[Image above] Credit: ACerS
ENERGY
New low-cost, energy-efficient catalyst for hydrogen production
Researchers led by the University of Massachusetts Amherst used a seconds-scale, one-pot synthesis process to lock iron–nickel metal atoms into optimally spaced ensembles within a carbon matrix, creating a low-cost, scalable, nonprecious oxygen evolution catalyst.
ENVIRONMENT
A spinning gyroscope could finally unlock ocean wave energy
A researcher at The University of Osaka explored how a gyroscopic wave energy converter that uses a spinning flywheel inside a floating structure could be used to turn wave motion into electricity.
MANUFACTURING
Sound waves could be used to remotely reprogram material stiffness
Researchers in the U.S. and France showed that specific frequencies of acoustic waves can be applied to a material to reliably move localized features known as mechanical kinks, which determine whether different regions of the material are soft or stiff.
Composite powder design strategy enabling 3D printing of lithium disilicate glass-ceramics
Researchers led by the University of Jinan demonstrated a composite powder design strategy enabling photopolymerization-based additive manufacturing of lithium disilicate glass-ceramics.
Carbon nanotubes derived from MOFs for catalysis
Jiangsu University researchers developed a rapid annealing strategy for synthesizing metal–organic framework derivatives. The resulting C-CoNi catalyst exhibits a distinctive structural morphology, featuring the growth of carbon nanotubes and the uniform dispersion of nickel‒cobalt metal nanoparticles within a porous carbon matrix.
Maintaining high piezoelectric performance at porosity of 92%
Using an innovative foam-gelcasting approach, Northwestern Polytechnical University researchers successfully fabricated PZT-PZN-PNN-based porous piezoceramics with fully open-cell, 3D interconnected architectures.
OTHER STORIES
New ambient-pressure superconductivity record of 151 K
Researchers from Texas Center for Superconductivity and the University of Houston set a new ambient-pressure superconductivity record of 151 K. The breakthrough uses a “pressure quenching” technique that locks in enhanced superconducting properties after pressure is removed, allowing the material to remain stable under normal conditions.
New study narrows down the hidden symmetry of an enigmatic superconductor
Kyoto University researchers found that twisting and distorting ultrathin crystals of strontium ruthenate barely changes its superconducting transition temperature. This outcome rules out several existing theories about its superconducting behavior and places strong limits on the types of superconducting states that remain viable.
Magnetic interactions alone can generate friction
University of Konstanz researchers discovered that as two magnetic layers slide, their internal forces compete, causing constant rearrangements that dramatically increase resistance at certain distances. This resistance creates a surprising peak in friction instead of a steady rise, in contrast to the prediction of Amontons’ law.
Order or chaos in a material: A matter of perspective
University of Twente researchers created a material that is disordered in two directions and perfectly ordered in the third. This study challenges the classic dichotomy between order and chaos.