[Images above] Credit: NIST
NANOMATERIALS
Solving the puzzle of 2D disorder
An interdisciplinary team of Northwestern University researchers pieced together a method to determine how different 2D materials respond to disorder. They measured electrical conductivity curves using a cryostat, a device that preserves samples at low temperatures for microscopic examination.
New method helps exfoliate hexagonal boron nitride nanosheets
Chinese researchers recently reported an innovative mechanical process for controllably exfoliating hexagonal boron nitride nanosheets called “water-icing triggered exfoliation process.” The method relies on efficient reduction of h-interlayer interaction by rapid volume expansion of water in icing.
Nanotechnology that bosses light around to make one-way images
Using silicon and silicon nitride nanoparticles, an international team of researchers developed an optical technology that controls the flow of light by manipulating the direction in which it can or can’t travel.
ENERGY
Solar panels based on biosourced materials
Researchers at France’s National Solar Energy Institute are developing solar modules featuring new biobased materials in the front and rear sides. The front side is made of a fiberglass-filled polymer, while the rear side is made of composite based on thermoplastics in which a weaving of two fibers, flax and basalt, has been integrated.
Chinese researchers test technology to transmit solar power from space
Researchers at Xidian University in China tested a technology that could one day wirelessly beam solar power from space to Earth. At present, the power station model only has the capacity to send the energy 55 meters through the air.
MANUFACTURING
Texas A&M receives $3.74 million For 3D-printed hempcrete research
A plan from Texas A&M University researchers to 3D print new resilient buildings using hempcrete has the potential to lower the environmental impact of traditional construction methods and make housing more affordable and available.
OTHER STORIES
New, highly tunable composite materials—with a twist
University of Utah mathematicians designed a range of composite materials from moiré patterns created by rotating and stretching one lattice relative to another.
Graphene-polymer dust is not harmful
An interdisciplinary team funded by the Graphene Flagship project prepared a composite of polyamide 6 with 2.5% reduced graphene oxide and then abraded this material to mimic further processing or end-of-life scenarios. They found only limited acute responses after exposure to this dust in different cell-based models.
Diamonds are for quantum sensing
University of Tsukuba researchers demonstrated how ultrafast spectroscopy can be used to improve the temporal resolution of quantum sensors. By measuring the orientation of coherent spins inside a diamond lattice, they showed that magnetic fields can be measured even over very short times.
Let machines do the work: Automating semiconductor research with machine learning
Researchers led by Tokyo University of Science identified machine learning techniques that can help automate reflection high-energy electron diffraction data analysis, which is used in the development of semiconductor materials.
Breakthrough in residential cold climate heat pump technology
The U.S. Department of Energy announced that U.S. heat pump manufacturer Lennox International became the first partner in DOE’s Residential Cold Climate Heat Pump Technology Challenge to develop a next-generation electric heat pump that can more effectively heat homes in northern climates relative to today’s models.