Feature Channels: Materials Science

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Rutgers and other physicists have discovered an exotic form of electrons that spin like planets and could lead to advances in lighting, solar cells, lasers and electronic displays. It’s called a “chiral surface exciton,” and it consists of particles and anti-particles bound togeth-er and swirling around each other on the surface of solids, according to a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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Scientists from U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) national laboratories and a number of top U.S. research universities are proposing to build, within the next decade, an electron ion collider that will provide scientists with one of the best in-depth views of the interior of atomic nuclei.

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Scientists use implanted silicon ions and electricity to increase the spin time of quantum bits, moving closer to the tech needed for quantum networks.

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The launch of the Energy Department’s first lithium-ion battery recycling center, called the ReCell Center, will help the United States grow a globally competitive recycling industry and reduce our reliance on foreign sources of battery materials.

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Together with BRUAG Fire Protection AG, Empa specialists have developed a new flame retardant for wood and wood-based materials. The colourless additive, which can be easily mixed with coatings and cellulose materials, opens up new applications for wood processing companies.

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Particle crowding interferes with moving energy efficiently along promising molecular chains.

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Hyperbolic metamaterials are artificially made structures that can be formed by depositing alternating thin layers of a conductor such as silver or graphene onto a substrate. One of their special abilities is supporting the propagation of a very narrow light beam. This narrow beam can then be used to “fingerprint” and obtain spatial and material information about nanometer-scale objects -- allowing identification without complete images. Researchers report their work in APL Photonics.

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The use of recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) in concrete production can lead to a significant reduction in the Modulus of Elasticity (MOE).

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The Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has named Sean Hearne director of the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences.

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New research by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientists and collaborators at the University of California, Irvine shows that synthetic solid-state nanopores can have finely tuned transport behaviors much like the biological channels that allow a neuron to fire.

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Electrons flowing across the boundary between two materials are the foundation of many key technologies, from flash memories to batteries and solar cells. Now researchers have directly observed and clocked these tiny cross-border movements for the first time, watching as electrons raced seven-tenths of a nanometer – about the width of seven hydrogen atoms – in 100 millionths of a billionth of a second.

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Hydrogel pores can modify the molecular-level motion of water and dissolved ions.

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New research undertaken at Northumbria University, Newcastle shows that the Sun's magnetic waves behave differently than currently believed.

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A team led by Berkeley Lab scientists has gleaned new and surprising clues about the nuclear structure of an exotic form of magnesium: Mg-40.

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Graphene is considered one of the most interesting and versatile materials of our time. The application possibilities inspire both research and industry. But are products containing graphene also safe for humans and the environment? A comprehensive review, developed as part of the European graphene flagship project with the participation of Empa researchers, investigated this question.

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A team of scientists has discovered the first robust example of a new type of magnet—one that holds promise for enhancing the performance of data storage technologies.

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Direct interactions dominate ion adsorption to aqueous graphene, a process central to vital processes in energy technology.

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New research offers the first complete picture of why a promising approach of stuffing more lithium into battery cathodes leads to their failure. A better understanding of this could be the key to smaller phone batteries and electric cars that drive farther between charges.

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Instead of throwing away your broken boots or cracked toys, why not let them fix themselves? Researchers at the University of Southern California Viterbi School of Engineering have developed 3D-printed rubber materials that can do just that.

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In a new study of a related group of metal oxides made of cobalt, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory sought to determine why two similar water-splitting catalysts with somewhat different domain sizes behaved differently.

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A team of researchers used the Wide Angle Neutron Diffractometer at ORNL's HFIR to explore a novel porous metal hydride, which could lead to improved gas-separation techniques and more effective ways to store gaseous hydrogen.

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Namiko Yamamoto, assistant professor of aerospace engineering at Penn State, will advance knowledge about the effective integration of polymer nanocomposites, consisting of carbon nanotubes, into hierarchically structured materials in transport vehicles for improved multifunctional properties, thanks to a National Science Foundation Early Career award.

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PNNL researchers have been able to observe in unprecedented detail how rust happens.

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New method for alleviating the effects of “noise” in quantum information systems addresses a challenge that scientists around the globe are working to meet in the race toward a new era of quantum technologies.

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Oak Ridge National Laboratory used machine learning to map vegetation in Alaskan tundra; ORNL taps machine learning to better predict home-to-work commuting; Univ of South Carolina investigates oxygen-reducing perovskites in fuel cells using ORNL neutrons; decades of data showed salt purity trends leading to inconsistent corrosion of alloys.

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Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory described in the journal Science the first use of an electron microscope to directly identify isotopes in amino acids at the nanoscale without damaging the samples, which could open a new pathway for deeper, more comprehensive studies of the basic building blocks of life.

