[Images above] Credit: NIST
NANOMATERIALS
Do simulations represent the real world at the atomic scale?
A team of scientists at Argonne National Laboratory, University of Chicago, and University of California, Davis, developed a groundbreaking validation protocol for simulations of the atomic structure of the interface between a solid (a metal oxide) and liquid water.
A little friction goes a long way toward stronger nanotube fibers
A computational model by Rice University researchers establishes a universal scaling relationship between nanotube length and friction between them in a bundle, parameters that can be used to fine-tune fiber properties for strength.
Researchers at Vienna University of Technology investigated the atomic mechanisms behind single-atom catalysis for eight different metals, and the results fit perfectly with theoretical models they had developed.
Atomic resolution video of salt crystals forming in real time
University of Tokyo researchers used their single-molecule atomic-resolution real-time electron microscopy technique to view never-before-seen details about crystal formation. To hold samples in place, they used atom-thick carbon nanohorns, one of their previous inventions.
ENERGY
Scientists at the International Advanced Research Center For Powder Metallurgy and New Materials developed a water-repellent transparent material for easy cleaning of solar panels. The material was developed specifically for Indian weather conditions.
Passive cooling with porous materials for PV modules
Researchers from the Jordan University of Science and Technology and the Australian College of Kuwait developed a passive cooling technique for solar modules. The method is based on the use of an open-ended channel, partly filled with an isotropic porous material, with constant thermophysical properties attached to the backside of the panels.
How short circuits in lithium metal batteries can be prevented
An international team led by Chalmers University of Technology developed concrete guidelines for how high energy-density lithium metal batteries should be charged and operated, maximizing efficiency while minimizing the risk of short circuits.
An anode-free zinc battery that could someday store renewable energy
Researchers made a prototype of an anode-free, zinc-based battery that contains a zinc-rich, manganese dioxide cathode as the sole source for zinc plating onto a copper current collector. The battery showed high efficiency, energy density, and stability, retaining 62.8% of its storage capacity after 80 charge/discharge cycles.
Producing green hydrogen through the exposure of nanomaterials to sunlight
An international team of researchers developed new sunlight-photosensitive-nanostructured electrodes made from titanium dioxide. The electrodes consist of a network of TiO2 nanotubes that have had catalyst nanoparticles deposited on them.
Squeezing a rock-star material could make it stable enough for solar cells
Researchers at Stanford University and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory discovered a way to stabilize a promising lead halide perovskite with pressure from a diamond anvil cell. The pressure needed was roughly 1,000 to 6,000 times atmospheric pressure, which is about a tenth of the pressures routinely used in the synthetic diamond industry.
ENVIRONMENT
New graphene nanochannel water filters
Brown University researchers found a way to align tiny channels between graphene sheets so that they are ideal for water filtration. They stack graphene sheets on an elastic substrate, which is placed under tension to stretch it out. After the sheets are deposited, the tension on the substrate is released, which causes the graphene to wrinkle.
Highly functional membrane developed for producing freshwater from seawater
Kobe University researchers developed a new desalination membrane by laminating graphene oxide nanosheets onto the surface of a porous polymer membrane. The developed membrane has the potential to perform highly efficient desalination because it is possible to control the gaps between its nanosheets and the charge on the nanosheets’ surfaces.
Chemists harness synergy effect of gallium
Chemists at Friedrich Schiller University Jena harnessed the interaction between two gallium atoms in a novel compound to split the strong bond between fluorine and carbon. The gallium compound is cheaper and more environmentally friendly than conventional alternatives.
How to get more electric cars on the road
Researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology determined the kinds of infrastructure improvements that would make the biggest difference in increasing the number of electric cars on the road. For example, they found installing charging stations on residential streets, rather than just in central locations such as shopping malls, could have an outsized benefit.
MANUFACTURING
How lobsters can help make stronger 3D printed concrete
In a new experimental study, researchers at RMIT University looked to the natural strength of lobster shells to design special 3D printing patterns. Their bio-mimicking spiral patterns improved the overall durability of the 3D printed concrete, as well as enabling the strength to be precisely directed for structural support where needed.
OTHER STORIES
Experimental evidence of intermediate state of matter between crystal and liquid
Scientists from the Joint Institute for High Temperatures Russian Academy of Sciences and Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology experimentally confirmed the presence of an intermediate phase between crystalline and liquid states in a monolayer dusty plasma system. The theoretical prediction of this phase was honoured with the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physics.
Newly developed GaN based MEMS resonator operates stably even at high temperature
An independent researcher at the National Institute for Materials Science in Japan developed a MEMS resonator that stably operates even under high temperatures by regulating the strain caused by the heat from gallium nitride.
Ultrawide bandgap gives material high-power potential
A Cornell University collaboration found a way to grow a single crystalline layer of alpha-aluminum gallium oxide with the widest energy bandgap to date. The bandgap starts at 5.4 eV and, as more aluminum is swapped in, expands to 8.6 eV—which is almost eight times the bandgap of silicon.
Researchers resolve controversy over energy gap of a van der Waals material
University of Wyoming researchers used scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy measurements to reveal that chromium tribromide has a much smaller energy gap value than previously reported. They suggest that previous optical measurements were actually the transitions from various conduction and valence band features rather than the energy gap.
Light-induced twisting of Weyl nodes switches on giant electron current
Researchers at Ames Laboratory, Brookhaven National Laboratory, and University of Alabama at Birmingham discovered a new light-induced switch that twists the crystal lattice of Weyl semimetals, switching on a giant electron current that appears to be nearly dissipationless.
Innovations through hair-thin optical fibers
University of Bonn researchers built hair-thin optical fiber filters that are compact, stable, and color-tunable. To tune color, they glued the fiber ends carrying mirrors into a common ferrule that can be stretched by means of a piezo crystal and hence control the mirror separation.