[Images above] Credit: NIST
NANOMATERIALS
Nanocrystals from recycled wood waste make carbon-fiber composites tougher
Texas A&M University researchers used a natural plant product, called cellulose nanocrystals, to pin and coat carbon nanotubes uniformly onto carbon-fiber composites. They say their method is quicker than conventional methods and also allows the designing of carbon-fiber composites from the nanoscale.
A new way to fabricate MXene films that block electromagnetic interference
Researchers led by New York University Tandon School of Engineering demonstrated a novel approach to MXene fabrication that could lead to methods for at-scale production of MXene freestanding films: drop-casting onto prepatterned hydrophobic substrates. Their method led to a 38% enhancement of EMI shielding efficiency over conventional methods.
New way to check the quality of nanomaterials like graphene
Researchers at University of Sussex developed a technique that gives detailed information about the size and thickness of graphene particles. It uses a nondestructive, laser-based method for looking at particles as a whole, and it lets them quickly build a detailed picture of the distribution of particles in a given material.
A light bright and tiny: Scientists build a better nanoscale LED
Researchers from National Institute of Standards and Technology, University of Maryland, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center designed a new light-emitting diode that shows an increase in brightness of 100 to 1,000 times over conventional tiny, submicron-sized LED designs.
No limit yet for carbon nanotube fibers
Carbon nanotube fibers made at Rice University are now stronger than Kevlar and are inching up on the conductivity of copper. The wet spinning process used to make the fibers is inherently scalable and fits in with the way synthetic fibers are already made.
ENERGY
Inspired by the red bacteria Halobacterium Halobium, researchers developed a laboratory mimic in which light can similarly pump ions through a carbon nitride nanotube membrane and up a concentration gradient to create a novel kind of photoelectric energy generator.
BIOMATERIALS
Eggshell-based surgical material for skull injuries
Researchers at The National University of Science and Technology MISiS developed a bioactive polymer-ceramic composite for fixing implants and restoring bone defects in the skull. The composite is made from poly(methyl methacrylate) and diopside.
ENVIRONMENT
The world’s growing concrete coasts
A BBC Future article covers the extent to which concrete is used in the ocean and along the coasts, the environmental costs of its high usage, and alternative materials that could replace concrete in the future.
OTHER STORIES
Advance in superconductors with ‘twist’ in rhombohedral graphite
An international research team led by The University of Manchester showed the special topology of rhombohedral graphite effectively provides an inbuilt “twist” and therefore offers an alternative medium to twisted bilayer graphene to study potentially game-changing effects like superconductivity.
Quantum materials quest could benefit from graphene that buckles
Researchers led by Rutgers University realized the pucker patterns graphene exhibits when it buckles upon cooling while attached to a flat surface could benefit the search for novel quantum materials and superconductors. The patterns mimic the effect of colossally large magnetic fields that are unattainable with current magnet technologies.
A ‘gravity suit’ could protect astronauts from the dangers of weightlessness
University of California, San Diego researchers engineered a negative-pressure gravity suit that could slow or even prevent the ravages of microgravity on astronauts’ bodies suffered during extended spaceflight.