Sheets of graphene oxide can undergo spontaneous crosslinking reactions, which essentially glue the sheets together, as a result of common drying procedures. The finding broadens scientists’ understanding of basic graphene chemistry and sounds a cautionary note about processing this 2D form of carbon.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers reported that four and five graphene layers can be twisted and stacked at new magic angles to elicit robust superconductivity at low temperatures.
Researchers from TU Wien and University of Oslo studied in detail how silicate nanoparticles can help save buildings made of porous rock by strengthening the cohesion between the grains of minerals.
Rice University chemists used their flash Joule heating process to synthesize 2D flakes of boron nitride and boron carbon nitride. The flashed compound proved more than 92% better at protecting the copper than polyvinyl alcohol alone or a similar compound with commercial hexagonal boron nitride.
Engineers at the University of California, San Diego developed lithium-ion batteries that perform well at freezing cold and scorching hot temperatures, while packing a lot of energy. They accomplished this feat by developing an electrolyte made of a liquid solution of dibutyl ether mixed with a lithium salt.
Osaka University researchers discovered that changing the color of incident light from visible to ultraviolet on solar cells made from an antimony sulfiodide:sulfide composite induced a reversible change in the output voltage, while leaving the current generated unchanged. This discovery may lead to new functional light-sensing and imaging devices.
Researchers from University of Texas and Texas A&M University developed a sticky and stretchable graphene electronic tattoo for blood-pressure monitoring that is comfortable to wear for long periods. The device performs measurements by injecting a low-intensity electrical current into the skin and then analyzing the body’s response.
Ritsumeikan University researchers developed a distributed recycling system that employs microwave-based heating for recycling old alkaline batteries. The method achieved a recovery rate of 97% of manganese oxide and zinc from the alkaline batteries.
Researchers used a fiber-optic cable on the ice cap of an Icelandic subglacial volcano to detect low-frequency volcanic tremor, suggesting this technology could be useful in monitoring other ice-covered volcano systems.
Researchers from Tokyo University of Science and National Institute for Materials Science developed a data-driven approach for automating prediction and synthesis of new magnetic materials.
Researchers at Shibaura Institute of Technology and Indian Institute of Technology Madras observed a semiconducting behavior in thin muscovite mica flakes, characterized by an electrical conductivity that is 1,000 times larger than that of thick muscovite mica.
Researchers from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln demonstrated that growing a higher-quality, larger-grained crystal of hafnium oxide can actually generate higher polarization and potentially more reliable ferroelectricity.
Electric vehicles can handle the distances required to travel to essential services in remote and regional Australia, according to a new study from The Australian National University. The vast majority of residents (93%) could do such trips with even the lower-range of electric vehicles currently available.
