Feature Channels: Materials Science

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University of Cincinnati biologists found that a double layer of silk in combination with a surgical mask can enhance its ability to prevent the spread of viruses like COVID-19.

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Dr. Edwin L. Thomas, professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and a team of researchers from Texas A&M University and Yonsei University recently discovered a helicoidal-shaped defect in layered polymers, uncovering how solvents can diffuse through layers and produce color changes.

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A team of researchers from the UK and Japan has found that the tiny defects which limit the efficiency of perovskites – cheaper alternative materials for solar cells – are also responsible for structural changes in the material that lead to degradation.

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Scientists discover superconductivity and charge density waves are intrinsically interconnected at the nanoscopic level, a new understanding that could help lead to the next generation of electronics and computers.

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A big problem with the disposal of nuclear and electronic wastes is that the process wastes precious metals such as gold and platinum-group metals, which are key metals in computer chips.

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A new robot is capable of switching from an underwater drone to an aerial vehicle in less than one second. The robot also features a suction disc inspired by the remora fish, which enables it to hitchhike on wet or dry moving objects to significantly reduce its power consumption. It is designed for biological and environmental monitoring in marine ecosystems such as surveying ocean pollution in the open sea as the scientist of Beihang University, Imperial College London and Empa point out in a new study published in Science Robotics.

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The ability of piezoelectric materials to convert mechanical energy into electrical energy and vice versa makes them useful for various applications from robotics to communication to sensors. A new design strategy for creating ultrahigh-performing piezoelectric ceramics opens the door to even more beneficial uses for these materials, according to a team of researchers from Penn State and Michigan Technological University.

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Researchers from ETH Zurich, Empa and the University of Zurich have developed a new material for an electronic component that can be used in a wider range of applications than its predecessors. Such components will help create electronic circuits that emulate the human brain and that are more efficient than conventional computers at performing machine-learning tasks.

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A new 6,000-pound industrial robot at Cornell University can 3D print the kind of large-scale structures that could transform the construction industry, making it more efficient and sustainable by eliminating the waste of traditional material manufacturing.

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In South Korea, which relies on imports for 99.3% of metal resources, the per capita consumption of metal resources is the highest in the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development), and consumption of precious metals in various industries such as renewable energy, healthcare, and semiconductors is increasing.

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A Berkeley Lab-led research team has demonstrated an ultrathin silicon nanowire that conducts heat 150% more efficiently than conventional materials used in advanced chip technologies. The device could enable smaller, faster, energy-efficient microelectronics.

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Developing the nuclear power systems of the future requires innovative thinking and new approaches to solving complex challenges. For the first time, a team of Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and University of Idaho researchers has successfully applied machine learning to characterizing the microstructure of metallic nuclear fuel, the fine details only visible under powerful magnification. The data collected through this technique will be used by engineers to predict fuel performance more accurately as they develop fuel for the next generation of nuclear power reactors.

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Anyone who lives in an old building with wooden floors knows the problem: Even if the neighbors from above glide across the floor with graceful elegance, it sounds as if you were living under a bowling alley. Impact sound is a challenge even for the most modern wooden buildings. Scientists at Empa are now tinkering with a solution.

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Researchers have developed a new artificial intelligence (AI)-powered approach to analyzing X-ray diffraction (XRD) data. The X-ray Crystallography companion Agent (XCA) approach assembles a group of AIs that debate each other while analyzing live streaming X-ray data. Once the AIs cast their final votes, the XCA approach uses the vote tally to interpret what the most likely atomic structure is and to suggest how confident the researchers should be of the AI analysis. The AI analysis matches human effectiveness but takes just seconds.

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The research team of Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology (TUAT) for the first time clearly demonstrates that the effect on the flow reverses according to the degree of change in the properties due to the reaction in a reacting flow with production of viscoelastic material, through experiments involving high-precision rheological measurements and a newly proposed theory.

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In a paper just published in the journal Advanced Materials, a team of scientists from Northwestern University and Brookhaven National Laboratory describe the previously hidden sub-nanoscale origins of exceptional thermoelectric properties in silver gallium telluride. The discovery reveals a quantum mechanical twist on what drives the emergence of these properties—and opens up a completely new direction for searching for new high-performance thermoelectrics.

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Various technologies, networks and institutions benefit from or require accurate time keeping to synchronize their activities. Current ways of synchronizing time have some drawbacks that a new proposed method seeks to address.

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A novel theory of cross phenomena could be applied to predict whether a new material would be effective for use in various applications from improved medical ultrasounds to more efficient refrigerators, according to a Penn State researcher.  

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A team of energy researchers led by the University of Minnesota Twin Cities have invented a groundbreaking device that electronically converts one metal into behaving like another to use as a catalyst for speeding chemical reactions. The invention opens the door for new catalytic technologies using non-precious metal catalysts for important applications such as storing renewable energy, making renewable fuels, and manufacturing sustainable materials.

