Apr 18, 2024 | Bright Minds: a special livestream on Mining the Atmosphere
Technical solutions are essential to counteract climate change effectively and as quickly as possible. With its large-scale research initiative Mining the Atmosphere, Empa is proposing nothing less than a paradigm shift:...
Apr 16, 2024 | 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 harmful to human...
Apr 11, 2024 | Launch of the Horizon Europe project HEATWISE
Zero heat waste: This is the goal of a dozen European companies and research institutions, including Empa, in the Horizon Europe project HEATWISE. The focus is on buildings with extensive IT loads. All waste heat from...
Apr 9, 2024 | Empa’s Annual Report 2023
We hope to lead you on a gripping journey through the world of research and innovation; you may be surprised at how broad the term "applied research" is defined at Empa.
Apr 4, 2024 | Biodegradable aerogel
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 day serve as precision...
Mar 22, 2024 | Circular economy: second life for discarded smartphones
Automated building systems offer a great potential for reducing the energy consumption of properties. Studies on such systems show that optimized solutions can reduce the energy requirements of buildings by around 30...
Mar 19, 2024 | Pyrolysis of synthetic methane
From the desert to Swiss industry: As part of the new Mining the Atmosphere initiative, Empa researchers are pursuing the goal of harvesting renewable energy in the Earth's sun belt, converting it several times and...
Mar 13, 2024 | Portrait Nathalie Casas
In October 2023, Nathalie Casas took over the lead of Empa's Energy, Mobility and Environment research department. Familiar with science and technology since childhood, she believes that humanity can save the climate...
Mar 11, 2024 | Medical textiles and sensors
Skin injuries caused by prolonged pressure often occur in people who are unable to change their position independently – such as sick newborns in hospitals or elderly people. Thanks to successful partnerships with...
Mar 7, 2024 | Successful tests by AMAG and Empa with synthetic fuel
AMAG Classic and Empa have jointly conducted a detailed and scientifically sound investigation into the compatibility of synthetic gasoline in classic cars. Engine components were tested for over a year and driving tests...
Mar 6, 2024 | Platform chemicals from CO2
Is it possible to convert CO2 back to fuels or other useful chemicals? Absolutely – but not in a very targeted way just yet. Empa researcher Alessandro Senocrate is looking at defects in materials that will help us...
Mar 4, 2024 | Interview with Tanja Zimmermann and Martin Ackermann
Tanja Zimmermann and Martin Ackermann want to provide answers to the current climate crisis with new initiatives and ambitious goals. In this interview, Eawag Director Ackermann and Empa Director Zimmermann explain why...
Feb 29, 2024 | Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence – AI – is not just all over the media, but is also making its way into our work environments, from industrial manufacturing to research. But how can we best exploit potential synergies of man and...
Feb 27, 2024 | Biodegradable materials
Empa researchers have extracted nanocellulose from a waste product of beer brewing and processed it into an aerogel. The high-quality biodegradable material could be used in food packaging.
Feb 22, 2024 | Successful completion of the EU Graphene Flagship
The largest EU research initiative ever launched has come to a successful end: The Graphene Flagship was officially concluded at the end of last year. Empa researchers were also involved, such as molecular biologist...
Feb 20, 2024 | Magnetic effects at the origin of life?
Biomolecules such as amino acids and sugars occur in two mirror-image forms – in all living organisms, however, only one is ever found. Why this is the case is still unclear. Researchers at Empa and Forschungszentrum...
Feb 15, 2024 | Empa/ETH spin-off aims to increase energy efficiency
Industrial waste heat is an untapped goldmine: It is produced in large quantities, but is hardly used efficiently. A new type of machine developed by Empa scientists and their partners based on an innovative engine...
Feb 13, 2024 | Environmental impact with microplastics
Tire wear of motor vehicles is responsible for a large proportion of microplastics in the environment. Researchers from Empa and the company wst21 have summarized the results of various studies in a recently published...
Feb 8, 2024 | Release of 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 particles, but of...
Feb 6, 2024 | Holotomographic microscopy
Empa researchers have observed living red blood cells transforming into spiky "echinocytes" in real time when treated with high concentrations of ibuprofen using holotomographic microscopy and displayed them in 3D...