[Images above] Credit: NIST


NANOMATERIALS

‘GO dough’ makes graphene easy to shape and mold

Northwestern University researchers turned graphene oxide into a soft, moldable, and kneadable play dough that can be shaped and reshaped into free-standing, 3D structures. They made GO dough by adding an ultra-high concentration of graphene oxide to water.

Large, stable pieces of graphene produced with unique edge pattern

Researchers at University of Erlangen-Nuremberg produced stable nanographene with a zigzag edge. To do so, they produced preliminary molecules, which they then fit together in a honeycomb formation over several cycles.

Waterproof graphene electronic circuits

A team of European researchers discovered that when graphene is integrated with metal of a circuit, contact resistance is not impaired by humidity. The authors are applying this new approach to create prototypes of graphene-based sensors to measure carbon dioxide.


ENERGY

New method yields higher transition temperature in superconducting materials

University of Houston researchers increased pressure on bismuth compounds beyond levels previously explored and found superconducting transition temperature increased after initially dropping. Next steps will be to achieve same effect with chemical doping and without pressure.

Eggshells could crack renewable energy puzzle

Using supermarket-bought caged eggs, Murdoch University researchers successfully used eggshells as an electrode—both as a positive anode and a negative cathode. They plan to test whether free-range eggshells can better conduct power.


BIOMATERIALS

Using graphene to detect ALS, other neurodegenerative diseases

University of Illinois at Chicago researchers found when cerebrospinal fluid from patients with ALS was added to graphene, it produced a distinct and different change in the vibrational characteristics of graphene compared to when fluid from a patient with multiple sclerosis or without a neurodegenerative disease was added.

Irish implant breakthrough could treat one of the trickiest bone infections

An international team led by Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland used a special implant made from copper-infused glass to treat osteomyelitis, a type of bone infection. The glass attracts blood vessels and bone cells while the copper ions prevent bacteria from growing.


ENVIRONMENT

Concrete from industrial waste: strong as traditional, more environmentally friendly

Scientists at Kaunas University of Technology are developing methods for producing concrete without cement, using industrial waste. The final product is as strong as traditional concrete, is more resilient to damaging effects of acid, and more stable when exposed to extreme temperatures.

Fluid-inspired material self-heals before your eyes

A Northwestern University team used oil and graphene to develop a new coating strategy for metal that self-heals within seconds when scratched, scraped, or cracked. The material could prevent small defects from turning into localized corrosion, which can cause major structures to fail.


OTHER STORIES

Identifying the origin of macroscopic friction between clay mineral surfaces

National Institute for Materials Science, the University of Tokyo, and Hiroshima University jointly discovered that macroscopic frictions occurring between clay mineral surfaces originate from interatomic electrostatic forces between these surfaces. This finding may help understanding of earthquake-causing fault slip mechanisms.

Multicolor holography technology could enable extremely compact 3D displays

Duke University researchers created a lens-free holography method. They fabricated a grating coupler and a binary hologram in a very thin waveguide structure, and the resulting structure combines colors and then separates them to generate a full color image.

Use a microscope as a shovel? UConn researchers dig it

University of Connecticut researchers used atomic force microscopes to map out electrical and magnetic properties layer by layer in bismuth ferrite, building up a 3D picture of the material’s properties the same way they map 2D surfaces.

New technique could pave way for new generation of flexible electronic components

Researchers at University of Exeter embed a laser writable high-K oxide dielectric into various van der Waals heterostructure devices without damaging the neighbouring 2D monolayer materials. This technique could allow for creation of fundamental nano-electronic and opto-electronic devices including vertical light emitting and detecting tunnelling transistors.

Charting a ‘map’ for determining negative thermal expansion

Cornell University researchers studied perovskite lead titanate and found the assumptions many scientists commonly use to find new negative thermal expansion materials are not fully justified for many types of materials.

Laser-fabricated crystals in glass are ferroelectric

A team of researchers from Lehigh University, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Lebanon Valley College, and Corning Inc. demonstrated that crystals manufactured by lasers within a glass matrix maintain full ferroelectric functionality.

Author

Lisa McDonald

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