[Images above] Credit: NIST
NANOMATERIALS
New adhesive tape picks up and sticks down 2D materials as easily as child’s play
Kyushu University researchers, in collaboration with Japanese company Nitto Denko, developed a tape that can be used to stick 2D materials to many different surfaces in an easy and user-friendly way.
New ‘metal swap’ method for creating lateral heterostructures of 2D materials
Researchers led by Tokyo University of Science used sequential transmetallation to synthesize lateral heterojunctions of Zn3BHT coordination nanosheets. This method is a solution process at room temperature and atmospheric pressure.
Nanoweaving creates ‘Chinese knot’ magnetism for powerful microwave shielding
Researchers led by Fudan University reported a breakthrough in magnetic nanoframeworks that enables the deliberate reconfiguration and visualization of nanoscale magnetic flux lines. They achieved meticulous “weaving” of magnetic field lines at submicron resolutions using staggered layers of magnetic nanoparticles.
ENERGY
Transforming ordinary glass windows into affordable energy-storing smart glass
Researchers from the Center for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences, Bengaluru, developed a transparent battery that integrates a cathode material composed of electrochromic tungsten oxide with an aluminum anode, showcasing the charging and discharging process through visible transitions.
ENVIRONMENT
New glass-ceramic could be future of nuclear waste storage
Researchers from the University of Saskatchewan found that a new glass-ceramic might have all the properties for safer long-term storage of nuclear waste.
Color-changing materials could safeguard nuclear material, other valuable substances
Using commercially available colored water beads, a color-changing chemical reaction, and 3D-printed cases, researchers at Sandia National Laboratories made puck-shaped devices that turn dark brown when damaged or the wire loop threaded through them is pulled out. These tamper-indicating devices could serve as nuclear safeguards.
MANUFACTURING
Semiconductor fibers are fracture free and glass clad
Ultralong, fracture-free semiconductor fibers were produced inside glass cladding by researchers in Singapore and China. By etching off the glass and replacing it with a flexible polymer sheath embedded with metallic wires, the researchers produced microscale fibers that could be spun into textiles.
New process allows full recovery of starting materials from tough polymer composites
Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers designed a closed-loop path for synthesizing an exceptionally tough carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer and later recovering all of its starting materials.
Mussel-inspired coating process enables rapid fabrication of wafer-scale nanoparticle films
Researchers at Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology pioneered a technique that achieves swift electrostatic assembly of customized nanoparticle monolayers across entire 100-mm silicon wafers. The method hinges on modulating surface charges of both nanoparticle dispersions and target substrates through excess proton delivery.
Reshaping our understanding of granular systems
Researchers at the University of Rochester studied the unexpected role that grain shape plays in the behavior of granular systems. Their findings could help in situations that involve the mixing of granular systems, such as pharmaceuticals, cereal, and landslides.
OTHER STORIES
Lattice model captures dynamics of the glass transition
Researchers at Tohoku University and the University of Montpellier reconciled two competing descriptions of glass-transition behavior using a new lattice model.
Researchers develop cluster glass for fluorescence and nonlinear optical properties
Researchers from Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter of the Chinese Academy of Sciences designed and synthesized the first examples of meltable aluminum oxo clusters. The clusters demonstrate fluorescence and nonlinear optical properties.
Solving an age-old mystery about crystal formation
University of Houston researchers developed a paradigm called two-step incorporation, mediated by an intermediate state, that may help in understanding how small parts in a liquid can influence the detailed shapes of crystals found in nature.
Scientists shed light on inner workings of new class of unconventional superconductors
Scientists at Ames National Laboratory and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory provided new data and analysis on infinite-layer nickelates using terahertz-wave spectroscopy. Their results confirmed that nickelates exhibit d-wave superconductivity.
Combining materials may support unique superconductivity for quantum computing
Researchers led by The Pennsylvania State University used molecular beam epitaxy to stack together a ferromagnet and antiferromagnet. They confirmed the presence of all three critical components of chiral topological superconductivity at the interface between the materials.
Researchers discover new kind of magnetism
Researchers found signs of a wholly new class of magnetism, one with characteristics of both ferromagnetism and antiferromagnetism. More than 200 materials should exhibit the newfound phenomenon, according to theoretical predictions, and physicists are closing in on direct experimental evidence for it.