Electronics

Called ec³, the material is made by combining cement and water with a liquid electrolyte and carbon powder — both readily available.

A new "optoexcitonic switch" already achieves state-of-the-art performance over current electronics and could serve as the basis for classical and quantum computing devices capable of operating at room temperature.

Unlike solar panels, solar thermoelectric generators can convert heat from any source into electricity. But poor efficiency has held the technology back – until now.

By heating and cooling a quantum material called 1T-TaS₂, researchers were able to control its conductive properties, showing that this type of material could speed up electronic processing one thousand fold.