Georgia Institute of Technology researchers found a way to accelerate additive manufacturing of nanometer-scale structures by using a small, high-energy supersonic jet of inert gas to energize precursor molecules. The approach also enables the production of nanoscale structures with high aspect ratios.
Researchers at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology presented a process in which carbon dioxide and hydrogen gas is converted directly into graphene at temperatures of up to 1,000°C with the help of specially prepared, catalytically active metal surfaces.
University of California San Diego researchers replaced the graphite anode with a lithium-metal anode in liquefied gas electrolytes. They demonstrated lithium-metal anode cycling efficiency of 98.4% at -60°C. In contrast, most conventional electrolytes fail below -20°C.
Using 38 years of global solar radiation, weather, and temperature data, and comparing with historical data for photovoltaic installations in Europe, researchers from Aarhus University developed a model that, at global, regional, and local levels, can estimate the performance of PV installations in a given geography, depending on the type of facility.
Physicists from Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory and General Atomics concluded that injecting tiny beryllium pellets into ITER could help stabilize the plasma that fuels fusion reactions. In the present experiments, they injected granules of carbon, lithium, and boron carbide, light metals that share several properties of beryllium.
University of Science and Technology of China scientists found that, instead of flat graphene supports, platinum decorated spherical onion-like carbon catalysts with platinum atoms deposited on their outermost surface reduced the amount of platinum atoms needed for electrochemical hydrogen production by about 75%.
Electric motor efficiency and performance could benefit from using aluminum matrix composites, according to research from the Innovate UK ‘Make it Lighter with Less’ R&D competition. The project, led by AMC specialist Alvant, achieved a 40% rotor weight saving on an axial flux electric motor while increasing the rotor’s power-to-inertia ratio potential.
By using eye-tracking technology to automatically control a pair of autofocus lenses, Stanford University engineers created a prototype for “autofocals” designed to restore proper vision in people who would ordinarily need progressive lenses.
Researchers at Washington University studied the formation of calcium carbonate in saline water. Their results suggest that, without considering kinetic factors, we may have been overestimating how fast calcium carbonate forms in saline environments.
University of New South Wales researchers describe the first observation of a native ferroelectric metal. They found coexistence of native metallicity and ferroelectricity in bulk crystalline tungsten ditelluride at room temperature.
An international research group led by University of Bayreuth produced a previously unknown material: rhenium nitride pernitride. The possibility of finding a compound that was metallically conductive, super-hard, and ultra-incompressible was long considered unlikely. This prejudice has been soundly refuted by the research work now published.
University of Wisconsin–Madison engineers devised a method to create “smart” glass that can recognize images without requiring any sensors, circuits, nor power sources. Light emanating from an image of a number enters at one end of the glass, and then focuses to one of nine specific spots on the other side, each corresponding to individual digits.
