[Images above] Credit: NIST
NANOMATERIALS
Nanotube-embedded coating detects threats from wear and tear in large structures
A strain-sensing smart skin developed at Rice University that uses carbon nanotubes to monitor and detect damage in large structures is ready for prime time. Carbon nanotubes’ natural fluorescence enables a method to detect high strain concentrations that can lead to damage threatening the integrity of critical infrastructure.
Toward stable, sustained Raman imaging of large samples at the nanoscale
Researchers from Japan developed an ultrastable nanoimaging system that detects unique nanoscale defects not observed in conventional nanoimaging in micron-scale tungsten disulfide samples, widening the technique’s scope to biological samples.
ENERGY
Scientists propose solution to a long-puzzling fusion problem
Through simulations, researchers showed what can cause temperature to stay flat or even decrease in the center of the plasma that fuels fusion reactions even as more heating power is beamed in. These simulations likely explain an experimental observation made more than 12 years ago.
Fully scalable all-perovskite tandem solar modules
Researchers at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology developed a prototype for fully scalable all-perovskite tandem solar modules. These modules have an efficiency of up to 19.1% with an aperture area of 12.25 square centimeters.
ENVIRONMENT
How environmentally responsible is lithium brine mining? Depends on how old the water is
Researchers at University of Massachusetts Amherst and University of Alaska Anchorage comprehensively accounted for the hydrological impact of lithium mining. They determined we need to be monitoring water usage on a much longer time scale than we currently do, while also paying attention to major events, like droughts, in the region.
Reducing energy consumption: A new test system for passive cooling materials
Researchers at the University of Bayreuth created a test system with which the materials used for passive cooling can be reliably characterized and compared, regardless of weather conditions and environmental conditions.
MANUFACTURING
3D printing nickel single crystals using laser additive manufacturing technology
Engineers at the National Institute for Materials Science and Osaka University Graduate School of Engineering succeeded in fabricating a nickel single crystal with only a very few crystalline defects by irradiating nickel powder with a large-radius, flat-top laser beam.
OTHER STORIES
Efficient, stable, and eco-friendly thermoelectric material discovered
Hokkaido University researchers synthesized a barium cobalt oxide thermoelectric converter that is reproducibly stable and efficient at temperatures as high as 600°C.
Research team accelerates imaging techniques for capturing small molecules’ structures
Researchers at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign succeeded in creating crisp images of a molecules’ atoms without damaging the integrity of any individual molecule by adding together hundreds of thousands of images.
Future smart homes could be powered with electronics built on stones
Researchers fabricated ceramic microsupercapacitors onto the surface of stone tiles. The devices are durable and easily scaled up for customizable 3D power supplies.