[Images above] Credit: NIST

How artificial intelligence is helping us discover materials faster than ever

Some scientists are building databases of thousands of compounds so that algorithms can predict which ones combine to form interesting new materials. Others yet are using AI to mine published papers for “recipes” to make these materials.

Neutrons provide insights into increased performance for hybrid perovskite solar cells

Neutron scattering has revealed, in real time, the fundamental mechanisms behind the conversion of sunlight into energy in hybrid perovskite materials. A better understanding of this behavior will enable manufacturers to design solar cells with significantly increased efficiency.

DOE announces nineteen million dollars for advanced battery research to enable fast charging

The U.S. Department of Energy announced $19 million to support twelve new cost-shared research projects focused on batteries and vehicle electrification technologies to enable extreme fast charging.

Precision optical components created with inkjet printing

Researchers have developed an inkjet printing technique that can be used to print optical components such as waveguides, an approach that could advance a variety of devices such as optical sensors used for health monitoring and lab-on-a-chip devices.

Watching nanomaterials form in four dimensions

A team from Northwestern University and the University of Florida has developed a new type of electron microscope that takes dynamic, multi-frame videos of nanoparticles as they form, allowing researchers to view how specimens change in space and time.

Nanowires could make lithium ion batteries safer

Lithium-ion batteries are a popular power source but also have safety considerations. In an effort to develop a safer battery, scientists report that the addition of nanowires can not only enhance the battery’s fire-resistant capabilities, but also its other properties.

Strained materials make cooler superconductors

University of Wisconsin-Madison engineers have added a new dimension to our understanding of why straining a particular group of materials, called Ruddlesden-Popper oxides, tampers with their superconducting properties.

Using metamaterials to develop new thermal coatings for spacecraft and satellites

A team of researchers developed a new meta-optical solar reflector coating, enabled by the use of metal oxide that is patterned into a metamaterial, that has very strong infrared emissivity while retaining a low absorption of the solar spectrum.

Author

April Gocha

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