[Images above] Credit: NIST
NANOMATERIALS
Weak force strongly impacts nanosheets
Rice University researchers found the “weak” van der Waals force is sufficient to indent rigid nanosheets. They placed 15-nanometer-wide iron oxide nanospheres on a surface, sprinkled prism-shaped nanosheets over them, and then observed the nanosheets acquired permanent bumps where none existed before, right on top of the spheres.
Sheets of carbon nanotubes come in a rainbow of colors
Nanomaterials researchers in Finland, the United States, and China created a color atlas for 466 unique varieties of single-walled carbon nanotubes. Their atlas shows that thickness of a nanotube film, as well as the color of nanotubes it contains, affect the film’s absorption of light.
A new method for the functionalization of graphene
An international research team demonstrated they could modify graphene so as to create a band gap by using a chemical reaction known as photocycloaddition, which modifies the bonds between atoms using ultraviolet light.
Characterizing cold fusion in 2D models
Researchers showed theoretically how cold fusion would unfold within 2D systems by focusing on calculating the elementary processes involved in muon-catalysed fusion. They then compared the behavior of their model with 3D measurements, which revealed that the 2D process is influenced by significantly different parameters.
Possibilities of new one-atom-thick materials
Researchers at University of Maryland Baltimore County used computer modeling to predict the properties of 2D materials that have not yet been made in real life. A separate paper demonstrated a way to integrate these materials into real electronic devices.
ENERGY
New curriculum improves students’ understanding of electric circuits in schools
Physics education researchers at the Goethe University and the University of Tübingen developed and empirically evaluated a new, intuitive curriculum to teach secondary school students about electricity.
Flexible and powerful electronics
Researchers at the University of Tsukuba created a new carbon-based electrical device, π-ion gel transistors (PIGTs), by using an ionic gel made of a conductive polymer. This work may lead to cheaper and more reliable flexible printable electronics.
BIOMATERIALS
3D-printed bioceramic implants effective in reconstructing cheekbones
Researchers at Chung-Ang University Medical Center proved the efficacy of transplanting nonmetallic, bioceramic 3D-printed artificial cheekbone for the first time. Six months after transplanting the cheekbones into eight patients, they found the bone fusion rate was 100%.
MANUFACTURING
New combined process for 3D printing
Chemists at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg developed a way to integrate liquids directly into materials during the 3D printing process. This technique allows, for example, active medical agents to be incorporated into pharmaceutical products or luminous liquids to be integrated into materials, which allow monitoring of damage.
OTHER STORIES
Novel crystalline oxide may solve problem of overheating in composite materials
Researchers at Tokyo Institute of Technology recently synthesized a unique crystalline oxide containing zirconium, sulfur, and phosphorus that exhibits two distinct mechanisms of negative thermal expansion.
New path to rare earth mineral formation
Researchers from Trinity College Dublin shed new light on the formation mechanisms of bastnäsite by considering how water containing rare earth elements interact with calcite. This reaction is not the only one that forms bastnäsite, but the discovery is important because calcite is found everywhere and is the most stable calcium carbonate in nature.
New material system to convert and generate terahertz waves
A German-Spanish research team with the participation of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf developed a material system to generate terahertz pulses much more effectively than before. It is based on graphene coated with a metallic lamellar structure.
Researchers invent method to ‘sketch’ quantum devices with focused electrons
University of Pittsburgh researchers developed a technique to “sketch” patterns of electrons into lanthanum aluminate/strontium titanate, a programmable quantum material. To develop this capability, they repurposed an electron beam lithography instrument and dialed it down to only a few hundred volts.