news 2023

How did life on Earth first emerge? And how was it able to prosper and evolve? researchers are involved in the quest to find answers to these fundamental questions. Since time immemorial, humanity has pondered the question of how life on Earth first began. Ancient cultures declared the creation of the world and the origin of life to be the work of gods and other divine beings.

Despite their huge potential, the way perovskite solar cells respond to external stimuli - such as heat or moisture - has a considerable impact on their stability. Researchers at EPFL have identified the cause of degradation and developed a technique to improve stability, bringing us closer to widespread adoption of these cost-effective and efficient solar cells.

EPFL chemical engineers have invented a solar-powered artificial leaf, built on a novel electrode which is transparent and porous, capable of harvesting water from the air for conversion into hydrogen fuel. The semiconductor-based technology is scalable and easy to prepare. A device that can harvest water from the air and provide hydrogen fuel-entirely powered by solar energy-has been a dream for researchers for decades.

Researchers have developed a modular system for the simple and inexpensive production of security inks. It is based on polymers and could also be used in solar power plants and screens in the future. Novel fluorescent dyes developed by researchers are relatively simple and inexpensive to produce. The dyes are polymers with a modular structure.