Feature Channels: Materials Science

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Released: 6-May-2020 10:10 AM EDT
Investigating the dynamics of stability
Argonne National Laboratory

Scientists have gained important insight into the mechanisms that drive stability and activity in materials during oxygen evolution reactions. This insight will guide the practical design of materials for electrochemical fuel production.

Released: 6-May-2020 9:00 AM EDT
Layer by layer
Oregon State University, College of Engineering

Metal additive manufacturing is an emerging industry projected to be worth nearly $10 billion within the next seven years. Oregon State Engineers Brian Paul and Somayeh Pasebani have secured more than $6.3 million in funding from the National Science Foundation and other sources to bring a number of metal additive manufacturing technologies to market.

Released: 6-May-2020 8:30 AM EDT
Breathable second skin materials provide smart protection against chemical and biological agents
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

A multi-institutional team of researchers led by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientist Francesco Fornasiero has developed a smart, breathable fabric designed to protect the wearer against biological and chemical warfare agents.

Released: 5-May-2020 3:05 PM EDT
Liquid Metal Research Invokes ‘Terminator’ Film — but Much Friendlier
Binghamton University, State University of New York

Researchers at Binghamton University, State University of New York have developed “the first liquid metal lattice in the world." The team has created a series of prototypes that return to their shapes when crushed.

30-Apr-2020 12:05 PM EDT
Broadband Enhancement Relies on Precise Tilt
American Institute of Physics (AIP)

If a photon source could be placed on a single chip and made to produce photons at a high rate, this could enable high-speed quantum communication or information processing. In Applied Physics Reviews, a simple on-chip photon source using a hyperbolic metamaterial is proposed, and investigators carried out calculations to show that a prototype arranged in a precise way can overcome problems of low efficiency and allow for high repetition rates for on-chip photon sources.

Released: 5-May-2020 9:35 AM EDT
Engineers Develop Method to Improve Efficiency and Heat Tolerance of Devices
Penn State College of Engineering

When it comes to increasing electric storage efficiency and electric breakdown strength — the ability of an electrical system to operate at higher voltage and temperatures with great efficiency — increasing one traditionally has led to a decrease in the other. Penn State researchers, led by Qiming Zhang, distinguished professor of electrical engineering, recently developed a scalable method that relies on engineered materials to increase both properties.

Released: 4-May-2020 4:30 PM EDT
Chemicals from corn may bond durable plastic materials
South Dakota State University

Bioprocessing engineers formulated star-shaped thermoset resins using chemical from the ethanol fermentation.

Released: 4-May-2020 4:15 PM EDT
Microorganisms in parched regions extract needed water from colonized rocks
University of California, Irvine

Irvine, Calif., May 4, 2020 – In Northern Chile’s Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on Earth, microorganisms are able to eke out an existence by extracting water from the very rocks they colonize. Through work in the field and laboratory experiments, researchers at the University of California, Irvine, as well as Johns Hopkins University and UC Riverside, gained an in-depth understanding of the mechanisms by which some cyanobacteria survive in harsh surroundings.

   
Released: 4-May-2020 3:55 PM EDT
Fighting Covid-19 by Connecting Materials Experts with Organizations in Need
TMS (The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society)

An online directory has launched that connects materials expertise and resources with organizations working against COVID-19.

Released: 4-May-2020 3:05 PM EDT
Engineers demonstrate next-generation solar cells can take the heat, maintain efficiency
Iowa State University

Iowa State engineers have developed a next-generation solar cell that takes advantage of the promising elctro-optical properties of perovskite materials.

Released: 4-May-2020 1:05 PM EDT
Crystal power
Argonne National Laboratory

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory have created and tested a single-crystal electrode that promises to yield pivotal discoveries for advanced batteries under development worldwide.

Released: 1-May-2020 9:00 AM EDT
A recipe for better rechargeable lithium-ion batteries in the near future
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Recent research reveals a materials solution for speedy charge and discharge time and a new way to get more silicon into electrodes. Both methods pack far more energy than current technology and offer scaleable synthesis.

Released: 30-Apr-2020 2:25 PM EDT
Unlocking Promising Properties to Create Future Technologies
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI)

At Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, researchers working at the intersection of materials science, chemical engineering, and physics are uncovering new and innovative ways to unlock those promising and useful abilities using light, temperature, pressure, or magnetic fields. The groundbreaking discovery of an optical version of quantum hall effect (QHE), published today in Physical Review X, demonstrates the leadership of Rensselaer in this vital research field.

