Barley alpha-glucosidase is an important enzyme in the conversion of barley starch to fermentable sugars during the industrial production of ethanol. However, it is relatively thermolabile, which is a...
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Drinking water must be treated to remove organic contaminants, such as pathogenic microorganisms, and inorganic contaminants, such as heavy metals.
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Although a battery can store significant amounts of energy, it cannot deliver it quickly. But a battery can be used to charge a capacitor, which then can provide much power all at once. Supercapacit...
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Functionalized substrates have commercial applications ranging from biosensors to energy conversion devices such as solar cells.  Biosensors rapidly detect the presence of target biomolecules bas...
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To remove the substantial heat generated by today’s most powerful microprocessors, many high-performance and personal computers use liquid cooling, rather than air cooling, technology. Research ...
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Currently, most schemes for detecting bioagents or other biological molecules are based on relatively complex electronic, photonic and/or electrochemical methods, or on more elegant biomolecular metho...
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Solid, carbon-containing materials, such as wood chips, may be converted into liquid fuels using a gasification process. The potential of this technology has been long overlooked because energy produc...
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Photovoltaic cells convert sunlight directly into electricity through the interaction of photons and electrons in a photoconducting material. The major barriers to widespread solar cell use are low ef...
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Photovoltaic cells convert sunlight directly into electricity through the interaction of photons and electrons within a photoconducting material. To create a photovoltaic cell, a photoconducting mater...
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Alkanes produced from carbohydrates could provide a renewable source of transportation fuel to complement the rapidly growing production of bio-diesel from vegetable oils and animal fats.
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Some experts in the oil industry and geological fields believe global oil reserves will reach peak production within the next twenty years.  They believe that the annual supply of petroleum-based...
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To make paper from wood, wood first must be transformed into pulp. However, current pulping techniques require high amounts of energy or large quantities of wood and can result in poor quality paper. ...
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Because potential biological attacks against civilian populations have become an important issue for homeland security, practical and efficient biosensors are needed. However, no currently available b...
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Distributed energy resources (DER), the combination of distributed power generators, energy storage devices and renewable sources of energy, are frequently located at customer sites where the energy r...
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Wind-powered generators are an increasing source of power for many countries. However, before their use can become widespread, they must be able to work effectively with the existing utility grid. V...
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A UW-Madison researcher previously developed an inexpensive, real-time wireless microsensor for detecting biological agents in water supply networks and other aqueous environments, such as the milk su...
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Because ethanol can be produced from sugars derived from renewable plant biomass, it offers a promising alternative to non-renewable fossil fuels. Corn is currently the main source of carbon used in e...
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Metal oxides presently are used in the manufacture of electrochemical capacitors, which are found in almost every electrical device. However, these materials are expensive and tend to undergo redox re...
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Although electrochemically active materials with high density and surface area have many potential uses in electrocatalysts, batteries, fuel cells and sensors, creating these materials can be challeng...
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