[Image above] Credit: ACerS
NANOMATERIALS
Lithium-doped carbon nanorings show promise for next-generation optical devices
Using computational modeling, scientists demonstrated that adding a lithium atom to the outside of a carbon molecule made of 12 benzene rings creates a material with exceptionally strong optical responses.
Scientists reveal 80-atom boron buckyball
Chemists at Brown University have shown the first experimental evidence that carbon buckyballs, which launched the nanotechnology revolution, have a cousin made from 80 atoms of the element boron.
ENERGY
AI and physics draw a blueprint for better hydrogen storage materials
By combining DigHyd, a curated database of hydrogen-storage measurements collected from the scientific literature, with GoodRegressor, a symbolic-regression tool that searches for human-readable equations, researchers led by Tohoku University identified the main physical factors that control the performance of interstitial metal hydrides.
How data centers can better manage energy use
Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers found that a flexible arrangement for data-center energy consumption would produce cost savings of up to 5% in Texas, 4% in the Mid-Atlantic region, and 2% in the western U.S. states. To achieve that, data centers would have to move up to 50% of their consumption to nonpeak hours.
ENVIRONMENT
Concrete waste from nuclear sites could help lock away radioactive strontium
Researchers from the University of Manchester, United Kingdom National Nuclear Laboratory, and Clemson University found that, under conditions similar to those expected in shallow, on‑site disposal environments, concrete can react and become a long‑term sink for strontium-90, particularly when exposed to air or treated with phosphate.
Clay prevents fruits and vegetables from rotting too quickly
Researchers led by the University of Copenhagen showed that ordinary clay could help prevent fruit and vegetables from rotting during transport and storage. They increased the voids in the clay’s structure so it could absorb ethylene, a natural gas produced by many fruits and vegetables that controls their ripening.
New insight could change how we break down ‘forever chemicals’
Aarhus University researchers found that PFAS can be broken down using intense light without adding chemicals. The main factor behind this breakdown is hydrogen radicals, a highly reactive species formed from water under ultraviolet light.
MANUFACTURING
Seaweed-based ingredient can help turn dirt into 3D-printed walls
Researchers led by the University of Colorado Boulder found that adding sodium alginate to clay and sand allowed the particles to suspend in a stable mixture while still flowing smoothly through a 3D printer.
New design approach may help slash the price of ultradurable concrete
Researchers led by The Pennsylvania State University used a series of tests to measure the physical strength and ductility of different ultrahigh-performance concrete mixtures. Testing identified several key characteristics that can be optimized to reduce the material’s price by up to 75% while maintaining its mechanical properties.
Computer model could enable bridges and buildings that use less material
Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers created a framework to make topology optimization designs more buildable by allowing users to apply constraints to algorithmically generated structures to limit their complexity.
Novel crystal strategy enhances zero-thermal-expansion materials
Researchers led by the Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences designed a material with an exceptionally broad zero-thermal-expansion temperature window. They did so by growing isotropic optical crystals using a fractional occupancy and flexible regulation strategy.
OTHER STORIES
Researchers automate defect detection in diamond
Rice University researchers developed a new workflow methodology for measuring microscopic defects in diamond and other advanced semiconductor materials. Their custom Python-based software tool rapidly analyzes data from high-resolution X-ray diffraction, picks up on dislocations and irregularities in the atomic lattice, and calculates their density.
A magnetic field that kills superconductivity can also bring it back
Researchers led by the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science saw reentrant superconductivity in a very thin conducting layer at the boundary between two insulating oxide materials. This phenomenon involves superconductivity disappearing when a magnetic field is introduced but then unexpectedly returning when the field is increased further.
Predictive roadmap boosts performance in next-gen spintronics
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory researchers developed a data-driven approach that identifies and models key synthesis parameters to optimize the performance of chiral 2D metal halide perovskites as spintronic materials.
Fired clay vessels reveal ceramic technology evolved through local experimenting
Fragments of 46 low-temperature fired clay vessels discovered at the Çemka Höyük archaeological site in Tur Abdin, Türkiye, are reshaping archaeologists’ long-held assumptions about the inception of pottery in the region. The findings reveal that ceramic technology did not appear suddenly but instead evolved through earlier local experiments.