Released: 30-Apr-2020 9:05 AM EDT
Nanodevices for the brain could thwart formation of Alzheimer’s plaques
Argonne National Laboratory

Researchers designed a nanodevice with the potential to prevent peptides from forming dangerous plaques in the brain in order to halt development of Alzheimer’s disease.

Released: 28-Apr-2020 3:05 PM EDT
Polymer membranes could benefit from taking a dip
Argonne National Laboratory

A new technique developed by a team including researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Argonne National Laboratory makes atomic layer deposition possible on nearly any membrane.

Released: 28-Apr-2020 8:45 AM EDT
Machine Learning Tool Could Provide Unexpected Scientific Insights into COVID-19
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

A team of materials scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory – scientists who normally spend their time researching things like high-performance materials for thermoelectrics or battery cathodes – have built a text-mining tool in record time to help the global scientific community synthesize the mountain of scientific literature on COVID-19 being generated every day.

Released: 28-Apr-2020 6:00 AM EDT
A Great New Way to Paint 3D-Printed Objects
Rutgers University-New Brunswick

Rutgers engineers have created a highly effective way to paint complex 3D-printed objects, such as lightweight frames for aircraft and biomedical stents, that could save manufacturers time and money and provide new opportunities to create “smart skins” for printed parts. The findings are published in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.

Released: 27-Apr-2020 1:40 PM EDT
Electronics for high-altitude use can get smaller and sturdier with new nanomaterials
American Chemical Society (ACS)

Demand is growing for new materials that can be printed at ever smaller dimensions. Scientists are now creating metal-based nanomaterials for circuit boards that could be resistant to high-altitude radiation encountered by aerospace equipment and fighter jets.

Released: 27-Apr-2020 11:20 AM EDT
Coupled magnetic materials show interesting properties for quantum applications
Argonne National Laboratory

In a new study led by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory, researchers have uncovered a novel way in which the excitations of magnetic spins in two different thin films can be strongly coupled to each other through their common interface.

Released: 24-Apr-2020 2:05 PM EDT
FSU Researchers Discover New Structure for Promising Class of Materials
Florida State University

Florida State researchers have published a new study in the journal Science Advances that explains how they created a hollow nanostructure for metal halide perovskites that would allow the material to emit a highly efficient blue light.

Released: 24-Apr-2020 8:40 AM EDT
Environment-Friendly Compound Shows Promise for Solar Cell Use
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI)

In research published today in Advanced Functional Materials, a team of engineers, material scientists, and physicists demonstrated how a new material — a lead-free chalcogenide perovskite — that hadn’t previously been considered for use in solar cells could provide a safer and more effective option than others that are commonly considered.

Released: 23-Apr-2020 8:50 AM EDT
Uranium, thorium debut in dual aromatic-antiaromatic molecule
Department of Energy, Office of Science

Aromaticity and antiaromaticity are important concepts in organic chemistry, helping to define and explain how molecules vary in their stability and reactivity. Researchers previously identified these concepts together in organic biphenylenes. Now, new research has created metallic biphenylenes that incorporate uranium and thorium.

Released: 22-Apr-2020 5:35 PM EDT
Researchers Make Gemstones with Salty, Soapy Water for the First Time
University of California San Diego

Collaborators from the University of California San Diego and New York University (NYU) used salt, soap and water to make “bling” with a proposed novel experiment by UC San Diego’s Jérémie Palacci to form ionic colloidal crystals from common colloids.

16-Apr-2020 3:15 PM EDT
Researchers Use Electrostatic Charge to Assemble Particles into Materials Mimicking Gemstones and Salt Crystals
New York University

Using just electrostatic charge, common microparticles can spontaneously organize themselves into highly ordered crystalline materials—the equivalent of table salt or opals, according to a new study led by New York University chemists and published in Nature.

Released: 22-Apr-2020 8:30 AM EDT
Scientists uncover major cause of resistance in solid electrolytes
Argonne National Laboratory

Scientists investigated grain boundaries in a solid electrolyte at an unprecedentedly small scale. The resulting insights provide new avenues for tuning chemical properties in the material to improve performance.

