Paving the Way for Quicker Computers, Longer-Lasting Batteries
University of Queensland researchers have cracked an issue that’s frustrated chemists and physicists for many years, potentially causing a new age of effective, efficient, and environmentally friendly technologies
Utilizing quantum mechanics, Professor Ben Powell from UQ’s School of Mathematics and Physics has discovered a recipe that enables molecular switches to function at room temperature.
“Switches are components that can alternate between two or more states, such as on and off or 0 and 1, and are the basis of all digital technologies,” Professor Powell claimed.
This finding paves the way for minor, more powerful, and energy-efficient technologies.
” You can expect batteries to last much longer and computers to run faster.”.
Until now, molecular switching has been achievable when the molecules are extremely cold, at temperatures below minus 250 degrees centigrade.
“Engineering-wise, this is a huge trouble,” Professor Powell stated.
By following this detailed ‘recipe’, chemists need to have the ability to make molecular switches function at room temperature.
This will open the way to a bounty of technological improvements, such as improving MRI scans which might cause earlier discovery of diseases like cancer.
These components can also be used for sensors, carbon capture and storage, hydrogen fuel cells, and as actuators, which can convert electricity into movement, which would be helpful for robots.
All these applications need components that can be changed at or above room temperature, which is why our discovery is so vital.
“Using these components will also lower the concern on the atmosphere because computer energy usage will be cut, helping the fight versus climate change.”.
UQ researchers will be cooperating with chemists at the University of Sydney and University of New South Wales to make new materials to assay the new ‘recipe’.
Journal Reference:
M. Nadeem, Jace Cruddas, Gian Ruzzi, Benjamin J. Powell. Toward High-Temperature Light-Induced Spin-State Trapping in Spin-Crossover Materials: The Interplay of Collective and Molecular Effects. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2022; 144 (20): 9138 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.2c03202
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