A new type of ultra-efficient, nano-thin piezoelectrics material could advance self-powered electronics, wearable technologies and even deliver pacemakers powered by heart beats. The flexible and printable piezoelectric material, which can convert mechanical pressure into electrical energy, has been developed by an Australian research team led by RMIT University. 

A simple method for making clear coatings that can block heat and conduct electricity could radically cut the cost of energy-saving smart windows and heat-repelling glass. The spray-on clear coatings developed by researchers at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, are ultra-thin, cost-effective and rival the performance of current industry standards for transparent electrodes.

Researchers have developed an ultra-thin and ultra-flexible electronic material that could be printed and rolled out like newspaper, for the touchscreens of the future. The touch-responsive technology is 100 times thinner than existing touchscreen materials and so pliable it can be rolled up like a tube.

The next generation of waterproof smart fabrics will be laser printed and made in minutes. That’s the future imagined by the researchers behind new e-textile technology. Scientists from RMIT University have developed a cost-efficient and scaleable method for rapidly fabricating textiles that are embedded with energy storage devices.

RMIT announces an Australia-first partnership with global education provider Udacity to equip Australians and more with skills for today, tomorrow and the future of work while also providing a credit pathway into degree programs.

  An Australia-first partnership between RMIT and with global education provider Udacity to equip Australians and more with skills for today, tomorrow and the future of work while also providing a credit pathway into degree programs, has been launhed.

In a world first, Australian researchers have harnessed the power of diamonds in a breakthrough that could radically improve the way human bodies accept biomedical implants. Researchers from RMIT University have for the first time successfully coated 3D printed titanium implants with diamond. The development is the first step toward 3D printed diamond implants for biomedical uses and orthopaedics - surgical procedures involving the huma...

Researchers have developed a 3D printable 'clip-on' that allows anyone – from scientists to the scientifically curious – to turn their smartphone into a fully functional microscope. The smartphone microscope is powerful enough to visualise specimens as small as 1/200th of a millimetre, including microscopic organisms, animal and plant cells, blood cells, cell nuclei and more.

RMIT researchers have used liquid metal to create two-dimensional materials no thicker than a few atoms that have never before been seen in nature. The breakthrough will not only revolutionise the way we do chemistry but could be applied to enhance data storage and make faster electronics. The discovery has been published in Science. The researchers dissolve metals in liquid metal to create very thin oxide layers, which previously ...

Research into the way that honeybees see colour could pave the way for more accurate cameras in phones, drones and robots. Identifying colour in complex outdoor environments is extremely difficult because the colour of light is continuously changing. Researchers in Melbourne, Australia, looked to see how honeybees solve this problem and discovered a totally new mechanism for processing colour information.

An Australian-Chinese research team has created the world's thinnest hologram, paving the way towards the integration of 3D holography into everyday electronics like smart phones, computers and TVs. Interactive 3D holograms are a staple of science fiction - from Star Wars to Avatar - but the challenge for scientists trying to turn them into reality is developing holograms that are thin enough to work with modern electronics.

  Inspired by an American fern, researchers have developed a prototype that could be the answer to the storage challenge still holding solar back as a total energy solution. The type of electrode created by researchers from RMIT University in Melbourne could boost the capacity of existing integrable storage technologies by 3000%.

Science fiction is inching closer to reality with the development of revolutionary self-propelling liquid metals - a critical step towards future elastic electronics. While building a shape-shifting liquid metal T-1000 Terminator may still be far on the horizon, the pioneering work by researchers at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, is setting the foundation for moving beyond solid state electronics towards flexible and dynamically re...

RMIT quantum computing researchers have developed and demonstrated a method capable of efficiently detecting high-dimensional entanglement. Entanglement in quantum physics is the ability of two or more particles to be related to each other in ways which are beyond what is possible in classical physics. Having information on a particle in an entangled ensemble reveals an "unnatural" amount of information on the other particles.

  RMIT University researchers have trialled a quantum processor capable of routing quantum information from different locations in a critical breakthrough for quantum computing. The work opens a pathway towards the "quantum data bus", a vital component of future quantum technologies.

An Australian research team has created a chip for the nano-manipulation of light, paving the way for next-gen optical technologies and enabling deeper understanding of black holes. Led by Professor Min Gu at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, the team designed an integrated nanophotonic chip that can achieve unparalleled levels of control over the angular momentum (AM) of light.

A team of scientists at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Australia has announced the development of a nanostructure material made of what they are calling nanocones— it is a type of nanomaterial that can be added to boost the efficiency of photovoltaics by increasing their light absorbing abilities. In their paper published in the journal Science Advances, the team describes the new material, how it works, and their hopes for its ...

A spot of sunshine is all it could take to get your washing done, thanks to pioneering nano research into self-cleaning textiles. Researchers at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, have developed a cheap and efficient new way to grow special nanostructures—which can degrade organic matter when exposed to light—directly onto textiles. The work paves the way towards nano-enhanced textiles that can spontaneously clean themselves of ...

Heat stress is a growing safety concern in the building industry and now an innovative smart vest has been developed to monitor the health of construction workers in real time. Developed at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, the vest uses sensors to measure a worker's body temperature and heart rate and sends the data wirelessly to a smartphone app, which instantly alerts users to any anomalies.

Breakthrough research at RMIT University is advancing transparent bendable electronics, bringing science fiction gadgets – such as unbreakable rubber-like phones, rollable tablets and even functional clothing – closer to real life. Researchers from RMIT's Functional Materials and Microsystems research group have developed a new method to transfer electronics with versatile functionality, which are usually made on rigid silicon, onto a...