[Images above] Credit: NIST
NANOMATERIALS
Organizing nanoparticles into pinwheel shapes offers new twist on engineered materials
Researchers at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and University of Michigan extended chirality into lattices assembled from nanoparticle building blocks to create new metamaterials. The resulting lattice is large enough to be seen with the naked eye.
ENERGY
Nanoreactor grows hydrogen-storage crystals
Researchers from Oak Ridge National Laboratory and University of Alicante in Spain developed a novel nanoreactor material that grows crystalline hydrogen clathrates capable of storing hydrogen. The material consists of a chemically optimized, porous activated carbon that confines hydrogen with thermal stability up to -27.7°F.
Nanodiamonds can be activated as photocatalysts with sunlight
Researchers at Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin investigated different variants of nanodiamond materials during excitation with light and analyzed the processes with extremely high time resolution. Among the variants, they found a certain combination of hydrogen as well as fullerene-like carbon on the surfaces of the nanoparticles is ideal.
Engineers solve a mystery on the path to smaller, lighter batteries
Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers solved a problem facing solid-state lithium batteries. They found that applying a compression force across the solid electrolyte can cause dendrites to stop moving from one electrode toward the other and instead veer harmlessly sideways, toward the direction of the force.
Paper electrodes for Li-ion batteries
Researchers at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore developed a technique to turn waste paper from single-use packaging and bags, as well as cardboard boxes, into pure carbon, which can be used for anodes in lithium-ion batteries.
Researchers embrace uncertainty to make microgrids better
Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology researchers developed an optimization model that incorporates possible variations in future power outputs to arrive upon an optimal scheduling decision and reduce operational costs and load shedding.
ENVIRONMENT
Magnetic material mops up microplastics in water
RMIT University researchers developed adsorbents, in the form of a powder, that remove microplastics 1,000 times smaller than those currently detectable by existing wastewater treatment plants.
Designing better water filters with AI
Researchers simulated a carbon nanotube channel for water purification purposes that had hydroxyl (water-attracting) and/or methyl (water-repelling) groups tethered to each atom on the inner wall. Optimal patterns had one or two rows of hydroxyl groups sandwiched between methyl groups, forming rings around the midsection of the pore.
MANUFACTURING
The Great Purpling—Streetlights in a bunch of major cities are turning purple
An Insider article overviews the supply chain and technology factors that cause some LED streetlights to turn purple in color, and discusses why this pretty mundane issue could signal trouble in other sectors.
World’s first test run of a hydrogen jet engine a success
Rolls-Royce and European airline easyJet successfully tested a hydrogen jet engine. The two companies used a converted Rolls-Royce AE 2100-A regional aircraft engine for the ground test. The European Marine Energy Centre produced the fuel at a hydrogen production and tidal test facility on Eday in the United Kingdom’s Orkney Islands.
New method can scale, simplify manufacture of stretchy semiconductors
Researchers led by The Pennsylvania State University developed a process to create soft, elastic semiconductors and circuits. It involves mixing a semiconductor and an elastomer and spin coating the liquid mixture precursors to fabricate rubbery semiconductor thin films.
New manufacturing process produces better, cheaper cathodes for lithium-ion batteries
Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers developed a cleaner, cheaper, and more efficient method for making a new class of cathode materials without cobalt. Instead of continuously stirring cathode materials with chemicals in a reactor, their hydrothermal synthesis approach crystalizes the cathode using metals dissolved in ethanol.
OTHER STORIES
New carbon nanotube-based foam promises superior protection against concussions
University of Wisconsin–Madison engineers developed a lightweight, ultrashock-absorbing carbon nanotube foam that could vastly improve helmets designed to protect people from strong blows. The new material exhibits 18 times higher specific energy absorption than the foam currently used in U.S. military combat helmet liners.
An energy-efficient method to enhance thermal conductivity of polymer composites
Pusan National University researchers developed an energy-efficient process to change the orientation of hexagonal boron nitride filler particles within polymer composites. The method makes use of thermophoresis, a phenomenon in which a temperature gradient causes solid particles suspended in a fluid to move or rotate.
Möbius strip for light could give optical technologies a boost
Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology created an odd number of notches in a silicon nitride ring, which allowed light to circulate in the loop in half-integer values of angular momentum.
Making sense of coercivity in magnetic materials with machine learning
Researchers from Tokyo University of Science developed an approach to connect microscale characteristics to the macroscopic physical property of coercivity using a combination of data science, machine learning, and an extension of the Ginzburg-Landau model.
Celebrating optical glass in the International Year of Glass
In honor of the United Nations International Year of Glass, the Optical Materials Express published a special issue that comprises a collection of twenty-seven manuscripts that celebrate historic and recent advances in optical glass.
UNITECR 2023 call for papers: Deadline extended to December 15
The upcoming 2023 edition of the Unified International Technical Conference on Refractories will take place Sept. 26–29, 2023, in Germany. The deadline for abstract submissions is extended until Dec. 15, 2022. Once your abstract is accepted, you will be asked to submit a paper (detailed manuscript) or a poster by June 30, 2023.