Feature Channels: Materials Science

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Released: 23-Dec-2019 4:10 AM EST
Science Snapshots From Berkeley Lab
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

This edition of Science Snapshots highlights the discovery of an investigational cancer drug that targets tumors caused by mutations in the KRAS gene, the development of a new library of artificial proteins that could accelerate the design of new materials, and new insight into the natural toughening mechanism behind adult tooth enamel.

Released: 20-Dec-2019 12:35 PM EST
The Quantum Information Edge Launches to Accelerate Quantum Computing R&D for Breakthrough Science
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

A nationwide alliance of national labs, universities, and industry launched today to advance the frontiers of quantum computing systems designed to solve urgent scientific challenges and maintain U.S. leadership in next-generation information technology. The Quantum Information Edge strategic alliance is led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and Sandia National Laboratories.

Released: 20-Dec-2019 9:30 AM EST
Electron Pulser for Ultrafast Electron Microscopy Wins 2019 R&D 100 Award
Brookhaven National Laboratory

Brookhaven and its collaborators developed a laser-free device for probing fast atomic-scale processes in energy and bio materials.

Released: 20-Dec-2019 8:05 AM EST
Tiny Crystals Work Better When They Double Up With Designer Frameworks
Department of Energy, Office of Science

Where two unusual materials meet, scientists have seen promising behaviors for energy storage, medicine, and more. An international team of users and Foundry staff wrote a set of design rules that they then used to direct the self-assembly of the crystals and the cages into new types sheet-like structures.

Released: 19-Dec-2019 1:05 PM EST
Honey, I shrunk Michelangelo's David
ETH Zürich

There he is, standing upon his pedestal: David by Michelangelo. A world-?famous statue that nearly every child can recognise. But this David is just 1 millimeter tall, pedestal included

Released: 19-Dec-2019 11:10 AM EST
Playing the angles with dramatic effect
Argonne National Laboratory

Researchers report the most complete model to date concerning the transition from metal to insulator in correlated oxides. These oxides have fascinated scientists because of their many attractive electronic and magnetic properties.

Released: 19-Dec-2019 10:05 AM EST
Tweaks Behind the Rebirth of Nearly Discarded Organic Solar Technologies
Georgia Institute of Technology

A minuscule, counterintuitive chemical tweak is advancing an organic solar technology that was believed unviable.

Released: 19-Dec-2019 8:05 AM EST
Pushing the Precision of Nanoscale Mapping
Department of Energy, Office of Science

A popular microscopy tool can give false results about certain materials’ properties. Scientists have developed a new quantitative approach to identifying and removing these artifacts. This new technique will provide a clear way to distinguish false motions from the sample’s true electromechanical phenomena in materials.

Released: 18-Dec-2019 12:05 PM EST
Shape-Shifters: Small Proteins Unexpectedly Shift Their Shape When Coming Together
Department of Energy, Office of Science

Artificial versions of small proteins, called peptoids, can readily self-assemble into tiny sheets, which gives them a great deal of potential for use in medicine, sensing, and other fields. An international team led by Foundry scientists discovered that peptoids could change shape when they form a nanosheet.

Released: 18-Dec-2019 12:05 PM EST
Ultrafast X-ray Optics
Department of Energy, Office of Science

Scientists have demonstrated a new micro-electro-mechanical-system (MEMS) resonator. By using this device with a hard (higher energy) X-ray, scientists can now control how long the X-ray pulses are, down to 300 picoseconds long.

Released: 18-Dec-2019 11:55 AM EST
Super Nanoparticle Superlattices
Department of Energy, Office of Science

This new research shows how the ligands affect key structural and mechanical properties of the superlattices.

Released: 16-Dec-2019 10:30 AM EST
Berkeley Lab’s Top 10 Science Stories of 2019
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

From the health benefits of cool roofs to an experiment to search for dark matter, Berkeley Lab researchers did a lot of science!

12-Dec-2019 1:55 PM EST
Tiny Quantum Sensors Watch Materials Transform Under Pressure
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Scientists at Berkeley Lab have developed a diamond anvil sensor that could lead to a new generation of smart, designer materials, as well as the synthesis of new chemical compounds, atomically fine-tuned by pressure.

