Chemistry

"Trust in Science" is the motto of the International Day of Light. For Luc Patthey, head of the Laboratory for Advanced Photonics, transparency and usefulness to society are also important goals of research at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI.

Physical chemists and chemical engineers led by EPFL have used a chemical tweak to push the power-conversion efficiency and operational stability of perovskite solar cells to 25.6% and at least 450 hours respectively.

Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed fluorescent polymers whose colour can be easily tuned. Depending on their length, the polymers emit a different colour. Potential applications include biomedicine, security printing and solar energy.

Microplastic pollution is a serious problem, but blanket bans won’t solve the issue, says Denise Mitrano. We should regulate plastics more precisely to create incentives for both innovation and environmental safety.

EPFL scientists have developed a new dye for solar cells that enables high power-conversion efficiency while being simple and cheap to make. The dye also works exceptionally well under low-light conditions, which is key for self- and low-powered devices.

Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI and the partner institute Empa have started a joint initiative called SynFuels. The goal is to develop a process for producing kerosene from renewable resources. In this way liquid fuel mixtures of the highest quality, which would allow the most residue-free combustion possible and thus be suitable for aircraft propulsion, should be obtainable using carbon dioxide and hydrogen from renewable resources.