[Images above] Credit: NIST
NANOMATERIALS
Controlling nanoparticle size with graphene oxide and microwave radiation
Researchers from the University of Akron and The Pennsylvania State University developed a low-cost solid-state synthesis method for the rapid and controllable formation of uniformly sized iron oxide nanoparticles on graphene-derived substrates.
Appearance and origin of oxidation in 2D nanomaterials akin to tree rings
Researchers at Technical University of Denmark showed that phase-contrast atomic force microscopy imaging allows to precisely distinguish covered from exposed edges in multilayer flakes of transition metal dichalcogenides.
ENERGY
Developing high-performance MXene electrodes for next-generation powerful battery
A collaborative research team led by City University of Hong Kong developed battery-like electrochemical Nb2CTx MXene electrodes with stable voltage output and high energy density by using a high-voltage scanning strategy.
Enhancing energy storage of ceramics by modulating grain size
Researchers from China fabricated a ferroelectric ceramic with reduced grain size for improved energy storage capacity as a substitute to lead in dielectric capacitors.
BIOMATERIALS
Researchers develop ultrathin ‘computer on the bone’
University of Arizona researchers developed an ultrathin wireless device that grows to the surface of bone and could someday help physicians monitor bone health and healing over long periods. The device is attached using an adhesive that contains calcium particles with an atomic structure similar to bone cells.
OTHER MATERIALS
Glass as stable as crystal: Homogeneity leads to stability
Researchers at the University of Tokyo Institute of Industrial Science used computer simulations to study the aging mechanism that can cause an amorphous glassy material to turn into a crystal. They find that removing tiny irregularities in local densities help prevent the atomic “avalanches” that trigger ordered structure formation.
Study challenges standard ideas about piezoelectricity in ferroelectric crystals
Researchers at The Pennsylvania State University found that the idea that smaller domains lead to higher piezoelectricity is based on very limited existing data without a solid theoretical foundation.
New tool can detect a precursor of engine-destroying combustion instability
Researchers from Japan developed a novel tool to detect a precursor to combustion oscillations using machine learning and a dynamical systems-based approach, opening doors to the prediction and prevention of related fatal damage to engines.
Researchers make breakthrough on new electronic material
Researchers from Korea used ambient pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and low energy electron diffraction to investigate how fabrication conditions for strontium titanate affects its undoped surface and the resulting interfacial layer of the heterostructure.
Exploding and weeping ceramics provide path to new shape-shifting material
An international team of researchers from University of Minnesota Twin Cities and Kiel University discovered a path that could lead to shape-shifting ceramic materials.