin film perovskite semiconductors. This ‘smart material’ can adapt depending on stimuli like light, magnetic fields or electric fields. This could lead to the material being combined with other nano-scale materials to produce sensors, smart textiles and flexible electronics. Thin films are usually made via epitaxy: atoms are placed on a substrate one layer at a time. However, with this method the films stay attached to the host substrate and are less easily utilised. If it can ..read more

Christmas is just around the corner, and while many shortages have calmed there are some that persist and will have an impact on the usual holiday festivities. Despite reports that shortages are ending, more than half of semiconductor industry leaders (56%) are expecting them to continue into 2023. There are shortages that we have been prepared for as the months counted down to the holidays. However, other shortages may catch some unawares. Much of the news regarding shortages has revolved around the difficulty producing new, smaller nodes. These are the semiconductors going into new consumer ..read more

The wide bandgap semiconductor Gallium Nitride (GaN) has many advantageous properties, but it has been difficult to scale up production.   During such an invigorating period in the industry, silicon semiconductors have been in massive demand. And in short supply. It has not been the best time to consider switching to a new wafer material. Not that there ever will be a quiet moment in this sector. Where it all beGaN GaN has only really been in the picture since the mid-90s, when its top uses were military. Since then it has seen growth, with a revenue of $1 billion in 2020 according to St ..read more

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Flexible electronics is an area of study that has come on in leaps and bounds in recent years and is an area of interest for many electronics companies. Liquid metal circuits are being researched as a potential step-up for wearable tech and biomedical devices. At present, there are certain elements that make the advancement of flexible electronics difficult. One of these elements is the conductive material inside. If a rigid material like copper is used in flexible circuitry, it may break. Some researchers are looking into the use of conductive threads, like those made out of carbon nanotubes ..read more