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[Images above] Credit: NIST


NANOMATERIALS

World’s first mass production of metalenses for visible wavelengths

Pohang University of Science and Technology researchers mass produced metalenses for visible light. They created a single pattern using electron beam lithography, then replicated the pattern using deep-ultraviolet ArF photolithography to create a 12-inch master stamp. Using the stamp and nanoimprint lithography, they made metalenses with 1-cm diameters.

New experimental method probes spin structure in 2D materials for first time

Researchers led by Brown University measured a direct interaction between electrons spinning in graphene and photons coming from microwave radiation. Called a coupling, the absorption of microwave photons by electrons establishes a novel experimental technique for directly studying the properties of how electrons spin in 2D materials.


ENERGY

Researchers develop selective catalyst that curbs corrosion in automotive fuel cells

Researchers at Pohang University of Science and Technology developed a selective catalyst consisting of platinum deposited onto titanium dioxide that curbs corrosion in fuel cells used for hydrogen-powered automobiles. It does so by having a hydrogen oxidation reaction that matches the concentration of hydrogen in the fuel cell.


BIOMATERIALS

Sustainable solar cell material shown to be highly promising for medical imaging

Researchers jointly led by the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge discovered that a solar cell material—bismuth oxyiodide—is capable of detecting X-ray dose rates more than 250 times lower than the current best performing detectors used commercially.


ENVIRONMENT

Thousands of tires are at the ocean bottom—one company has a way to rescue them

Florida construction materials manufacturer Miami Echo developed a way to recycle old tires, including ones from the failed Osborne Reef project, which tried to make the world’s longest artificial reef. Tires are shredded into small pieces, combined with a proprietary cement blend, and shaped into strong but porous bricks that water can flow through freely.


MANUFACTURING

New procedure allows microprinting inside existing materials with greater accuracy

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers used multiphoton lithography to print inside an existing porous material with high intensity laser light. This technique allowed them to selectively modify regions of the interior and manufacture custom small-scale optical devices via subsurface controllable refractive index via beam exposure.

Cutting-edge tech for 3D ceramic printing in the air to create complex engineering parts

Jiangnan University researchers developed a new printing paste and an improved curing technique that helps material solidify rapidly, enhancing 3D printing efficiency for ceramics and eliminating the need for support structures. Their technique can instantly solidify multiscale filaments with diameters ranging from 0.41 mm to 3.5 mm.

New surface coating technology increases materials’ electron emission seven-fold

An international research group developed a new surface coating technology that is capable of significantly increasing electron emission in materials. Specifically, they coated lanthanum hexaboride with hexagonal boron nitride, which lowered the work function from 2.2 eV to 1.9 eV and increased electron emission.


OTHER MATERIALS

Physicists discover ‘stacked pancakes of liquid magnetism’

Ames National Laboratory and Rice University researchers found “layered cakes of fluid magnetism” in layered helimagnetic crystals. Physicists typically think of materials either having magnetic order or lacking it. The researchers detected indications that the shift from magnetic order to disorder in helical magnets was accompanied by a transient stage in which electronic characteristics, such as resistance, varied according to direction.

A higher-rank twist on chirality: Researchers break new ground in directional materials

Researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign demonstrated a new form of two-dimensional chiral flow, called rank-2 chirality, using a topological circuit network. The generalizations offered by higher-rank chirality suggest a new class of devices that could be used to filter flows and engineer optical beams.

Achieving ultrahigh-density information storage with self-rolling ferroic oxide films

Researchers created a method that allows single-crystalline ferroelectric oxides to self-roll-up into scroll-like 3D memory structures. A PbZr0.3Ti0.7O3 film was grown on a stressor layer made of another oxide with a slight lattice mismatch. When the PZT was detached, the internal stress caused by the lattice mismatch made the PZT film roll up on its own.

Polyhydride material facilitates search for room-temperature conductivity

Researchers from Jilin University, the Center for High Pressure Science and Technology Advanced Research, and Skoltech synthesized lanthanum-cerium polyhydride, a material that may help studies of near-room-temp superconductivity. It is a compromise between polyhydrides of lanthanum and cerium in terms of how much cooling and pressure it needs.

A new generation of materials inspired by teeth

A Chemistry World article looks at two materials advancements inspired by limpet and squid ring teeth, respectively.

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