Feature Channels: Materials Science

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Researchers from Columbia Engineering and the Georgia Institute of Technology report today that they have made the first experimental observation of piezoelectricity and the piezotronic effect in an atomically thin material, molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), resulting in a unique electric generator and mechanosensation devices that are optically transparent, extremely light, and very bendable and stretchable.

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Researchers have obtained the first direct observations of atomic diffusion inside a bulk material.

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First-of-its-kind, light-as-cloud architectural technology boasts lower setup cost and time, and is set to revolutionise long-span architecture and construction.

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Electronic devices that dissolve completely in water, leaving behind only harmless end products, are part of a rapidly emerging class of technology pioneered by researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and their advances suggest a new era of devices that range from green consumer electronics to ‘electroceutical’ therapies, to biomedical sensor systems that do their work and then disappear. The work will be presented at the AVS 61st International Symposium.

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Using a common laboratory filter paper decorated with gold nanoparticles, researchers have created a unique platform, known as “plasmonic paper,” for detecting and characterizing even trace amounts of chemicals and biologically important molecules—from explosives, chemical warfare agents and environmental pollutants to disease markers. The work will be described at the AVS 61th International Symposium and Exhibition.

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The 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics was jointly awarded to Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura “for the invention of efficient blue light-emitting diodes, which has enabled bright and energy-saving white light sources.” To help journalists and the public understand the context of this work, AIP is compiling a Physics Nobel Prize Resources page featuring relevant scientific papers and articles, quotes from experts and other resources.

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Researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a new type of foam – called capillary foam – that solves many of the problems faced by traditional foams. The foam could be used to make lightweight, sustainable materials.

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Scientists have discovered that lithium ions stress and strain on battery materials. These changes may help explain why most anodes made of layered materials eventually fail.

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To arrange for an interview with a researcher, please contact the Communications staff member identified at the end of each tip. For more information on ORNL and its research and development activities, please refer to one of our media contacts. If you have a general media-related question or comment, you can send it to [email protected].

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A newly developed material that molds itself to fill gaps in bone while promoting bone growth could more effectively treat defects in the facial region, says a Texas A&M University researcher who is creating the shape-shifting material.

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By using liquid salts during formation instead of harsh chemicals, fibers that conduct electricity can be strengthened, according to a patent issued to a team of researchers at The University of Alabama.

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Complex oxides have long tantalized the materials science community for their promise in next-generation energy and information technologies. Complex oxide crystals combine oxygen atoms with assorted metals to produce unusual and very desirable properties.

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"Bendy" light-emitting diode (LED) displays and solar cells crafted with inorganic compound semiconductor micro-rods are moving one step closer to reality, thanks to graphene and the work of a team of researchers in Korea.

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Researchers have demonstrated a new method to improve the reliability and performance of transistors and circuits based on carbon nanotubes (CNT), a semiconductor material that has long been considered by scientists as one of the most promising successors to silicon for smaller, faster and cheaper electronic devices. The result appears in a new paper published in the journal Applied Physics Letters.

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University of Utah engineers discovered a way to create a special material – a metal layer on top of a silicon semiconductor – that could lead to cost-effective, superfast computers that perform lightning-fast calculations but don’t overheat. This new “topological insulator” behaves like an insulator on the inside but conducts electricity on the outside.

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UIC researchers have discovered a way to create a highly sensitive chemical sensor based on the crystalline flaws in graphene sheets. The imperfections have unique electronic properties that the researchers were able to exploit to increase sensitivity to absorbed gas molecules by 300 times.

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New light has been shed on solar power generation using devices made with polymers, thanks to a collaboration between scientists in the University of Chicago’s chemistry department, the Institute for Molecular Engineering, and Argonne National Laboratory.

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Scientists trying to improve the power conversion efficiency of organic solar cells were long hampered by drawbacks of metal electrodes. Now comes a more efficient, easily processable and lightweight solar cell that can use any metal for the electrode, breaking down this barrier.

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University of Arkansas researchers have fabricated a new semiconductor material that can be used to build better and less expensive infrared cameras for smartphone and automobiles.

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An international team of physicists, led by a research group at the University of Arkansas, has discovered that heating can be used to control the curvature of ripples in freestanding graphene.

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The emerging field of molecular electronics could take our definition of portable to the next level, enabling the construction of tiny circuits from molecular components. In these highly efficient devices, individual molecules would take on the roles currently played by comparatively-bulky wires, resistors and transistors. A team of researchers has identified a potential candidate for use in small-scale electronics: a molecule called picene.

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More efficient fuel cells might gain wider use in vehicles or as quiet, pollution-free, neighborhood electricity generating stations. A serendipitous finding has resulted in a semiconducting material that could enable fuel cells to operate at temperatures two-thirds lower than current technology, scientists reported August 18 in Nature Communications.

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Artificial membranes mimicking those found in living organisms have many potential applications ranging from detecting bacterial contaminants in food to toxic pollution in the environment to dangerous diseases in people. Now a group of scientists in Chile has developed a way to create these delicate, ultra-thin constructs through a "dry" process, by evaporating two commercial, off-the-shelf chemicals onto silicon surfaces.

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In an unprecedented view inside a working lithium-ion battery, researchers used a neutron beam to "see" the flow of lithium in real time, as the battery charged and discharged. What they saw could one day help explain why rechargeable batteries lose capacity over time, and why they even sometimes catch fire.

