[Images above] Credit: NIST
NANOMATERIALS
Researchers take a bottom-up approach to synthesizing microscopic diamonds
Researchers at University of Washington, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory found they can use extremely high pressure and temperature to dope nanodiamonds. The team used this approach to dope nanodiamonds with silicon and argon.
Washable, wearable battery-like devices could be woven directly into clothes
University of Cambridge and Jiangnan University researchers showed graphene inks can be used in textiles to store and release electrical charge when required. Building on previous work by the same team, they designed inks that can be directly coated onto a polyester fabric in a simple dyeing process.
Ultra-clean fabrication platform produces nearly ideal 2D transistors
Columbia Engineering researchers demonstrated a nearly ideal transistor made from a 2D material stack by developing a two-step, ultra-clean nanofabrication process. They showed their method can not only protect the semiconductor layer so there is no performance degradation over time, but the method can also yield high performance devices.
ENERGY
Another step forward for a promising new battery to store clean energy
The Ohio State University researchers built a more efficient and reliable potassium-oxygen battery by adding a polymer layer that allows potassium ions to travel throughout the cathode but restricts molecular oxygen from getting to the anode.
Breakthrough in new material to harness solar power
Researchers from University of Toledo, University of Colorado, and DOE National Renewable Energy Lab are fine-tuning a mix of lead and tin to improve efficiency of tandem perovskite solar cells. At this point, lifetime of the material is unknown.
ENVIRONMENT
Cement as a climate killer: Using industrial waste to produce carbon neutral alternatives
A team of geoscientists from Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg described how industrial residues from kaolin and aluminium production can be used to produce high-quality, climate-friendly alternatives to cement.
MANUFACTURING
New cement concrete developed in China
Chinese researchers developed a new type of cement concrete using natural soil as well as wind-blown sand, according to media report. The new green, low-cost cement concrete, developed by the research team of Xinjiang Communications Construction Group Co., Ltd, also makes use of construction and industry waste and residue.
New lens manufacturing technique
Researchers from Washington State University and Ohio State University developed a liquid mold from droplets that they can manipulate with magnets to create lenses in a variety of shapes and sizes. The magnets can be moved to change the magnetic field, the shape of the mold, and the resulting lens.
OTHER STORIES
New way to beat the heat in electronics
A nanocomposite invented at Rice University promises to be a superior high-temperature dielectric material for flexible electronics, energy storage, and electric devices. The nanocomposite combines 1D polymer nanofibers and 2D boron nitride nanosheets.
Physicists create prototype superefficient memory for future computers
Researchers from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and their colleagues from Germany and the Netherlands developed a prototype of energy-efficient data storage devices that rests on rapid spin switching in thulium orthoferrite via T-rays.
Brittle pals bond for flexible electronics
Rice University researchers combined sulfur and selenium to synthesize a dielectric that retains the best properties of high-K ceramics and polymers and low-K rubber and polyvinyl. They say the material is stable, abundant, and easy to fabricate, and should be simple to adapt for micro- and nanoscale electronics.
Excitonic radiative decay faster than thermal dephasing in ZnO thin films
Researchers from Osaka University, Osaka Prefecture University, Osaka City University, and The University of Shiga Prefecture found excitonic radiative decay faster than thermal dephasing at room temperature in zinc oxide thin films. The findings will greatly reduce the thermal energy loss in optical operations.
Superconductor’s magnetic persona unmasked
Experiments by U.S., Chinese, and European physicists found the magnetic persona of iron selenide is unexpectedly mundane. The key conclusion is that the magnetic correlations that are associated with superconductivity in iron selenide are highly anisotropic, just as they are in other iron superconductors.