Case Studies

Nanoparticles – materials for which at least half the constituent particles are smaller than 100 nanometres – exhibit unusual physical and chemical properties. At such scales the influences of surface atoms can dominate, producing characteristics exploitable in healthcare, including for cancer treatments. A promising drug deli...

Graphene is a lattice of carbon only one atom thick. Despite being effectively two-dimensional (2D) it is the strongest material ever discovered with a tensile strength over 200 times stronger than structural steel. It also has the lowest room-temperature electrical resistivity of any known material and its high electron mobili...

For optimal efficiency and product quality, high-value manufacturing processes are required to operate at very specific temperatures. Turbine blade heat-treatment, for example, is performed at temperatures above 1300 °C and held within narrow tolerances and temperature ranges, requiring furnaces to be controlled by several prec...

The magnetic sensor market was €1.7 billion in 2019 and is estimated to reach €2.5 billion by 2025. Growth is anticipated to arise from an increase in consumer electronics, robotics, automated systems, and information technology. In these areas’ nano-scale structures with magnetic properties are used to decrease device size, in...

Monitoring and control of humidity are essential requirements in a variety of Europe’s manufacturing industries. For example, humidity affects pharmaceutical and biochemical product quality and storage lifetimes. Most humidity sensors are based on capacitance measurement technologies that exhibit measurement drift, so regular ...

Space exploration has provided insights into the formation of the solar system and processes underway on Earth. Missions to Venus, for example, have informed us on the greenhouse effect and the dangers of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). Ion engines, a form of electric propulsion, may be preferable to chemical rockets for such missi...