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Materials
How does electricity flow through small objects?
Single molecules are small – really small! But what if we could harness some of their abilities to conduct and control electricity to create new electronic components? Researchers at the University of Oxford are investigating just this to find more energy efficient ways to transfer information. By looking at electricity at a small scale, we can...
Sebastian Bonilla
I am an electronics engineer and scientist working on the improvement of solar energy generation. Climate change is one of the defining challenges of our time and I firmly believe that we must do everything possible to achieve a low-carbon future. This is why I am committed to working on materials and technologies that can result in better...
Mechanobiology: the stress of life
We often think of our bodies in terms of cells and genes, but we shouldn’t forget that they’re also complex mechanical structures. From an Achilles tendon – that can carry half the weight of a Mini – to our constantly pulsing blood vessels, they’re feats of meticulous engineering. Scientists at the University of Oxford are showing how research...
Chemistry for the Future: Strange Substances and Structures
Learn about how chemists are discovering weird and wonderful materials with properties unlike everything else we know - and which may be the materials of the future, with potential uses including powering vehicles and minimising friction.
Click the link below to access as series of 5 videos on the topic:
Run For Your Light
You may have heard the word “quantum” bandied around a lot. But what does it mean? In this animation we take a look at how the photon – the quantum particle of light – is being harnessed to help create new technologies like quantum computers.
Various science activities to try at home, from DNA extraction to crystal growing
Some exciting experiments for you to carry out at home! Grow your own crystal, make plastic or paint, build a DNA molecule or even do gel electrophoresis in your own kitchen. Follow the link below:
Soluble Semiconductors- A revolution in Printing for the 21st Century?
The digital age is built upon semiconductors. The crystalline semiconductors, such as silicon or germanium, lie behind modern electronics and computing. They are such essential materials because their conducting properties may be altered in useful ways by the deliberate, controlled introduction of impurities ("doping") into their crystal...
Matters of Scale 3 - Nanomedicine
Dr Sonia Trigueros explains how she is using nanotechnologies to create targeted drug delivery systems. Chemotherapy is a particularly harmful treatment, with patients losing their hair and suffering from infections due to damage to their immune systems. By using the unique properties of cancer cells, they can be used to deliver targeted...
Merel Lefferts
I’ve always been interested in combining physics and chemistry, and in the area of small scale phenomena where physics and chemistry meet. I did my undergraduate at University College Utrecht (Utrecht University, the Netherlands), where I focussed on physics and chemistry. I then did a masters in the physics of nanomaterials at Utrecht...
