QUT researchers have overcome a challenge that has limited next-generation energy-harvesting materials for more than two decades, opening the door to more powerful wearable electronics and new ways of turning wasted heat into electricity.

• Professor Il-Kwon Oh’s team in the Department of Mechanical Engineering develops a wire-free, light-driven shape-memory alloy meta-morphing structure.

• A single UV-laser process programs both light absorption and mechanical motion without any additional coating.

• The technology could enable next-generation tactile applications, including shape displays and wearable haptic interfaces.terfaces.

Researchers developed a walking-support robot that uses large-area tactile contact at the waist and underarms to continuously follow movement intent and provide balance support. In tests with healthy adults, the same touch-based interaction enabled forward, backward and turning assistance, responded to mild balance disturbances, and reduced hamstring activity compared with handle-based support.

Hydrogen produced by water electrolysis is widely regarded as a promising clean energy carrier, but developing efficient and durable electrocatalysts without relying on large amounts of precious metals remains a major challenge. In a recent study published in the Journal of Bioresources and Bioproducts, researchers developed a wood-derived carbon-supported high-entropy alloy catalyst using a rapid carbothermal shock strategy. The work demonstrates that regulating the electronegativity of alloy components, together with enhanced graphitization at the alloy–carbon interface, significantly improves catalytic activity for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Among the investigated compositions, the Mn-containing catalyst exhibited the best performance, requiring only 28 mV overpotential to reach 10 mA cm^-2 in alkaline electrolyte while maintaining remarkable long-term stability. The study further combines advanced characterization and density functional theory calculations to reveal how electron redistribution optimizes water dissociation and hydrogen adsorption, providing a new strategy for designing sustainable biomass-derived electrocatalysts.

Beijing, China – A recent field experiment reveals how applying biogas slurry as a topdressing can profoundly influence soil dissolved organic carbon (DOC), a critical component of soil health and carbon cycling, particularly in dryland agricultural settings. Published in Carbon Research, new findings from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences provide a comprehensive understanding of how this sustainable agricultural practice reshapes carbon transformation and stabilization across different maize growth stages and soil depths.

Biogas slurry, a nutrient-rich byproduct of anaerobic digestion, offers significant potential for sustainable agriculture by recycling organic waste and partially replacing chemical fertilizers. Despite its known benefits, the specific mechanisms by which biogas slurry topdressing (BSTD) regulates soil DOC dynamics under real-world field conditions, considering both crop growth and varied soil layers, remained largely unclear. Soil DOC is a highly mobile carbon fraction that fuels microbial activity and influences nutrient availability, making its precise management vital for robust agroecosystems.

Journal of Cyborg and Bionic Systems received its Impact Factor of 20.9, ranking 2^nd in the category of "Robotics", ranking 4^th in the category of "Engineering, Biomedical" in the Journal Citation Report 2025.

Seoul National University College of Engineering announced that a research team led by Professor Kyunghan Lee of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering has developed an artificial intelligence system, “Ouroboros,” that performs Vision Transformer-based video analysis 2.61 times faster with 13.0% computation than conventional methods on edge devices.

Seoul National University College of Engineering announced that a research team led by Prof. Hyun Oh Song of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, in collaboration with Samsung AI Center, has developed “Rule2DRC,” an AI agent technology that automatically generates inspection codes required for semiconductor design verification.

A stretchable sensor made from self-healing materials and liquid metal detects touch, senses damage and repairs itself without external power, potentially extending the working life of underwater machines used in diving and marine robotics.