Penn State researchers have proved the feasibility of a new type of transistor that could make possible fast and low-power computing devices for energy constrained applications.
Researchers led by UNL materials engineers develop a process to incorporate graphene oxide nano fibers as a template to guide the formation and orientation of continuous carbon nanofibers.
Sandia National Laboratories researchers have devised a novel way to realize electrical conductivity in metal-organic framework (MOF) materials, a development that could have profound implications for the future of electronics, sensors, energy conversion and energy storage.
To technology insiders, graphene is a certified big deal. The one-atom thick carbon-based material elicits rhapsodic descriptions as the strongest, thinnest material known. It also is light, flexible, and able to conduct electricity as well as copper. Graphene-based electronics promise advances such as faster internet speeds, cheaper solar cells, novel sensors, space suits spun from graphene yarn, and more. Now a research team at NIST may help bring graphene’s promise closer to reality.
The ever-increasing market for portable electronic devices has resulted in an equally heavy demand for rechargeable batteries, Lithium-ion (Li-ion) being among the most popular. Scientists and engineers are seeking ways to improve the power density, durability and overall performance of Lithium-ion batteries, and in a recent paper in the journal APL Materials, Japanese researchers from a public-private team report an advance in Li-ion battery technology that they describe as a major breakthrough.
Unexpected behavior in ferroelectric materials explored by researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory supports a new approach to information storage and processing.
Researchers across the globe are racing to find ways to improve the cooling of hot surfaces -- for technologies ranging from small electronics to nuclear power plants. Zeroing in on the physics at play underlying surface phenomena, MIT and Boston University researchers made a significant breakthrough. Although somewhat counterintuitive, they discovered that by creating sparsely packed textures on surfaces rather than densely packed ones, they were able to hold droplets in place and enable cooling.
Engineers and cardiology experts have teamed up to develop a fingernail-sized biosensor that could alert doctors when serious brain injury occurs during heart surgery.
A pair of microbes on the ocean floor “eats” methane in a unique way, and a new study provides insights into their surprising nutritional requirements. Learning how these methane-munching organisms make a living in these extreme environments could provide clues about how the deep-sea environment might change in a warming world.
Conventional processes for producing AIN layers run at temperatures as high as 1150 degrees Celsius, and offer limited control over the thickness of the layers. Now a new technique, described in the AIP Publishing journal Applied Physics Letters, offers a way to produce high-quality AlN layers with atomic-scale thickness and at half the temperature of other methods.
We use aluminum to make planes lightweight, store sodas in recyclable containers, keep the walls of our homes energy efficient and ensure that the Thanksgiving turkey is cooked to perfection. Now, thanks to a group of Japanese researchers, there may soon be a new application for the versatile metal: hydrogen storage for fuel cells.
A crystal that can be tuned could increase the bandwidth of high-speed communications networks.
New barrier films, presented at the AVS Meeting in Long Beach, Calif., could better protect electronics in harsh environments.
Columbia Engineering researchers have developed a new approach to designing novel nanostructured materials through an inverse design framework using genetic algorithms. The study, published in PNAS’s October 28 Early Online edition, is the first to demonstrate the application of this methodology to the design of self-assembled nanostructures, and could help speed up the materials discovery process. It also shows the potential of machine learning and “big data” approaches.
Gas and oil deposits in shale have no place to hide from an Oak Ridge National Laboratory technique that provides an inside look at pores and reveals structural information potentially vital to the nation’s energy needs.
Scientists report steps toward safer, cheaper, longer-lasting, and faster-charging solid-state battery at the AVS Meeting in Long Beach, Calif.
New tool, presented at the AVS Meeting in Long Beach, Calif., is uncovering the fundamentals of how cells respond to surfaces and could potentially improve the effectiveness of biomedical implants.
Research presented at the AVS Meeting in Long Beach, Calif. shows scientists’ first steps into the unexplored territory of interfacial materials that could someday yield smaller, faster, more energy-efficient devices.
Solar cells that produce electricity 24/7. Cell phones with built-in power cells that recharge in seconds and work for weeks between charges: These are just two of the possibilities raised by a novel supercapacitor design invented by material scientists at Vanderbilt University.
Photovoltaic devices offer a green -- and potentially unlimited -- alternative to fossil fuel use. So why haven’t solar technologies been more widely adopted? Quite simply, "they’re too expensive," says Ji-Seon Kim, a scientist at Imperial College London, who, along with her colleagues, has come up with a technology that might help bring the prices down. They describe their new approach to making cheaper, more efficient solar panels in The Journal of Chemical Physics.
Scientists create surfaces with differently shaped nanoscale textures that may yield improved materials for applications in transportation, energy, and diagnostics.
Scientists have developed a general approach for combining different types of nanoparticles to produce large-scale composite materials. The technique opens many opportunities for mixing and matching particles with different magnetic, optical, or chemical properties to form new, multifunctional materials or materials with enhanced performance for a wide range of potential applications.
Scientists introduce a general theoretical approach that describes all known forms of high-temperature superconductivity and their "intertwined" phases.