Released: 20-Apr-2020 1:05 PM EDT
Engineering Honor for Lashanda Korley
University of Delaware

LaShanda Korley’s lab at the University of Delaware creates new materials inspired by nature for applications in healthcare, sensing, soft robotics and more. Korley is pushing the boundaries of what materials scientists and engineers previously thought possible and she has now been named to the College of Fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE).

Released: 20-Apr-2020 12:25 PM EDT
New discovery helps close the gap towards optically-controlled quantum computation
Ames National Laboratory

Scientists have discovered a light-induced switching mechanism in a Dirac semimetal. The mechanism establishes a new way to control the topological material, driven by back-and-forth motion of atoms and electrons, which will enable topological transistor and quantum computation using light waves.

Released: 20-Apr-2020 11:05 AM EDT
Preventing metal pipe corrosion
South Dakota State University and South Dakota Mines

A thin, single layer of graphene material only 1 atom thick may reduce metal pipe corrosion rates as much as 100 times. These new crystalline 2D materials could mean big savings to industries.

Released: 17-Apr-2020 12:50 PM EDT
Under Pressure: New Bioinspired Material Can ‘Shapeshift’ to External Forces
 Johns Hopkins University

Inspired by how human bone and colorful coral reefs adjust mineral deposits in response to their surrounding environments, Johns Hopkins researchers have created a self-adapting material that can change its stiffness in response to the applied force. This advancement can someday open the doors for materials that can self-reinforce to prepare for increased force or stop further damage.

Released: 16-Apr-2020 1:30 PM EDT
Taking textiles from trash to treasure
University of Georgia

Researchers are turning waste denim into acoustic insulation materials

Released: 16-Apr-2020 12:00 PM EDT
How tiny water droplets form can have a big impact on climate models
Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)

Understanding droplet formation in pure water in a controlled lab setting is challenging enough, but in the atmosphere, droplets form in the presence of many other substances.

Released: 16-Apr-2020 11:00 AM EDT
Seeing ‘Under the Hood’ in Batteries
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

A high-sensitivity X-ray technique at Berkeley Lab is attracting a growing group of scientists because it provides a deep, precise dive into battery chemistry.

Released: 15-Apr-2020 3:55 PM EDT
New boron material of high hardness created by plasma chemical vapor deposition
University of Alabama at Birmingham

Researchers used microwave-plasma chemical vapor deposition to create thin crystal films of a novel boron-rich boron-carbide material that has 37 percent the hardness of cubic diamond and acts as an insulator. The new material’s properties were predicted from first-principles analysis.

Released: 15-Apr-2020 2:20 PM EDT
Two is Better Than One
Brookhaven National Laboratory

UPTON, NY – A collaboration of scientists from the National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II), Yale University, and Arizona State University has designed and tested a new two-dimensional (2-D) catalyst that can be used to improve water purification using hydrogen peroxide.

Released: 13-Apr-2020 1:10 PM EDT
UCI-led team designs carbon nanostructure stronger than diamonds
University of California, Irvine

Irvine, Calif., April 13, 2020 – Researchers at the University of California, Irvine and other institutions have architecturally designed plate-nanolattices – nanometer-sized carbon structures – that are stronger than diamonds as a ratio of strength to density. In a recent study in Nature Communications, the scientists report success in conceptualizing and fabricating the material, which consists of closely connected, closed-cell plates instead of the cylindrical trusses common in such structures over the past few decades.

Released: 8-Apr-2020 11:50 AM EDT
Researchers create unique DNA biosensor for early stage disease detection
Missouri University of Science and Technology

Disease detection at an early stage is one of the biggest challenges biochemists and materials scientists are trying to meet by combining their expertise at Missouri S&T. The researchers used nanotechnology in biomedical diagnostics – a process called nanodiagnostics – to create a new, ultrasensitive DNA biosensor. The new sensor could potentially detect DNA-based biomarkers for early diagnosis of cancer and genetic disorders, as well as monitor patient responses to therapies.

Released: 8-Apr-2020 11:45 AM EDT
Unwinding the mystery of degraded reel-to-reel tapes
American Chemical Society (ACS)

As reel-to-reel tapes make a comeback among audio buffs, scientists are unraveling the secret of why some decades-old tapes are unplayable, while others retain their original superb audio fidelity. The researchers are presenting their results through ACS SciMeetings online platform.

