Silicon Dreams are now made of Solar

  Jyothi Kiran, Thursday, February 19, 2009 | Category: Industry         Comments (0)

Silicon dreams are now made of solar as everybody is venturing into solar these days.  And renewable energy is where all the action is as Thomas Friedman discovered recently in Delhi, even as India announced Nagpur as its first solar city.  Jai ho!

Solar fuels, cars, hats, lights, windows, phones, pendrives ..the list of products emerging from this sunrise industry is most promising, exciting and definetely eco friendly too.

Until recently, Solar fuel seemed too expensive and out of bounds but technology and research has since then comeup with viable options.

Recently, Supriya Pillai of New South Wales in Sydney(UNSW) came up with the idea of removing the use of expensive and thick silicon wafers used in making solar cells.

Phd student Supriya Pillai and her team of UNSW researchers use a thin film (about 10 nanometres thick) of silver onto a solar cell and heat it to 200C. The film breaks into tiny 100-nanometre “islands” of silver and raises its light-trapping efficiency.  The team’s move of using “thin film” cells with less silicon to thick silicon wafers is not only cheaper but also more energy efficient. More>>
 

Change Your Car Colour According to Your Mood

  Jyothi Kiran, Saturday, January 31, 2009 | Category: Industry         Comments (0)

Wouldn’t it be great to change the colour of your car depending on your mood? Passion red on a hot date, indigo blue for a corporate meet, killer black for a business deal….well, new material technology can make this happen for you. 

Here’s how the quick-change paint works:

While you drive, pushing a button sends electric current through a special polymer paint containing paramagnetic nanoparticles. The current creates a magnetic field that affects the spacing of crystals within the particles, which changes their ability to reflect light…and voila! A white car becomes Steelers black…or Cardinals red.

Nearly two-dozen podcasts on “Materials Around Us” and “The Science of Materials” are available on Materials Radio to bring the excitement of materials to middle school students, parents and teachers. Visit www.materialsradio.com for free downloads.

Nanotech Universities and Research Centres in India

  Jyothi Kiran, Friday, January 30, 2009 | Category: Academic, Research         Comments (0)

If you are looking for a link to the nanotech research centres in India, You’ll find a list here

Universities and research centres in India

Meanwhile admissions to Phd programs have started in most IITs in India.

Here’s a link to the Phd announcements at IIT Guwahati

International Nanotech Conference 2009 in Kerala

  Jyothi Kiran, Friday, January 30, 2009 | Category: Events         Comments (2)

Mark your calendars for the Kerala International Nanotech Conference in Kochi 

Date: 2nd week of August 2009.
Venue: Gokulam Park Kochi
In association with the Chamber of Commerce & Industry
Check link for more details

Research Job in Material Science

  Jyothi Kiran, Tuesday, January 27, 2009 | Category: Academic         Comments (0)

The Electrochemical Materials Science Division of the Central Electrochemical Research Institute in Karaikodi is looking for a Junior Research Scientist.

Required a Junior Research Fellow to work in DST sponsored project on “Development of nanoscale multilayered and nanocomposite super hard coatings by reactive magnetron sputtering for bio medical applications.
Position : JRF (Project)
No. of position : 01
Qualification : I Class M.Sc Chemistry/Physics/Materials Science
preferably with NET /GATE.
Desirable : Preference will be given to those who have research
background and working knowledge in vacuum
coating and characterization of thin films

Stipend : Rs.12,000/-p.m + HRA

Walk in interview will be held at CECRI,Karaikudi on 29-01-2009.

Contact
Dr B.SUBRAMANIAN
Scientist
Electrochemical Materials Science Division
Central Electrochemical Research Institute
 

Of Nano Lessons for Obama

  Jyothi Kiran, Tuesday, January 27, 2009 | Category: Culture, Industry         Comments (0)

If you want to know whether the Obama government will be nano friendly or not, here is a post about nano lessons for Obama. The blog suggests that since science is a long term project and as politics and science have never really mixed, the nanoscene it seems, is not very optimistic. After all, there are other more urgent political issues, terrorism and economy for starters. But there are lessons to be learnt from the Blair government suggests Cientifica.

Mmm I read somewhere about Moscow investing billions of dollars to be used in the military warfare on the rapid development of nanotechnology to achieve leadership in the world market. Now, why do I have this uncanny feeling that Obama will want to jump into playing the leadership game.

Indian Tea Industry Cuts Costs with Renewable Energy

  Jyothi Kiran, Tuesday, January 27, 2009 | Category: Energy, Industry         Comments (0)

Here is some green news for your stimulation. Green tea gets greener by getting ready to adopt renewable energy. The effective use of solar, bio fuel and micro-hydel energy would not only reduce manufacturing cost but also  help reduce pollution and protect the ecosystem. The Tea Board of India and West Bengal Green Energy Development Corporation (WBGEDC) have jointly decided to prepare an energy efficient package, to be submitted to the Centre. WBGEDC managing director S. P. Gonchoudhuri said they held a meeting with tea board officials and several tea associations to discuss adoption of green energy in tea gardens.

 ”We and the tea board will prepare a plan, which will be submitted to the Centre. The package will seek to reduce existing levels of energy consumption to maintain the eco-system of the Hills,” he said.

The Indian Tea Association secretary-general Monojit Dasgupta said they were very interested in using renewable energy sources in the tea industry. “The use of solar energy in the industry was planned earlier, too, but the usage cost was high. Now, there are subsidy schemes available for these energy sources,” he said. >>More Energy News