Researchers have developed a new kind of “x-ray vision”—a way to peer inside real-world devices such as batteries and catalysts to map the internal nanostructures and properties of the various components, and even monitor how properties evolve as the devices operate.
More than dentures or bridges, implants mimic the look and feel of natural teeth. Still, they are costly, and a small percentage either fall out or must be removed. Tolou Shokuhfar wants to lower that failure rate to zero.
Drexel University researchers are continuing to expand the capabilities and functionalities of a family of two-dimensional materials they discovered that are as thin as a single atom, but have the potential to store massive amounts of energy. Their latest achievement has pushed the materials storage capacities to new levels while also allowing for their use in flexible devices.
Engineering researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a new drape made from graphene—the thinnest material known to science—which can enhance the water-resistant properties of materials with rough surfaces. These “nanodrapes” are less than a nanometer thick, chemically inert, and provide a layer of protection without changing the properties of the underlying material.
University of Adelaide researchers have developed a process for turning waste plastic bags into a high-tech nanomaterial.
Water pours into a cup at about the same rate regardless of whether the water bottle is made of glass or plastic. But at nanometer-size scales for water and potentially other fluids, whether the container is made of glass or plastic does make a significant difference.
Aided by funding from NASA and using methods similar to 3-D printing, researchers at Missouri University of Science and Technology are running computer simulations of processes that could lead to stronger, more durable materials for the space agency.
By inserting platinum atoms into an organic semiconductor, University of Utah physicists were able to “tune” the plastic-like polymer to emit light of different colors – a step toward more efficient, less expensive and truly white organic LEDs for light bulbs of the future.
Researchers from Columbia Engineering and Brookhaven National Laboratory have identified a series of clues that particular arrangements of electrical charges known as “stripes” may play a role in superconductivity, using a method to detect fluctuating stripes of charge density in a material closely related to a superconductor.
Commercial uses for ultraviolet (UV) light are growing, and now a new kind of LED under development at The Ohio State University could lead to more portable and low-cost uses of the technology.
This new flexible patch treatment can quicken drug delivery time while cutting waste, and can likely minimize side-effects in some cases, notable in vaccinations and in cancer therapy.
Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed a new oxygen “sponge” that can easily absorb or shed oxygen atoms at low temperatures. Materials with these novel characteristics would be useful in devices such as rechargeable batteries, sensors, gas converters and fuel cells.
Research on new polymer additives that enhance the ability of orally administered drugs will result in greater effectiveness and fewer side effects, researchers say
A team led by University of Washington engineers has created a patch with tiny, biodegradable needles that can penetrate the skin and precisely deliver a tuberculosis test. The researchers published their results online Aug. 26 in the journal Advanced Healthcare Materials.
One of the first analyses of laws banning disposal of electronic waste (e-waste) in landfills has found that state e-waste recycling bans have been mostly ineffective, although California’s Cell Phone Recycling Act had a positive impact. However, e-waste recycling rates remain “dismally low,” and many demographic groups remain unaware of their alternatives, according to the study, which was presented today at the 246th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society.
An historic shift is occurring in traditional innovation in chemistry — which touches more than 96 percent of all the world’s manufactured goods — away from large companies and toward smaller entrepreneurs and startups. Amid that new landscape for transforming ideas and inventions into goods and services, the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society, today hosts a special symposium on innovation and entrepreneurship at its 246th National Meeting & Exposition.
Researchers at The Ohio State University report the first-ever theoretical explanation for some strange semiconductor behavior that was discovered in 2004.
Scientists have made the first-ever accurate determination of a solid-state triple point -- the temperature and pressure at which three different solid phases can coexist stably -- in a substance called vanadium dioxide.
Organic solar cells that use carbon-based molecules to convert light to electricity have not been able to match the efficiency silicon-based cells. Now, researchers have discovered a synthetic, high-performance polymer that could make inexpensive, highly efficient organic solar panels a reality.
Brookhaven Lab scientists discover that critical temperature remains constant across interface superconductors regardless of changes in electron doping levels, challenging leading theories.
Advanced x-ray technique reveals surprising quantum excitations that persist through materials with or without superconductivity.
ENERGY – Green battery. PROSTHETICS – Better fit, function. MATERIALS – Best of both worlds.
Scientists have now built a machine that sets a new standard of accuracy for testing a material's hardness, which is a measure of its resistance to bumps and scratches. The new machine is called the Precision Nanoindentation Platform, or PNP.
A new use for glass is being developed by researchers in Penn State’s Materials Research Institute that could make future hybrid-electric and plug-in electric vehicles more affordable and reliable.
If you squeeze a normal object in all directions, it shrinks in all directions. But a few strange materials will actually grow in one dimension when compressed. A team of chemists has now discovered a structure that takes this property to a new level, expanding more dramatically under pressure than any other known material. The finding will be discussed at the American Crystallographic Association Meeting, held July 20-24 in Honolulu.
Networks of spherical nanoparticles embedded in elastic materials may make the best stretchy conductors yet, engineering researchers at the University of Michigan have discovered.
Using a technique to measure the energy required for electrons to pair up and how that energy varies with direction, scientists have identified the factors needed for magnetically mediated superconductivity—as well as those that aren’t.
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