Elastic strain engineering has potential to improve processing performance in the semiconductor industry. Researchers led by Nanyang Technological University in Singapore and Massachusetts Institute of Technology used machine learning to create a map that shows how to tune the thermal and electronic properties of crystalline materials via strain engineering.
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Preserving high-pressure states of novel materials at ambient conditions is a long-sought-after goal for fundamental research and practical applications. A recent joint project by researchers in China and the United States showed that properties of high-pressure materials can be maintained in free-standing, nanostructured diamond capsules without the support of traditional bulky pressure vessels.
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In 2009, a theoretical simulation predicted wurtzite boron nitride had an indentation strength higher than diamond. Now, researchers in China and Saudi Arabia experimentally measured wBN’s hardness—and found it much closer to cubic boron nitride instead.
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North Carolina State University researchers successfully created diamonds at room temperature in 2015 using carbon thin films. Now, they accomplished the same feat using carbon nanofibers and nanotubes.
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The ultimate defense against hackers may be just a few atoms thick, glass with switchable opacity could improve solar cells and LEDs, and other materials stories that may be of interest for December 27, 2017.
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The January/February 2018 issue of the ACerS Bulletin—featuring articles about new facets for defects in ceramics, innovative new concretes, the NSF CAREER Class of 2017, and much more—is now available online.
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Graphene holds up under high pressure, freezing lithium batteries may make them safer and bendable, and other materials stories that may be of interest for May 3, 2017.
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Black phosphorus doesn’t mind water, supercomputer simulation reveals 2-D glass can go infinitely soft, and other materials stories that may be of interest for December 21, 2016.
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Researchers at Lehigh University report that in addition to gallium nitride’s checklist of other useful properties, the material has a wear rate that approaches that of diamonds—which could open the material’s foray into even more diverse applications.
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Hairy nanorods have diverse applications, merging solar with liquid batteries, and other materials stories that may be of interest for September 28, 2016.
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