[Images above] Credit: NIST
NANOMATERIALS
The right twist and strain for graphene to form 1D moirés
IMDEA Nanoscience Institute researchers developed an analytical method to explain the formation of a quasi-perfect 1D moiré pattern in twisted bilayer graphene. The pattern, naturally occurring in piled 2D materials when a strain force is applied, represents a set of channels for electrons.
Multimodal graphene-based e-textiles developed for the first time
Researchers at Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials and Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology developed graphene-based, customized e-textiles for the first time. Instead of using toxic chemicals or optical masks for patterning, the researchers used laser direct patterning technology.
ENERGY
Carbon nanosheets as competent assistant to manganese dioxide in power electrodes
Jiangsu University researchers designed and prepared a manganese dioxide/carbon nanosheet composite material to address the morphology and size distribution problems of powder electrode materials.
New database shines spotlight on decades of solar mirror research
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory is preparing to unveil the publicly available Solar Mirror Materials Database, which will contain information from thousands of solar mirror samples from more than a hundred suppliers that have been subjected to outdoor tests and laboratory environments.
ENVIRONMENT
A bold plan to 3D print artificial coral reef
Inspired by the remarkable durability of ancient Roman construction materials in seawater, a University of Texas at Arlington civil engineering researcher is leading a multidisciplinary team in an attempt to duplicate Roman concrete by developing 3D-printed materials to restore damaged or dying coral reefs.
Research aims to improve recycled concrete for construction and carbon sequestration
University of Nebraska–Lincoln researchers are studying the economic and practical feasibility of using recycled concrete as a building material and as a source of carbon sequestration. New DOE funding will enable them to expand from small-scale lab experiments (10- and 30-gallon chambers) to larger-scale production (1-ton chamber).
MANUFACTURING
New way to produce 2D halide perovskites with ideal thickness
Rice University researchers, along with the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Rennes, and Northwestern University, fabricated 2D perovskite-based semiconductor layers with ideal thickness and purity. Their method involves progressively increasing the temperature (for a fixed time) or the crystallization time (at a fixed temperature).
OTHER STORIES
Researchers revolutionize lithium production, on a string
Princeton University researchers developed an extraction technique that slashes the amount of land and time needed for lithium production. The new technique is based on a set of porous fibers twisted into strings. When the ends are dipped in a salt-water solution, water travels up the strings and evaporates, leaving behind salt ions, such as lithium.
Conduction electrons drive giant, nonlinear elastic response in Sr2RuO4
Material hardness normally is set by the strength of chemical bonds between electrons of neighboring atoms, not by freely flowing conduction electrons. Now researchers at Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids showed that current-carrying electrons can make the lattice much softer than usual in the layered perovskite Sr2RuO4.
The chemistry behind Leonardo da Vinci’s paintings
A new analysis of microsamples from two of Leonardo da Vinci’s most famous artworks, Mona Lisa and Last Supper, shows that da Vinci may have experimented with lead oxide as a drying agent in his primer formula.
ERVA open call for visioning theme submissions
Funded by the National Science Foundation Directorate for Engineering, the Engineering Research Visioning Alliance is a neutral convener that helps to identify bold and transformative new engineering research directions. The Alliance is seeking ideas for bold new engineering research challenges. You can submit your ideas at this link.