Released: 11-Dec-2019 7:05 PM EST
Scientists harvest energy from light using bio-inspired artificial cells
Argonne National Laboratory

By replicating biological machinery with non-biological components, scientists have created artificial cells that convert light into chemical energy.

Released: 11-Dec-2019 11:30 AM EST
A Peek into the Battery Technology Pipeline
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

With its deep expertise in materials research, materials design, and energy storage technologies, Berkeley Lab is working on better battery alternatives. Gerbrand Ceder, a battery researcher in the Materials Science Division, details four battery echnologies being studied by Berkeley Lab scientists that could make a big difference in the future.

Released: 10-Dec-2019 11:35 AM EST
Mayo Clinic, W. L. Gore & Associates announce Avobis Bio, a joint venture for new regenerative therapies
Mayo Clinic

Mayo Clinic and W. L. Gore & Associates Inc., a global materials science company, have formed a joint venture to advance the development of implantable cell therapies to treat debilitating conditions with no cure. Avobis Bio will combine Mayo Clinic's clinical and cell expertise and Gore’s expertise in material sciences to address some of the most challenging medical issues.

Released: 10-Dec-2019 11:05 AM EST
Tiny Magnetic Particles Enable New Material to Bend, Twist, and Grab
Georgia Institute of Technology

A team of researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology and The Ohio State University has developed a soft polymer material, called magnetic shape memory polymer, that uses magnetic fields to transform into a variety of shapes. The material could enable a range of new applications from antennas that change frequencies on the fly to gripper arms for delicate or heavy objects.

Released: 9-Dec-2019 3:50 PM EST
Argonne’s debt to 2019 Nobel Prize for lithium-ion battery
Argonne National Laboratory

A roar of approval rang out at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Argonne National Laboratory upon the announcement in October that John B. Goodenough, M. Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yoshino had won the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. On December 10th in Stockholm, they received this highly coveted prize for their major contributions to the invention of the lithium-ion battery, which is a long-standing major focus of research at Argonne.

Released: 9-Dec-2019 2:10 PM EST
Novel polymer to increase energy density, stability of lithium ion batteries
Penn State College of Engineering

Penn State researchers have developed a novel method that could enable the widespread use of silicon-based anodes, which allow electricity to enter a device, in rechargeable lithium ion batteries.

Released: 9-Dec-2019 1:05 PM EST
Acoustic focusing to amass microplastics in water
Shinshu University

Microplastics are receiving a lot of attention lately due to its difficulty in removal from the environment.

Released: 5-Dec-2019 9:40 AM EST
Scientists see defects in potential new semiconductor
Ohio State University

A research team has reported seeing, for the first time, atomic scale defects that dictate the properties of a new and powerful semiconductor. The study, published earlier this month in the journal Physical Review X, shows a fundamental aspect of how the semiconductor, beta gallium oxide, controls electricity.

Released: 5-Dec-2019 6:00 AM EST
A Robot and Software Make it Easier to Create Advanced Materials
Rutgers University-New Brunswick

A Rutgers-led team of engineers has developed an automated way to produce polymers, making it much easier to create advanced materials aimed at improving human health. The innovation is a critical step in pushing the limits for researchers who want to explore large libraries of polymers, including plastics and fibers, for chemical and biological applications such as drugs and regenerative medicine through tissue engineering.

Released: 5-Dec-2019 5:05 AM EST
First field measurements of laughing gas isotopes
Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology

Thanks to a newly developed laser spectrometer, Empa researchers can for the first time show which processes in grassland lead to nitrous oxide emissions. The aim is to reduce emissions of this potent greenhouse gas by gaining a better understanding of the processes taking place in the soil.

Released: 4-Dec-2019 11:00 AM EST
Freeze Frame: Scientists Capture Atomic-Scale Snapshots of Artificial Proteins
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Scientists at Berkeley Lab are the first to use cryo-EM (cryogenic electron microscopy), a Nobel Prize-winning technique originally designed to image proteins in solution, to image atomic changes in a synthetic soft material.

