[Images above] Credit: NIST
NANOMATERIALS
Diverse metals mix it up in novel nanoparticles
Researchers have learned to combine up to eight different metals in a single tiny, uniformly mixed nanoparticle. This process has created new, stable nanoparticles with useful applications in the chemical and energy industries, the researchers said.
Breakthrough made in atomically thin magnets
Cornell researchers have become the first to control atomically thin magnets with an electric field, a breakthrough that provides a blueprint for producing exceptionally powerful and efficient data storage in computer chips, among other applications.
Crash! Scientists explain what happens when nanoparticles collide
New research on the events that occur when tiny specks of matter called nanoparticles smash into each other could one day inform the development of technologies such as earphones that protect people from damaging noises or devices that convert ‘junk’ energy into usable power.
Cracking eggshell nanostructure
How is it that fertilized chicken eggs manage to resist fracture from the outside, while at the same time, are weak enough to break from the inside during chick hatching? It’s all in the eggshell’s nanostructure, according to a new study led by McGill University scientists.
Nanoparticle films for high-density data storage
New nanoparticle-based films can holographically archive more than 1000 times more data than a DVD in a 10 x 10-cm piece of film. The new technology could one day enable tiny wearable devices that capture and store 3-D images of objects or people.
High-speed and on-silicon-chip graphene blackbody emitters
High-speed light emitters integrated on silicon chips can enable novel architectures for optoelectronics. Researchers have now developed high-speed, highly-integrated graphene-based on-silicon-chip blackbody emitters in the near-infrared region.
ENERGY
Double perovskites in environmentally friendly solar cells
A further step has been taken along the road to manufacturing solar cells from lead-free perovskites. High quality films based on double perovskites, which show promising photovoltaic properties, have been developed.
Light ‘relaxes’ crystal to boost solar cell efficiency
Scientists have discovered a novel phenomenon: Light-induced lattice expansion in perovskite materials that cures bulk and interface defects, which leads to an enhancement of optoelectronic properties.
Interactions within quantum batteries are key to their charge advantage
Recent theoretical studies at Monash University bring us a step closer to realistic quantum batteries. The study expanded earlier research to consider a many-body system with intrinsic interactions, showing that interacting quantum batteries charge faster than isolated batteries.
Building lithium-sulfur batteries with paper biomass
A major byproduct in the papermaking industry is lignosulfonate, a sulfonated carbon waste material, which is typically combusted on site, releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere after sulfur has been captured for reuse.
ENVIRONMENT
World added far more solar than fossil fuel power generating capacity in 2017
Solar energy dominated global investment in new power generation like never before in 2017. The world installed a record 98 gigawatts of new solar capacity, far more than the net additions of any other technology—renewable, fossil fuel, or nuclear.
Pulling valuable metals from e-waste makes financial sense
Electronic waste—including discarded televisions, computers and mobile phones—is one of the fastest-growing waste categories worldwide. Now researchers report that recovering gold, copper, and other metals from e-waste is cheaper than obtaining these metals from mines.
OTHER RESEARCH
Glass is humankind’s most important material
To reach you, these words were encoded into signals of light moving about125,000 miles per second through fiber-optic cables. The technology was made possible in part by a team from Corning Incorporated. In 1970 they patented a type of cable that could transmit large amounts of information long distances, building on decades of work by other researchers.
Ancient paper art, kirigami, poised to improve smart clothing
A University at Buffalo-led research team has used kirigami to inspire its efforts to build malleable electronic circuits. Their tiny sheets of strong yet bendable electronic materials made of select polymers and nanowires could lead to improvements in smart clothing and more.
Stretchable, twistable wires for wearable electronics
Scientists at Duke University have created new conductive “felt” that can be easily patterned onto fabrics to create flexible wires. The felt, composed of silver-coated copper nanowires and silicon rubber, carries electricity even when bent, stretched and twisted, over and over again.
Engineers turn plastic insulator into heat conductor
Engineers at MIT have developed a polymer thermal conductor—a plastic material that works as a heat conductor, dissipating heat rather than insulating it. The lightweight and flexible polymers can conduct 10 times as much heat as most commercially used polymers.
Non-toxic filamentous virus helps quickly dissipate heat generated by electronic devices
Scientists have discovered that the film constructed by assembling a nontoxic filamentous virus functions as a heat dissipation material, and that can be simply prepared by drying the virus aqueous solution at room temperature.
Scientists have developed composites that conduct heat many times better than their counterparts and are even subject to simple and cheap processing. By using the newly obtained technology in modern electronics, it is possible to solve the problem of PCB overheating.
Chaos that will keep you warm: Researchers improve heat insulation using deliberate chaos
Powder is extremely well-suited for thermal insulation when there is a jumble of different sized nanoparticles in it. The scientists were able to determine how the thermal conductivity of powder is influenced by order and chaos in its constituent parts.
Microengineered slippery rough surface for water harvesting from air
A slippery rough surface inspired by both pitcher plants and rice leaves outperforms state-of-the-art liquid-repellent surfaces in water harvesting applications, according to a team of researchers at Penn State and the University of Texas at Dallas.