[Images above] Credit: NIST
NANOMATERIALS
A small step for atoms, a giant leap for microelectronics
A Rice University scientist and collaborators in Taiwan and China reported they successfully grew atom-thick sheets of hexagonal boron nitride as two-inch diameter crystals by taking advantage of disorder among the meandering steps on a copper substrate.
New carbon-based nanomaterial: Facile diamond synthesis from lower ‘diamondoids’
Researchers in the U.S. and China used “diamondoids” as a precursor to develop laser-induced, high-pressure, and high-temperature diamonds. The work showed a substantially reduced transformation barrier compared with diamond synthesis using conventional hydrocarbon allotropes.
A talented 2D material gets a new gig
Researchers led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory developed a multitasking graphene device last year that switches from a superconductor to an insulator. Now, they tapped into the graphene system’s talent for juggling not just two properties, but three: superconducting, insulating, and ferromagnetism.
Comprehensive review of heterogeneously integrated 2D materials
Researchers from Sungkyunkwan University reviewed heterogeneously integrated 2D materials from an extensive library of atomic 2D materials with selectable material properties to open up fascinating possibilities for the design of functional novel devices.
Learn more about 2D metal carbides and nitrides in first book on MXenes
“2D Metal Carbides and Nitrides (MXenes): Structure, Properties and Applications,” by Babak Anasori (Indiana University—Purdue University Indianapolis) and Yury Gogotsi (Drexel University), is the first book on MXenes and covers all the available known aspects and applications of MXenes in a single source.
ENERGY
A new ultra-safe high energy Li-ion battery for electric vehicles
The Pennsylvania State University researchers developed a self-heating lithium-ion battery, called the All Climate battery, that can last for 1 million miles. The battery was adopted by several car companies and was chosen to power a fleet of 10,000 vehicles that will ferry people between venues at the next Winter Olympics in Beijing.
Free-floating electrocatalysts outperform tethered ones
Researchers from University of Electronic Science and Technology of China and Northwestern University boosted particles’ catalytic activity by leaving them free-floating in solution rather than bound to the electrode.
Energy researchers invent error-free catalysts
Researchers from University of Minnesota, University of Massachusetts Amherst, University of Delaware, and University of California Santa Barbara invented oscillating catalyst technology that can accelerate chemical reactions without side reactions or chemical errors.
BIOMATERIALS
A 3D camera for safer autonomy and advanced biomedical imaging
University of Michigan researchers showed the viability of a 3D camera that provides high quality 3D imaging while determining how far away objects are from the lens. Instead of using opaque photodetectors, this camera uses a stack of transparent photodetectors made from graphene.
New material could turn clothing into a health monitor
Researchers led by University of Houston created a new material using a nanocarbon-based polymeric nanocomposite that is pliable enough to be woven into fabric but imbued with sensing capabilities that can serve as an early warning system for injury or illness.
Nanoscale 4D printing technique may speed development of new therapeutics
Researchers at The City University of New York and Northwestern University created a 4D printer that lets scientists combine organic chemistry, surface science, and nanolithography to construct precisely designed nanopatterned surfaces that are decorated with delicate organic or biological molecules.
ENVIRONMENT
Hope for a new permanent magnet that’s cheap and sustainable
Researchers led by University of Leeds made a breakthrough in a new advanced material that may eventually replace rare-earth-based permanent magnets. They developed a hybrid film from a thin layer of cobalt, which is naturally magnetic, covered with molecules of Buckminsterfullerene, a form of carbon.
Bendable, safe, long-lasting, and green cement-free concrete
Swinburne University of Technology researchers developed and patented a new type of concrete that is made out of waste materials and can bend under load. It also includes short polymeric fibers that allows it to sustain multiple hair-sized cracks when put under tension or bending and not break into pieces.
OTHER STORIES
Carbon chains adopt fusilli or spaghetti shapes if they have odd or even numbers
University of Bristol scientists found that carbon chains can adopt helical shapes like DNA, but, unlike DNA, the shape is dependent on how many atoms there are in the chain. Chains with even numbers of carbon atoms adopt helical, fusilli-like shapes, and chains with odd numbers of carbon atoms adopt floppy, spaghetti-like shapes.
Researchers develop photostimulated transparent glass-ceramic
Researchers from the Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter developed a new kind of optical data storage medium—a photostimulated transparent glass-ceramic—via in situ precipitation of LiGa5O8: Mn2+ nanocrystals from a glass matrix.
Silicon carbide photodetector has enhanced response in the near-UV
Researchers at The University of Virginia and the U.S. Army Research Laboratory created a silicon carbide Schottky photodiodes that has its absorption peak shifted to longer UV wavelengths, resulting in good performance in the 270–350 nm region.