[Images above] Credit: NIST
NANOMATERIALS
Terahertz imaging of graphene paves the way to industrialization
Researchers involved with the Graphene Flagship European consortium developed a terahertz spectroscopy method for graphene characterization. It provides the main parameters of interest, such as carrier mobility, conductivity, scattering time, and carrier density.
Engineering the boundary between 2D and 3D materials
An international team led by Massachusetts Institute of Technology made use of two unique transmission electron microscopes to image what goes on at the interface between 2D and 3D materials. They say the findings could help lead to improved kinds of junctions in some microchips, for example.
Tunable lattice vibrations in graphene
Freie Universität Berlin and Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin researchers showed a graphene-based phononic crystal whose resonant frequency can be tuned over a broad range and has used a helium-ion microscope to produce such a crystal.
ENERGY
Perovskite solar cell with cesium-titanium dioxide nanotubes
An international research group developed a perovskite solar cell with strong thermal stability and enhanced electron injection by using special nanotubes made of cesium-titanium dioxide.
ENVIRONMENT
Graphene oxide membranes could reduce paper industry energy costs
Georgia Institute of Technology researchers found a method to engineer membranes made from graphene oxide so they can work effectively in industrial applications. In particular, they can control the microstructure in a way that allows the membranes to continue filtering out water effectively even at higher chemical concentrations.
Graphene filter makes carbon capture more efficient and cheaper
Chemical engineers at École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne developed a graphene filter for carbon capture that surpasses the efficiency of commercial capture technologies, and it can reduce the cost of carbon capture down to $30 per ton of carbon dioxide.
Internet fiber optics could provide valuable insight into geological phenomena
Researchers at The Pennsylvania State University are using fiber-optic distributed acoustic sensing technology to turn existing telecommunication infrastructure that is already installed underground into a valuable resource for monitoring ground vibrations.
MANUFACTURING
Spintronics: New production method makes crystalline microstructures universally usable
Physicists at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg developed a new process for transferring yttrium iron garnet to any material. Traditionally, the very thin, high-quality layers must be produced on a specific substrate and cannot be detached. The new method resolves this issue by getting the material to form bridge-like structures.
3D printing perovskites onto graphene creates ultrasensitive X-ray detector
Researchers in Switzerland demonstrated that 3D aerosol jet printing, a low-cost technique that deposits material with micron precision, can be used to build X-ray detectors from the perovskite methylammonium lead iodide on graphene.
OTHER STORIES
Nanotube artificial muscles pick up the pace
Researchers led by the University of Texas at Dallas developed an electrochemically powered artificial muscle made from twisted carbon nanotubes that contracts more when driven faster thanks to a novel conductive polymer coating.
Chemists boost boron’s utility
Massachusetts Institute of Technology chemists designed a boron-containing chemical group that is 10,000 times more stable than its predecessors. This stability could make it possible to incorporate boron into drugs and potentially improve the drugs’ ability to bind their targets.