Feature Channels: Materials Science

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Released: 18-May-2020 3:45 PM EDT
Supercomputers Reveal True Strengths of Some Zirconia Ceramics
University of California San Diego

Researchers from the Colorado School of Mines have been using multiple supercomputers to study certain characteristics of zirconia. The team recently published their findings in the Journal of the European Ceramic Society.

Released: 15-May-2020 1:10 PM EDT
In a step forward for orbitronics, scientists break the link between a quantum material's spin and orbital states
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Until now, electron spins and orbitals were thought to go hand in hand in a class of materials that’s the cornerstone of modern information technology; you couldn’t quickly change one without changing the other. This study raises the possibility of controlling them separately.

Released: 15-May-2020 5:35 AM EDT
Woven Light Rail Design wins Gold at JEC World 2020 Innovation Awards
University of Warwick

The ‘BRAINSTORM’ project involving researchers at WMG, University of Warwick has won gold at the JEC World 2020 Innovation Awards in the category ‘Railway Vehicles and Infrastructure’

Released: 14-May-2020 3:25 PM EDT
Organic Spacers Improve LED Performance
Brookhaven National Laboratory

Sandwiching a 2-D light-emitting layer between ring-shaped carbon compounds significantly improved device efficiency and brightness.

Released: 14-May-2020 11:00 AM EDT
Making Quantum ‘Waves’ in Ultrathin Materials
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

A team of researchers co-led by Berkeley Lab has observed unusually long-lived wavelike electrons called "plasmons" in a new class of electronically conducting material. Plasmons are very important for determining the optical and electronic properties of metals.

Released: 14-May-2020 7:15 AM EDT
Deactivating coronavirus on N95 respirators for re-use
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

LLNL researchers are studying ways to safely and rapidly remove viral threats from N95 respirators, without compromising the device’s fit and its ability to filter airborne particles, so they can be re-used.

Released: 13-May-2020 2:25 PM EDT
Civil engineering faculty receives CAREER Award to enhance fracture simulation
Penn State College of Engineering

Michael Hillman, L. Robert and Mary L. Kimball Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Penn State, will develop new computational methods to simulate how materials and structures fracture, thanks to a National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) Award.

Released: 12-May-2020 2:45 PM EDT
Delia Milliron: Then and Now
Department of Energy, Office of Science

Delia J. Milliron is the T. Brockett Hudson Professor in Chemical Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, formerly a staff scientist in the Molecular Foundry, Division of Materials Science at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

6-May-2020 1:40 PM EDT
Nanofiber Membranes Transformed Into 3D Scaffolds
American Institute of Physics (AIP)

Researchers combined gas foaming and 3D molding technologies to quickly transform electrospun membranes into complex 3D shapes for biomedical applications. The new approach demonstrates significant improvements in speed and quality compared with other methods, and is the first successful demonstration of formation of 3D neural tissue constructs with an ordered structure through differentiation of human neural progenitor/stem cells on these transformed 3D nanofiber scaffolds. They discuss their work in this week’s Applied Physics Reviews.

Released: 11-May-2020 3:50 PM EDT
Researchers Capture Crystal Nucleation with Atomic Resolution in 4D (3D Plus Time)
Department of Energy, Office of Science

Scientists have developed four-dimensional atomic electron tomography, which images the dynamics of structural changes at the atomic scale during nucleation. The scientists found that the nuclei came in a broad range of shapes and sizes and possess a diffuse interface surrounding a stable core. Their observations challenge the long-held classical nucleation theory.

Released: 11-May-2020 2:10 PM EDT
Making a Material World Better, Faster Now: Q&A With Materials Project Director Kristin Persson
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Berkeley Lab’s Kristin Persson shares her thoughts on what inspired her to launch the Materials Project online database, the future of materials research and machine learning, and how she found her own way into a STEM career.

Released: 11-May-2020 11:55 AM EDT
ORNL's advanced manufacturing innovation helps industry in COVID-19 fight
Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Researchers at the US Department of Energy’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility and Carbon Fiber Technology Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory are using their materials science, fiber production and additive manufacturing expertise and capabilities to produce tooling such as custom molds for injection molding to provide US industry with the necessary resources to mass produce healthcare supplies in record time.

7-May-2020 9:00 AM EDT
Chemical evidence of dairying by hunter-gatherers in highland Lesotho in the first millennium AD
University of Bristol

After analysing organic residues from ancient pots, a team of scientists led by the University of Bristol has uncovered new evidence of dairying by hunter-gatherers in the landlocked South African country of Lesotho in the mid-late first millennium AD.

Released: 11-May-2020 10:05 AM EDT
UT Dallas Response Lab Projects Add New Dimension To Help COVID-19 Fight
University of Texas at Dallas

University of Texas at Dallas researchers have designed and 3D-printed a critical ventilator part and are working to manufacture testing swabs and personal protective equipment (PPE) in a campus lab mobilized to address potential supply shortages due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

   
Released: 8-May-2020 10:50 AM EDT
Renowned scientist to head new research for plasma applications in industry and quantum information science
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory

The Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory has appointed David Graves, an internationally known chemical engineer, to head a new research enterprise that will explore plasma applications in semiconductor manufacturing and the next generation of super-fast quantum computers.

Released: 7-May-2020 10:05 AM EDT
Bursting your (tiny) bubbles: New research points the way toward pore-free 3D printing
Argonne National Laboratory

New research conducted at the Advanced Photon Source (APS) points toward pore-free 3D printing of metal components, with no additional apparatus required.

Released: 7-May-2020 9:55 AM EDT
A Promising Supercapacitor for Electronics and Electric Vehicles
Penn State Materials Research Institute

A new supercapacitor based on manganese oxide could combine the storage capacity of batteries with the high power and fast charging of other supercapacitors, according to researchers at Penn State and two universities in China.

Released: 6-May-2020 7:05 PM EDT
Surfaces That Grip Like Gecko Feet Could Be Easily Mass-Produced
Georgia Institute of Technology

The science behind sticky gecko's feet lets gecko adhesion materials pick up about anything. But cost-effective mass production of the materials was out of reach until now. A new method of making them could usher the spread of gecko-inspired grabbers to assembly lines and homes.

Released: 6-May-2020 4:55 PM EDT
Argonne physicist Giulia Galli earns two top honors for outstanding research and leadership
Argonne National Laboratory

Galli elected to both the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences.

Released: 6-May-2020 10:55 AM EDT
Team to design 3D-printable mask inspired by animal noses
Cornell University

A multi-institution team, including a Cornell researcher, has received a National Science Foundation grant to design an open-source, 3D-printable medical mask inspired by the nasal structures of animals.

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



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