Released: 6-Apr-2020 4:10 PM EDT
The four horsemen of the COVID-19 pandemic
Singapore University of Technology and Design

It is clear that we must prioritize identifying and alleviating the conditions that made the Covid-19 pandemic possible.

   
Released: 2-Apr-2020 3:00 PM EDT
Fiber science and apparel design researchers work to improve protective gear
Cornell University

Cornell researchers in fiber science and apparel design are putting their knowledge and energies into keeping health care personnel on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic from becoming patients themselves.

Released: 2-Apr-2020 2:30 PM EDT
A new way to fine-tune exotic materials: Thin, stretch and clamp
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Turning a brittle oxide into a flexible membrane and stretching it on a tiny apparatus flipped it from a conducting to an insulating state and changed its magnetic properties. The technique can be used to study and design a broad range of materials for use in things like sensors and detectors.

Released: 2-Apr-2020 12:15 PM EDT
Story Tips: Molding matter atom by atom and seeing inside uranium particles
Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Story Tips: Molding matter atom by atom and seeing inside uranium particles, from the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory

30-Mar-2020 9:55 AM EDT
Scientists See Energy Gap Modulations in a Cuprate Superconductor
Brookhaven National Laboratory

Scientists studying high-Tc superconductors at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have definitive evidence for the existence of a state of matter known as a pair density wave--first predicted by theorists some 50 years ago. Their results show that this phase coexists with superconductivity in a well-known bismuth-based copper-oxide superconductor.

Released: 31-Mar-2020 5:20 PM EDT
Get a Grip - Enhancing Hoist Rescue Gloves for Aerial Rescue
Homeland Security's Science And Technology Directorate

Rescue helicopter hoist operators wear gloves to protect the hand that guides the hoist cable during rescue descents and ascents.

Released: 31-Mar-2020 11:20 AM EDT
New electrically activated material could improve braille readers
American Chemical Society (ACS)

Researchers now report an improved material that could take braille displays to the next level, allowing those who are blind or who have low vision to more easily understand text and images, while lowering cost.

Released: 27-Mar-2020 5:05 PM EDT
DePaul University faculty, students use 3D printers to make face shields, face mask covers
DePaul University

Health care workers treating COVID-19 patients across the nation are facing a critical shortage of personal protection equipment, especially face shields and respiratory N95 face masks. DePaul University faculty and students are answering the call by using 3D printers to manufacture these much-needed supplies for hospitals in Illinois.

   
Released: 27-Mar-2020 11:30 AM EDT
Fermilab presents: March Magnets
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab)

Missing March Madness? Let Fermilab fill a small part of the void created in these times of social distancing and shelter-in-place. Participate in Fermilab’s sendup of the NCAA tournament: March Magnets. Learn about eight different types of magnets used in particle physics, each with an example from a project or experiment in which Fermilab is a player. Then head over to the Fermilab Twitter feed on March 30 to participate in our March Magnets playoffs.

Released: 26-Mar-2020 3:30 PM EDT
University of Utah libraries produce much-needed supplies for COVID-19 crisis
University of Utah

Library employees at the University of Utah are working together to produce and distribute face shields desperately needed in the health care community while facing the COVID-19 pandemic. In an agreement with University of Utah Health, the shields are 3-D printed to meet personal protective equipment (PPE) standards. Approximately 300 face shields can be produced daily.

   
Released: 26-Mar-2020 2:05 PM EDT
Quantum Effect Triggers Unusual Material Expansion
Brookhaven National Laboratory

New research conducted in part at Brookhaven Laboratory may bring a whole new class of chemical elements into a materials science balancing act for designing alloys for aviation and other applications.

Released: 25-Mar-2020 1:55 PM EDT
New Polymers that Close the Loop in Plastics Recycling
Department of Energy, Office of Science

Scientists have designed a recyclable plastic called poly(diketoenamine)s, or PDKs. In contrast to many plastics, scientists can recover and free the monomers of PDK plastic from each other and additives by dunking it in a highly acidic solution. Manufacturers can then reassemble the plastic into a different shape, texture, and color without loss of performance or quality.

Released: 25-Mar-2020 11:50 AM EDT
Brookhaven Lab's Lijun Wu Receives 2020 Chuck Fiori Award
Brookhaven National Laboratory

For the past 20 years, Wu has been advancing quantitative electron diffraction to study batteries, catalysts, and other energy materials.



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