[Image above] Credit: ACerS
NANOMATERIALS
AI uncovers atomic defects in materials
Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers built an artificial intelligence model capable of classifying and quantifying certain defects using data from a noninvasive neutron-scattering technique. The model, which was trained on 2,000 different semiconductor materials, can detect up to six kinds of point defects in a material simultaneously.
Engineers introduce first synthetic charged domain wall in 2D material
Materials scientists from The Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign interfaced two materials to artificially generate a highly conductive ferroelectric charged domain wall.
ENERGY
‘Spin-flip’ breakthrough could let solar panels generate more energy than they receive
Kyushu University researchers used a “spin-flip” metal complex to capture and multiply energy from sunlight through singlet fission. The result reached about 130% efficiency, meaning more energy carriers were produced than photons that were absorbed.
Bifacial chalcogenide solar cell with 15.1% efficiency
University of Uppsala researchers fabricated a bifacial chalcopyrite solar cell with a power conversion efficiency of 15.1% and a bifaciality factor of 68%. The cell uses a titanium-doped indium oxide back contact that is designed to mitigate the optical losses typically associated with conventional, highly doped transparent back contact materials.
Dust-resilient perovskite solar cells could cut manufacturing costs
Swansea University researchers found that perovskite technology has a unique tolerance to common dust and debris. The perovskite crystals simply grew around and over the dust particles without significantly impacting the device’s ability to generate current.
Microscopic laser can halve a computer’s energy use
Technical University of Denmark researchers developed a nanolaser that breaks the traditional limit on how small lasers can be. It is based on a light-trapping structure that concentrates light extremely powerfully in an area so small that such designs were previously considered impossible. The laser can thus operate at room temp with unusually low energy consumption.
ENVIRONMENT
Efficient carbon capture designer materials that could desorb below 60°C
Chiba University researchers developed three kinds of viciazites, a new type of carbon-based material with precisely positioned nitrogen-containing functional groups. Through tight molecular control, these materials can release captured CO2 at temperatures as low as 60°C, paving the way for efficient carbon capture.
Breakthrough opportunity to reduce cement emissions through reactivation
INKAS, in collaboration with Canadian materials scientists and industry partners, identified a scalable method to significantly reduce cement-related emissions by reactivating waste concrete materials.
Discarded oyster shells can clean polluted water by removing rare earths
Trinity College Dublin researchers showed that waste seashells—especially those from oysters—can capture and remove rare earth elements from polluted water. They do so by acting as a “template” that converts dissolved metals into solid mineral crystals that remain locked inside the shell material.
MANUFACTURING
New way to produce bio-based components using graphene foam
The Bio.3DGREEN project, which was launched at the end of May 2025, brings together 14 partners from Germany, Spain, the U.K., Greece, Cyprus, Belgium, Italy, Denmark, and Switzerland to develop a new way to produce bio-based components using graphene foam.
Photonic chip packaging that can withstand extreme environments
Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology developed a new process for packaging photonic integrated circuits so they can survive and operate in extreme environments. The method, called hydroxide catalysis bonding, creates an inorganic, glass-like chemical bond between the optical fiber and the photonic chip.
OTHER STORIES
Qubits created using unexpected materials
Researchers from Linköping University demonstrated that the properties of the perovskite family of materials can be used to create quantum bits.
Physicists just turned glass into a powerful quantum security device
Researchers from the University of Padua, Politecnico di Milano, and the CNR Institute for Photonics and Nanotechnologies developed a high-performance quantum coherent receiver built directly inside borosilicate glass using femtosecond laser writing. This method delivers low optical loss, stable performance, and compatibility with existing fiber-optic systems.
More power, less heat: How metallic glasses are making motors more efficient
Saarland University researchers developed novel alloys that can be used to 3D print fully glass-like metallic motor components. Without a crystal lattice, the process of remagnetization is easier to achieve in a metallic glass, significantly reducing the iron losses that occur in conventional motor components.
Private space company proposes radical new plan to bag an asteroid
Los Angeles-based TransAstra has conceived of a plan to fly out to smallish, near-Earth asteroids, throw a large bag around them, and bring the bodies back to a “safe” gathering point near Earth. Such asteroids could provide water for use as propellant and minerals for everything from solar panels to radiation shielding.
Computer finds error in a major physics paper
Joseph Tooby-Smith at the University of Bath tried to formalize research published in 2006 on the stability of the two-Higgs doublet model potential, which has been widely cited, but accidentally revealed an error that undermines the theorem.