June 24, 2009: Researchers from Denmark and China are now collaborating in several nanotech fields, including chemically manufactured electronic components and molecules that convert heat to electricity, reports the European Union’s Community Research and Development Information Service (CORDIS).
Work at the new Center for Molecular Nano-electronics, joining efforts from the University of Copenhagen’s Nano-Science Center and Niels Bohr Institute and Beijing-based Chinese Academy of Sciences, broadly addresses molecular nanoelectronics. CORDIS notes two “opportunities for development” in particular: “the development of chemically manufactured computer electronics,” eyeing future application in computing, and “molecules with the capacity to convert heat to electric currents,” eventually creating heat emitters used in cars or factories.
The two sides also are establishing a “common study program,” which would include an exchange program for students and researchers, building on a prior partnership; two Danish nanotech students previously studied in China for two months in 2007.
“The new centre is an ideal framework to exchange researchers and equally importantly, research students, creating the best possible foundation for a fruitful research partnership,” explained Thomas Bjørnholm, a professor at the University of Copenhagen, in a statement.