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Researchers say the material have great potential for applications such as in advanced electronics and high-capacity batteries.

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Marek Urban and his research group at Clemson University have developed a self-repairing hose to dispense hydrogen as part of the nation's effort to diversify its fuel supply in the face of increasingly dire warnings about climate change.

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Together with researchers from Ulm and Neuchâtel, Empa will soon be studying material samples on the ISS. The material in question are super-hard and corrosion-resistant alloys of palladium, nickel, copper and phosphorus - also known as "metallic glasses". A high-tech company from La Chaux-de-Fonds, which produces materials for the watch industry, is also involved.

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Miaofang Chi, a scientist at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been elected a Fellow of the Microscopy Society of America, or MSA.

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Using valved respirators to prevent the spread of COVID-19 has been discouraged due to concerns that valves do not effectively filter particles from exhaled air, but few studies actually have looked at this. Now, researchers report in Environmental Science & Technology Letters on their performance.

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Scientists have developed a groundbreaking AI-based algorithm for modeling the properties of materials at the atomic and molecular scale. It should greatly speed up materials discovery.

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Wet electrolyte could be a key to inexpensive energy storage.

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The U.S. has great potential to become a global leader in battery manufacturing, but critical challenges still need to be addressed to realize that potential. This was a key takeaway of Bridging the Gap, a recent two-day workshop hosted by Li-Bridge.

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Scientists have taken the first step to creating the next generation of wearable health monitors.

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HSMs represent an emerging class of materials that are expected to become a major field of scientific exploration for the materials, mechanics, physics and computer simulation communities in the coming years. As an emerging materials field, many fundamental issues need to be probed.

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A team co-led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has discovered a new ultrathin material with exotic magnetic features called skyrmions. The new material could enable the next generation of tiny, fast, energy-efficient electronic devices.

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In recent years, Empa has worked with an external hydraulics specialist to develop a fully variable electrohydraulic valve control system. called FlexWork, which can be used for internal combustion engines and other thermal/pneumatic machines.

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A chemical reaction that causes concrete to crack and deteriorate can now be identified without harm, according to Argonne scientists.

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New materials will enable novel technologies to turn sunlight into electricity and fuels. Combinations of molecules and tiny nanoparticles make these materials a reality. Scientists have found a way to track electrons along their round trip from the molecules to the nanoparticles and back, helping to find where electrons can travel and where they get stuck, information that is crucial to finding better combinations for innovative materials.

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Swelling colloids – mixtures, such as milk and paint, in which particles are suspended in a substance and which can grow up to 100 times larger under certain temperatures – could be used to fix flow pathways in underground geothermal systems, a problem that has hobbled investment in geothermal energy.

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Micropollutants in water often are hormones that accumulate in the environment and may have negative impacts on humans and animals. Researchers of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and Leibniz Institute of Surface Engineering (IOM) in Leipzig have now developed a process for the photocatalytic degradation of these pollutants when they flow through polymer membranes. It is presented in Nature Nanotechnology. Irradiation with light triggers a chemical reaction, as a result of which steroid hormones are degraded on the membranes coated with titanium dioxide. (DOI: 10.1038/s41565-022-01074-8)

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A Cornell-led project has created synthetic nanoclusters that can mimic this hierarchical self-assembly all the way from the nanometer to the centimeter scale, spanning seven orders of magnitude. The resulting synthetic thin films have the potential to serve as a model system for exploring biomimetic hierarchical systems and future advanced functions.

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We like some foods, and dislike others.

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New facility will accelerate energy storage innovation, increase clean energy adoption and grid resilience.

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Hackensack University Medical Center donates blue surgical wrap to North Bergen High School where students transform the medical grade material into magnificent fashion in honor of healthcare workers and Earth Day 2022!

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Researchers discovered that light can trigger a form of magnetism in a normally nonmagnetic material. This magnetism centers on the behavior of electron “spin.” By controlling & aligning electron spin at this level of detail & accuracy, this platform could have applications in quantum computing & simulation.

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University of Kentucky students in the Textile Testing Laboratory are helping develop durable, reusable personal protective equipment (PPE) for health care workers.

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Dr. Marek Urban and his research group at Clemson University have developed a self-repairing hose to dispense hydrogen as part of the nation's effort to diversify its fuel supply in the face of increasingly dire warnings about climate change.

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Tunable atomic test bed allows researchers to explore the phenomena behind exotic materials

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Using a new laser-based Volumetric Additive Manufacturing (VAM) approach—an emerging technology in near-instant 3D printing—researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the University of California, Berkeley demonstrated the ability to 3D-print microscopic objects in silica glass, part of an effort to produce delicate, layer-less optics that can be built in seconds or minutes. The results are reported in the latest edition of the journal Science.

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ORNL story tips: Supply chain crunch, safer batteries on impact and lithium light bright