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Scientists and engineers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) have developed a brand-new high-speed 3D printing method that uses projected images called Computed Axial Lithography (CAL).

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Researchers at Aalto University and the Technical University of Denmark have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) to seriously accelerate the development of new technologies from wearable electronics to flexible solar panels.

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With a growing global population will come increased energy consumption, and sustainable forms of energy sources such as solar fuels and solar electricity will be in even greater demand. And as these forms of power proliferate, the focus will shift to improved efficiency.

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Rembrandt van Rijn's paintings are renowned for their masterful representations of light and shadow and a characteristic plasticity generated by a technique called impasto. Now, scientists have analyzed impasto layers in some of Rembrandt's paintings, and the study, which is published in the journal Angewandte Chemie

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Antireflection (AR) coatings on plastics have a multitude of practical applications, such as reducing the glare on eyeglasses, computer monitors or on the display on your smart phone when out of doors. Now, researchers at Penn State have developed an AR coating that improves on existing coatings to the extent that it can make transparent plastics, such as Plexiglas, virtually invisible.

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Longer life and increased capacity for a new technology battery that could be the workhorse of a renewable energy grid are the goals of a study of the effect of charging cycles on the structure of anodes in sodium ion batteries.

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Eleven Chicago scientists-turned-comedians — many of whom hail from some of the nation’s most renowned research institutes, including the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory — cast aside their lab coats for a chance to educate the public through unconventional means. The troupe, including Argonne’s own James Dolan, a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute for Molecular Engineering, used improvisational comedy to entertain some 80 guests inside Hyde Park’s The Revival theater in a new production called “The Excited State” in October.

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Registration is now open for the TMS 2019 Annual Meeting & Exhibition! Make your plans now to join us at the event that the global minerals, metals, and materials community calls home.

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Physicists and chemists use 3D scanning to unlock the forgotten secrets of the multi-layered coating methods that give violins their exceptional tone and look

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Many complex systems in biology can be conceptualized as networks. This perspective helps researchers understand how biological systems work on a fundamental level, and can be used to answer key questions in biology, medicine, and engineering.

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Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory is credited with discovering more elements on the periodic table than any other institution. In celebration of its 150th anniversary, we look at how far it’s come and where it’s headed.

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“Be prepared.” This famous mantra isn’t just for the Boy Scouts of America. The need to build durable infrastructure on other planets is coming, and we must be ready. To prepare, Penn State researchers have teamed up with NASA to explore how cement solidifies in microgravity environments.

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NUS Engineers have developed a cost-effective and scalable strategy for designing tiny semiconductor particles known as transition metal dichalcogenide quantum dots (TMD QDs) which can potentially generate cancer-killing properties.

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Element-selective method reveals interfacial properties of materials used for water purification, catalysis, energy conversion, and more.

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The Materials Research Society (MRS) announces two new three-year appointments to its Board of Directors, effective January 1, 2019.

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Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory have discovered the relaxation dynamics of a zero-field state in skyrmions, a spinning magnetic phenomenon that has potential applications in data storage and spintronic devices.

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EarthCam names remote-control experiment at PPPL one of 25 most interesting Webcams of 2018.

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Do endangered woods make better guitars? Researchers have tested the sounds made by six different acoustic guitars in a study addressing the effects of the type of wood used in their construction.

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Scientists at Empa teamed up with isofloc AG to develop an insulating material made of recycled paper. It is ideal for prefabricated wooden elements and even multistory timber houses, and protects the construction against fire. What's more: The additive it contains is harmless to humans, animals and the environment.

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Virginia Tech Engineers found a way to make a hard, bulky and expensive material found in most electronics soft, flexible and cheap.

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Molecules are usually formed in reaction vessels or laboratory flasks. An Empa research team has now succeeded in producing molecules between two microscopically small, movable gold tips – in a sense as a "hand-knitted" unique specimen. The properties of the molecules can be monitored in real time while they are being produced. The research results have just been published in Nature Communications.

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Pennington, NJ – (January 16, 2019) – The Electrochemical Society has appointed Krishnan Rajeshwar as the new editor of the ECS Journal of Solid State Science and Technology for a three-year term. Launched in 2012, the ECS Journal of Solid State Science and Technology focuses on fundamental and applied areas of solid state science and technology including experimental and theoretical aspects of the chemistry and physics of materials and devices. Rajeshwar's contributions, such as these, continue to help advance the state of the electrochemical and solid state science field.

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Bioengineers have developed implantable and wearable nanogenerators that create electrical pulses when compressed by body motions. The pulses controlled weight gain and enhanced healing of skin wounds in rat models.