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Graphene is a semiconductor when prepared as an ultra-narrow ribbon – although the material is actually a conductive material. Researchers from Empa and the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research have now developed a new method to selectively dope graphene molecules with nitrogen atoms. By seamlessly stringing together doped and undoped graphene pieces, they were able to form ”heterojunctions” in the nanoribbons, thereby fulfilling a basic requirement for electronic current to flow in only one direction when voltage is applied – the first step towards a graphene transistor. Furthermore, the team has successfully managed to remove graphene nanoribbons from the gold substrate on which they were grown and to transfer them onto a non-conductive material.

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A new route to making graphene has been discovered by Penn State researchers that could make the 21st century’s wonder material easier to ramp up to industrial scale.

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A new class of synthetic platelet-like particles could augment natural blood clotting for the emergency treatment of traumatic injuries – and potentially offer doctors a new option for curbing surgical bleeding and addressing certain blood clotting disorders without the need for transfusions of natural platelets.

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Researchers used a powerful microscope that allows them to see the birth of calcium carbonate crystals in real time, giving them a peek at how different calcium carbonate crystals form, they report in September 5's issue of Science.

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Researchers at the University of Rochester describe a new combination of materials that could be a step towards building computer chips capable of transporting digital information at the speed of light.

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Researchers at Penn State have demonstrated an acoustofluidic pump powered by a piezoelectric transducer about the size of a quarter. This reliable, inexpensive, programmable pump is a crucial feature for lab-on-a-chip devices that could make the diagnosis of many global life-threatening diseases easy and affordable.

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A team of researchers at Washington University in St. Louis has developed a new sensor that can detect and count nanoparticles, at sizes as small as 10 nanometers, one at a time. The researchers say the sensor could potentially detect much smaller particles, viruses and small molecules.

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Researchers at Missouri University of Science and Technology have developed what they call “a simple, one-step method” to grow nanowires of germanium from an aqueous solution. Their process could make it more feasible to use germanium in lithium-ion batteries.

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Exciting new work by a Florida State University research team has led to a novel molecular system that can take your temperature, emit white light, and convert photon energy directly to mechanical motions. And, the molecule looks like a butterfly.

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Recycled tires could see new life in lithium-ion batteries.

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As silicon strains against the physical limits of performance, could a material like InGaAs provide enough of an improvement over silicon that it would be worth the expense in new equipment lines and training to make the switch worthwhile?

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The University of Washington researchers have demonstrated that two single-layer semiconductor materials can be connected in an atomically seamless fashion known as a heterojunction. This result could be the basis for next-generation flexible and transparent computing, better light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, and solar technologies.

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New measurements of atomic-scale magnetic behavior in iron-based superconductors are challenging conventional wisdom about superconductivity and magnetism.

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Trying to understand the chemistry that turns plant material into the same energy-rich gasoline and diesel we put in our vehicles, researchers have discovered that water in the conversion process helps form an impurity which, in turn, slows down key chemical reactions.

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Brookhaven Lab scientists discover surprising head-to-head charge polarizations that impede performance in next-gen materials that might revolutionize data-driven devices

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Coffee drinkers beware: Surprise ingredients may be hiding in your coffee, and growing shortages may well increase the chance of having more fillers in the future. A new test that will be reported today at the 248th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society, may quickly find them before the beverage reaches stores and restaurants.

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Using a $1.5 million ion beam microscope, a team of Boise State University materials scientists is analyzing a nano-sized fragment from a Roman-Egyptian mummy portrait to help discover its provenance.

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As hemp makes a comeback in the U.S. after a decades-long ban on its cultivation, scientists are reporting that fibers from the plant can pack as much energy and power as graphene, long-touted as the model material for supercapacitors. They’re presenting their work, which a start-up company is working on scaling up, at the 248th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society.

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As the Food and Drug Administration mulls over whether to rein in the use of common antibacterial compounds that are causing growing concern among environmental health experts, scientists are reporting today that many pregnant women and their fetuses are being exposed to these substances. They will present their work at the 248th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society.

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Wrapping wound dressings around fingers and toes can be tricky, but for burn victims, guarding them against infection is critical. Today, scientists are reporting the development of novel, ultrathin coatings called nanosheets that can cling to the body’s most difficult-to-protect contours and keep bacteria at bay. They’re speaking about their materials, which they’ve tested on mice, at the 248th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society.

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A plastic sponge that sops up the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) might ease our tranisition away from polluting fossil fuels to new energy sources like hydrogen. At the 248th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society, a researcher will describe a relative of food container plastics that could play a role in President Obama’s plan to cut CO2 emissions. The material might also someday be integrated into power plant smokestacks.

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Nearly 40 percent of women who earn engineering degrees quit the profession or never enter the field, and for those who leave, poor workplace climates and mistreatment by managers and co-workers are common reasons, according to research presented at the American Psychological Association’s 122nd Annual Convention.

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Scientists want to design new materials that have desired physical properties rather than relying on these to emerge naturally. Now origami-based folding methods may “tune” the physical properties of thin sheets, leading to micro machines that can snap into place to perform mechanical tasks.

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Experts sit down to discuss recent findings in crystallography with a Nobel laureate. Reporters are invited to attend the event and ask questions.

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Leading science communicators will share their latest strategies on how to capture the coveted attention of young students, the public and policymakers to strengthen the scientific enterprise. They will speak at the 248th National Meeting and Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world’s largest scientific society, taking place Aug. 10 to 14 in San Francisco.