[Images above] Credit: NIST
NANOMATERIALS
Engineers reveal the secrets behind green graphene
Princeton University researchers published two papers that detail the mechanism and promise of using iron as a catalyst to transform waste biomass, such as wood chips and other cellulose-rich biomass, into value-added carbon materials.
New storage technology keeps nanosurfaces clean
Rice University engineers created containers that can keep volatile organic compounds from accumulating on the surfaces of stored nanomaterials for at least six weeks. It can also clean previously contaminated surfaces. Texturing on the container’s inner wall allows it to act as a “sacrificial” material.
ENERGY
Next-generation flow battery design sets records
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory researchers found that adding a dissolved simple sugar called β-cyclodextrin to a flow battery allows it to achieve improved longevity and capacity. The team is working to further improve the system by experimenting with other compounds that are similar to β-cyclodextrin but smaller.
Scientists developing way to make cheaper lithium batteries
Arizona State University professor Alexandra Navrotsky and Ph.D. student Tullio Geraci created lithium–sodium materials and characterized their structures, homogeneity, and thermodynamic properties. As they increased the sodium content, stability improved. They have currently achieved a 10% mixture but believe they can push it up to around 20%.
Improving high-temperature stability of perovskite solar cells
Researchers found they can minimize perovskite solar cell degradation at high temperatures by incorporating fluorinated aniliniums, which prevent continuous penetration of ligand molecules between the layers or structures of the perovskite material.
Titanium oxide material lets sunlight drive green hydrogen production
Drexel University researchers developed a titanium oxide nanofilament photocatalyst that shows substantially higher activity than its commercial titanium oxide counterpart. Additionally, their photocatalyst was found to be stable in water for six months.
ENVIRONMENT
Vinyl seawalls may have unintended consequences for local waters
Members of the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program observed 32 seawalls in the Sarasota Bay area, 16 concrete and 16 vinyl. Of the 16 concrete seawalls, all had a considerable amount of oysters growing on them. Only six of the 16 vinyl seawalls had any oysters attached, and had few compared to the number of oysters on the concrete seawalls.
MANUFACTURING
One-step laser synthesis method makes wideband microwave absorption metamaterial
Scientists from Chinese Academy of Sciences, National Physical Laboratory (U.K.), the University of Manchester (U.K.), and National University of Singapore developed a one-step UV laser synthesis method for fabricating a specifically designed wideband microwave absorption metamaterial on a polyethylene terephthalate substrate.
OTHER STORIES
Discovery of irregularly arranged structures in crystals upends previous beliefs
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute researchers discovered that crystal structures are not necessarily always regularly arranged. Specifically, they showed that the random stacking of two-dimensional hexagonal layers is, very likely, a stable structure.
Simulating damage propagation in composites through novel computational method
Sophia University researchers developed a novel method to conduct numerical simulations of damage propagation in carbon fiber reinforced plastic laminates. They based their approach on a quasi-3D version of the extended finite element method.