Find Latest News
Your search returned 77 results!
Search for "EMPA" on entire page
- Eco-friendly textiles without PFAS
Rain jackets, swimming trunks or upholstery fabrics: Textiles with water-repellent properties require chemical impregnation. Although fluorine-containing PFAS chemicals are effective, they are also... - Biodegradable aerogel from a 3D printer
Ultra-light, thermally insulating and biodegradable: Cellulose-based aerogels are versatile. Empa researchers have succeeded in 3D printing the natural material into complex shapes that could one d... - Release of so-called nanoparticulate oligomers from polyester textiles
Textiles made of synthetic fibers release micro- and nanoplastics during washing. Empa researchers have now been able to show: Some of the supposed nanoplastics do not actually consist of plastic p... - How to make bright quantum dots even brighter
Researchers at Empa and ETH Zurich have developed new methods for making perovskite quantum dots faster and more efficient light emitters, thereby significantly improving their brightness. This is ... - Capturing greenhouse gases with the help of light
Researchers at ETH Zurich are developing a new method to remove CO2 from the atmosphere. It involves molecules that become acidic when exposed to light. Their new process requires much less energy ...
- Good bacteria for bad wounds
Empa researchers are developing a dressing containing probiotic lactobacilli. These are intended to heal chronically infected wounds by destroying persistent biofilms, the scientists report in a st... - New epoxy resin: recyclable, repairable and flame retardant
Epoxy resins are tough and versatile polymers. In combination with glass or carbon fibers, they are used, for example, to manufacture components for aircraft, cars, trains, ships and wind turbines.... - A model that can be used to calculate the concentration of microplastics in lakes and rivers
Every year, 14,000 tons of plastic end up in Swiss soils and waters, in part in the form of microplastics: Particles in the micro to millimeter range. Microplastics comes from many sources, such as... - Antibiotics crisis: nanoparticles as therapy guide - rapid test for sepsis
In the case of blood poisoning, the bacteria in the blood must be identified as fast as possible so that a life-saving therapy can be started. Empa researchers have now developed "sepsis sensors" w... - Graphene dust not harmful, study finds
Graphene-based particles released from polymer composites after abrasion induce negligible health effects. Under the leadership of Empa, an international research team of the Graphene Flagship proj...
- Where viruses reach their limits - developing surfaces with antiviral properties
Using a new analytical method, Empa researchers have tracked viruses as they pass through face masks and compared their failure on the filter layers of different types of masks. The new method shou... - A chip to replace animal testing
Empa researchers are developing a medical chip in collaboration with the ETH Zurich and the Cantonal Hospital of St.Gallen that will allow statements to be made about the effect of substances on ba... - Golden wedding for molecules
Chemical syntheses in liquids and gases take place in three-dimensional space. Random collisions between molecules have to result in something new in an extremely short time. But there is anothe... - Nanoplastic in the environment - plastic snowfall in the Alps
In a large-scale fundraising campaign, popular YouTubers like Mister Beast and Mark Rober are currently trying to rid the oceans of almost 14,000 tonnes of plastic waste. That's about 0.15 per cent... - Natural coatings as an alternative to petroleum-based packaging
Empa and Lidl Switzerland have jointly developed a cellulose protective coating for fruit and vegetables. The novel coating is made from so-called pomace - squeezed fruit and vegetable peels. The i...
- Infrared technology - seeing the world through different eyes
Short-wave infrared light (SWIR) is useful for many things: It helps sort out damaged fruit and inspecting silicon chips, and it enables night vision devices with sharp images. But SWIR cameras hav... - Molecules in collective ecstasy
When fluorescent dye molecules nestle perfectly together, something completely new is created: an excited state distributed over many molecules. Such collective excitations can be used in a variety... - The biodegradable battery
The number of data-transmitting microdevices, for instance in packaging and transport logistics, will increase sharply in the coming years. All these devices need energy, but the amount of batterie... - Shiny mega-crystals that build themselves
An international team led by Empa and ETH Zurich researchers is playing with shape-engineered nanoscale building blocks that are up to 100-times larger than atoms and ions. And although these nano ... - Nanoplastics - an underestimated problem?
The images leave no one cold: giant vortices of floating plastic trash in the world's oceans with sometimes devastating consequences for their inhabitants - the sobering legacy of our modern lifest... - High Performance Ceramics against water germs
Removing pathogens from drinking water is especially difficult when the germs are too tiny to be caught by conventional filters. Researchers at Empa and Eawag are developing new materials and proce... - Fighting harmful bacteria with nanoparticles
Multi-resistant pathogens are a serious and increasing problem in today's medicine. Where antibiotics are ineffective, these bacteria can cause life-threatening infections. Researchers at Empa and ...
- The development of a high-performance thin-film battery
Empa researchers have achieved a milestone in the search for a solid electrolyte, the conductive medium for future solid-state batteries. On the one hand, this material must be highly conductive fo... - Mini power plants from coated blue-green algae
Blue-green algae are among the oldest living creatures on Earth and have perfected the use of sunlight over billions of years. Empa scientists have now equipped these humble unicellular organisms w... - Antibacterial cellulose - a wound dressing that kills bacteria
In order to combat bacterial wound infections, Empa researchers have developed cellulose membranes equipped with antimicrobial peptides. Initial results show: The skin-friendly membranes made of pl...