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NANOMATERIALS

Diamonds are forever: New foundation for nanostructures

Researchers at Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University fabricated a novel glass and synthetic diamond foundation that can be used to create miniscule micro- and nanostructures.

Clarification of a new synthesis mechanism of semiconductor atomic sheet

Tohoku University researchers developed an in-situ monitoring synthesis method to clarify the growing process of transition metal dichalcogenides. The research could aid in the large-scale fabrication and integration of atomic-order thick semiconductor atomic sheets into next-gen flexible electronics.

Graphene is 3D as well as 2D

Queen Mary University of London researchers found that 2D graphene has many of the same mechanical properties as 3D graphite. They show graphene shares a similar resistance to compression as graphite and is significantly thicker than is widely believed.


ENERGY

Platinum-graphene fuel cell catalysts show superior stability over bulk platinum

Georgia Institute of Technology researchers created several platinum-graphene systems that maximized the total surface area of platinum available for catalytic reactions and used a much smaller amount of platinum. To prepare the films, electrochemical atomic layer deposition was used to grow platinum monolayers on a layer of graphene.


ENVIRONMENT

New approach suggests path to emissions-free cement

Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology developed a cement manufacturing method based on an electrochemical process that could greatly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The team says the initial proposed system is not necessarily the best approach but it gets “people in the electrochemical sector to start thinking more about this.”

EPA scientists explore VOC emissions of 3D printed carbon fiber materials

Scientists from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency studied volatile organic compound emissions from ABS filament that contains carbon nanofiber reinforcement. They found increased print temperature had most significant effect on increasing VOC emissions, followed by increased length of time heating the material.


MANUFACTURING

Acoustic energy harnessed to soften shear-thickening fluids

Cornell University researchers are using ultrasonic waves to manipulate the viscosity of shear-thickening materials, turning solids to slush and back again. Potential applications include food processing, manufacturing concrete, and 3D printing of ceramics and metals.

Corrosion resistance of steel bars in concrete when mixed with aerobic microorganisms

Researchers in Japan reported on the corrosion resistance and polarization properties of steel bars in a mortar specimen mixed with aerobic microorganisms. The addition of microorganisms led to higher corrosion resistance.


OTHER STORIES

Study unveils a route to high hole mobility in gallium nitride

Researchers at Oxford University and Cornell University investigated the intrinsic phonon-limited mobility of electrons and holes in wurtzite gallium nitride. Their observations suggest GaN hole mobility can be increased by reversing sign of the crystal-field splitting, lifting split-off hole states above light and heavy holes.

Researchers discover new topological phases in a class of optical materials

University of Pennsylvania researchers found LiNbO3, a nonlinear optical material, can break optical reciprocity when placed in a dynamic setting, such as being shaken instead of left standing still, or a static system.

Breakthrough for transparent conductors: Touch screen coatings

Researchers at University of Liverpool, University College London, NSG Group (Pilkington), and Diamond Light Source showed replacing tin with molybdenum in tin doped indium oxide (ITO) creates a vastly superior material that has twice the conductivity. It can deliver better performance than ITO with only half the thickness and half the amount of indium.

Statistical inference to mimic the operating manner of highly-experienced crystallographer

A research team from Japan Science and Technology Agency, RIKEN, and University of Tokyo developed a novel data analysis method for prior evaluation of single crystal structure analysis. Their proposed method is based on precise estimation of a parameter inherent in preliminary-collected small data set.

The best of two worlds: Magnetism and Weyl semimetals

Max Planck Institute Dresden researchers experimentally confirmed the existence of magnetic Weyl fermions in the compounds Co2MnGa and Co3Sn2S2. The discovery of magnetic Weyl semimetals is a big step toward the realization of a room temperature quantum anomalous Hall effect.

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