Feature Channels: Materials Science

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A good deal of research shows that surplus heat, such as from data centres, lends itself well as a heat source.

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Since the 1970s, scientists have known that copper has a special ability to transform carbon dioxide into valuable chemicals and fuels. But for many years, scientists have struggled to understand how this common metal works as an electrocatalyst, a mechanism that uses energy from electrons to chemically transform molecules into different products.

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The Journal of Chemical Physics and the APS Division of Chemical Physics announce Haiming Zhu as the winner of the JCP-DCP Future of Chemical Physics Lectureship in recognition of his contributions to the understanding of the photophysical properties of emerging optoelectronic materials and processes using spatio-temporal resolved ultrafast spectroscopy.

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The cement industry emits more than 3 gigatons of carbon dioxide worldwide from the manufacturing of about 4.5 gigatons of cement every year because of its carbon-dioxide- and energy-intensive processing. This amount of cement is necessary to produce the concrete that shapes modern infrastructure.

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Researchers have produced new evidence of how graphene, when twisted to a precise angle, can become a superconductor, moving electricity with no loss of energy. In a study published today (Feb. 15, 2023) in the journal Nature, the team led by physicists at The Ohio State University reported on the key role that quantum geometry plays in allowing this twisted graphene to become a superconductor.

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Society’s growing demand for high-voltage electrical technologies—including pulsed power systems, cars and electrified aircraft, and renewable energy applications—requires a new generation of capacitors that store and deliver large amounts of energy under intense thermal and electrical conditions. Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Scripps Research have now developed a new polymer-based device that efficiently handles record amounts of energy while withstanding extreme temperatures and electric fields.

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A team of FAMU-FSU College of Engineering researchers at the High-Performance Materials Institute completed the first-ever study on how purified boron nitride nanotubes remain stable in extreme temperatures in inert environments.

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Georgia Tech-Europe and MIT researchers are using emerging technology to demonstrate a process that will enable more immersive and realistic virtual and augmented reality displays with the world’s smallest and thinnest micro-LEDs.

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A new type of solar technology has seemed promising in recent years. Halide perovskite solar cells are both high performing and low cost for producing electrical energy – two necessary ingredients for any successful solar technology of the future. But new solar cell materials should also match the stability of silicon-based solar cells, which boast more than 25 years of reliability.

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Thinking beyond COVID-19, a team led by Srikanth Singamaneni at the McKelvey School of Engineering developed a new point-of-care diagnostic test that is 1,000 times more sensitive than conventional rapid tests and can quantify concentrations of proteins.

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Lithium-ion batteries have remained unrivaled in terms of overall performance for several applications, as evidenced by their widespread use in everything from portable electronics to cellular base stations.

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Arizona State University has officially begun a new chapter in X-ray science with a newly commissioned, first-of-its-kind instrument that will help scientists see deeper into matter and living things. The device, called the compact X-ray light source (CXLS), marked a major milestone in its operations as ASU scientists generated its first X-rays on the night of Feb. 2.

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Devices currently in development that clean up dirty water using sunlight can only produce a few gallons of water each day. But now, researchers in ACS Central Science report how a sunlight-powered porous hydrogel could potentially purify enough water to meet daily needs — even when it’s cloudy.

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The Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST, President Seok Jin Yoon) announced that Dr. Jihyun Hong's research team at the Energy Materials Research Center identified the cause of the rapid decline in life span-a chronic problem of high-capacity manganese-based spinel cathode materials.

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Excitons are drawing attention as possible quantum bits (qubits) in tomorrow’s quantum computers and are central to optoelectronics and energy-harvesting processes. However, these charge-neutral quasiparticles, which exist in semiconductors and other materials, are notoriously difficult to confine and manipulate. Now, for the first time, Berkeley Lab researchers have created and directly observed highly localized excitons confined in simple stacks of atomically thin materials. The work confirms theoretical predictions and opens new avenues for controlling excitons with custom-built materials.

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A new sodium battery technology shows promise for helping integrate renewable energy into the electric grid. The battery uses Earth-abundant raw materials such as aluminum and sodium.

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Slips, trips and falls (STFs) remain the top causes of major injuries in the workplace. Harnessing the power of research and technology to boost workplace safety, Professor Lim Chwee Teck from the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) Department of Biomedical Engineering, which is under the College of Design and Engineering, as well as Institute for Health Innovation & Technology (iHealthtech), collaborated with NUS start-up, FlexoSense, to develop a smart insole which can track workplace STFs in real time and is the first of its kind that can detect a person’s balance.

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Scientists at the University of Portsmouth are to develop ‘plastic-eating’ enzymes that could help solve the ever-growing problem of waste polyester clothing.

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Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS, President Hyun-Min Park) developed a non-contact flow sensor capable of measuring the amount of epoxy used in the semiconductor fabrication process in real time.

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Scientists have found the secret behind a property of solid materials known as ferroelectrics, showing that quasiparticles moving in wave-like patterns among vibrating atoms carry enough heat to turn the material into a thermal switch when an electrical field is applied externally.

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The researchers from Lithuania and Cyprus claim that the energy payback period of using phase change materials, new technology in the construction industry, is the shortest in a colder climate.

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A collaboration between scientists at Cambridge and UCL has led to the discovery of a new form of ice that more closely resembles liquid water than any other and may hold the key to understanding this most famous of liquids.

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Combined ballistic impacts pose a major challenge for engineers who build structures that must withstand extreme stresses.

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Electronic components are becoming smaller, more complex and more powerful – this calls for new solutions for joining them. An Empa team is developing nanostructured joining materials for the next generation of microelectronics and other demanding applications.

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Three scientists from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have been elected fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, or AAAS.

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A new battery material that dissolves in water will make it simple and economical to recycle a wide range of batteries, so we can reuse the valuable and increasingly rare materials within, including nickel and cobalt.

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The joint research team of Dr. Oh Dongyeop and Dr. Kwak Hojung of KRICT and Professor Park Jeyoung of Sogang University have developed eco-friendly paper straws that are 100% biodegradable, perform better than conventional paper straws, and can be easily mass-produced.

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Gel-like materials that can be injected into the body hold great potential to heal injured tissues or manufacture entirely new tissues.

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A chemical engineer developing more environmentally friendly materials and a geologist exploring the chemistry of Earth’s carbon reservoirs are the latest Florida State University faculty members to be named Fellows by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, or AAAS.

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John Mitchell, Valerie Taylor and Lisa Utschig were selected by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) to be inducted as fellows.

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Thailand now has 39,647 people with disabilities, over 95% of whom are using poor-quality prosthetic feet which are heavy and do not have ankles. This can adversely affect the way they walk, as well as their lives.

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The development of stimuli-responsive polymers has brought about a wealth of material-related opportunities for next-generation small-scale, wirelessly controlled soft-bodied robots.

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A new biomaterial that can be injected intravenously, reduces inflammation in tissue and promotes cell and tissue repair. The biomaterial was tested and proven effective in treating tissue damage caused by heart attacks in both rodent and large animal models. Researchers also provided proof of concept in a rodent model that the biomaterial could be beneficial to patients with traumatic brain injury and pulmonary arterial hypertension.

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RUDN University professor with colleagues from Pakistan create artificial intelligence to calculate the shear strength of different types of concrete structures. The new model outperformed analogues in accuracy and expanded the scope.

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A device developed at the University of Florida for the U.S. military provides protection from mosquitos for an extended period and requires no heat, electricity or skin contact.

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George Crabtree, director of the Joint Center for Energy Storage Research at Argonne and a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, is fondly remembered for his impactful leadership that elevated energy research.

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U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm honored 44 teams with the Secretary of Energy Achievement Award and five individuals for their work. Among the recipients are Distinguished Professor Esther Takeuchi, a battery researcher with a joint appointment at the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory and Stony Brook University; Douglas Paquette, a hydrogeologist in Brookhaven Lab's Environmental Protection Division; and Robert Gordon, manager of the DOE-Brookhaven Site Office that oversees operations at Brookhaven Lab.

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KIMM has announced the development of the design and process technology for the world's first battery electrode that significantly improves the performance and stability of batteries used in electronic devices such as smartphones, laptops, and electric vehicles.

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Story tips: Shuffling the load, a reveille for more biomass, designer molecules may help valuable minerals float, ‘T’ molecules huddle around rare earth elements

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As lithium-ion batteries have become a ubiquitous part of our lives through their use in consumer electronics, automobiles and electricity storage facilities, researchers have been working to improve their power, efficiency and longevity. As detailed in a paper published today in Nature Materials, scientists at the University of California, Irvine and Brookhaven National Laboratory conducted a detailed examination of high-nickel-content layered cathodes, considered to be components of promise in next-generation batteries.

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Researchers use cutting-edge X-ray techniques to observe how an operating solid-state battery degrades.

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Tungsten heavy alloys show promise for nuclear fusion energy development, according to new research conducted at PNNL.

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Graduate student intern Meg Slattery is working with researchers in Berkeley Lab’s Lithium Resource Research and Innovation Center to develop a new research blueprint – inspired by energy justice – as they explore the Salton Sea’s potential as a renewable source of lithium for battery production.

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Every year, the United States spends nearly a trillion dollars fighting metallic corrosion, an electrochemical reaction that occurs when metals oxidize and begin to rust.

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The flexible copper sensor is made from ordinary materials: conductive copper adhesive tape, sheet of transparency film, paper label, nail varnish, circuit fabrication solution, and acetone.

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A research team has improved the solar energy absorption of titanium oxo clusters. Their work demonstrates an effective strategy for regulating the light absorption behaviors of these clusters by importing electron-rich heterometals.

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Investigating the interplay between the structure of water molecules that have been incorporated into layered materials such as clays and the configuration of ions in such materials has long proved a great experimental challenge.