Released: 3-Dec-2019 1:55 PM EST
UD engineering professor honored by National Academy of Inventors
University of Delaware

Kristi Kiick, Blue and Gold Distinguished Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Delaware, has been named a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), the organization announced today.

Released: 3-Dec-2019 12:00 PM EST
Study Sheds Light on the Really Peculiar ‘Normal’ Phase of High-Temperature Superconductors
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Experiments at SLAC and Stanford probe the normal state more accurately than ever before and discover an abrupt shift in the behavior of electrons in which they suddenly give up their individuality and behave like an electron soup.

Released: 3-Dec-2019 9:00 AM EST
Meet Alessandra Colli: Engineering Improvements in 3-D-printed Metals
Brookhaven National Laboratory

Alessandra Colli wants airplane engines to function flawlessly and rockets to be reliable. She's developing a strategy to leverage Brookhaven Lab’s materials-science capabilities to improve the structure and function of the many metallic components that go into these complex devices.

Released: 3-Dec-2019 6:00 AM EST
Bending an Organic Semiconductor Can Boost Electrical Flow
Rutgers University-New Brunswick

Slightly bending semiconductors made of organic materials can roughly double the speed of electricity flowing through them and could benefit next-generation electronics such as sensors and solar cells, according to Rutgers-led research. The study is published in the journal Advanced Science.

Released: 2-Dec-2019 2:30 PM EST
Johns Hopkins APL Takes 3D Printing of Electronic Parts to the Next Level
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), in Laurel, Maryland, have demonstrated a novel and groundbreaking way to additively print gallium nitride (GaN) — a material that can be used to produce semiconductor power devices as well as radio-frequency components and light-emitting diodes – using a combination of liquid and gas. Their work was detailed in "A pathway to compound semiconductor additive manufacturing," published recently in the journal MRS Communications.

29-Nov-2019 11:45 AM EST
SLAC scientists invent a way to see attosecond electron motions with an X-ray laser
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have invented a way to observe the movements of electrons with powerful X-ray laser bursts just 280 attoseconds, or billionths of a billionth of a second, long.

25-Nov-2019 3:05 PM EST
Armored With Plastic ‘Hair’ and Silica Shell, New Perovskite Nanocrystals Show Enhanced Durability
Georgia Institute of Technology

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have demonstrated a novel approach aimed at addressing perovskite's durability problem: encasing the perovskite inside a double-layer protection system made from plastic and silica.

Released: 27-Nov-2019 11:05 AM EST
Scientists find new way to identify, manipulate topological metals for spintronics
Argonne National Laboratory

A recent study gives researchers an easier way of finding Weyl semimetals and manipulating them for potential spintronic devices.

Released: 26-Nov-2019 4:05 PM EST
Building a better battery with machine learning
Argonne National Laboratory

In two new papers, researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory have turned to the power of machine learning and artificial intelligence to dramatically accelerate battery discovery.

Released: 26-Nov-2019 3:15 PM EST
MRS Bulletin Editor Gopal R. Rao Named AAAS Fellow
Materials Research Society (MRS)

The Materials Research Society (MRS) congratulates MRS Bulletin Editor Gopal R. Rao, recently named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

Released: 26-Nov-2019 1:40 PM EST
Pulsed Electron Beams Provide a Softer Touch for Atomic-Scale Imaging
Department of Energy, Office of Science

A team developed a method to apply pulsed-electron beams to image the beam-sensitive material with atomic resolution.

Released: 26-Nov-2019 5:00 AM EST
Shape-shifting metals transform lunar missions
Texas A&M University

In preparation for another lunar landing, NASA is investing $2 million in cutting-edge thermal technology to be developed by a team of researchers from Texas A&M, Boeing and Paragon.

Released: 21-Nov-2019 4:05 PM EST
Theorists probe the relationship between ‘strange metals’ and high-temperature superconductors
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

SLAC theorists have observed strange metallicity in a well-known model for simulating and describing the behavior of materials with strongly correlated electrons, which join forces to produce unexpected phenomena rather than acting independently.

Released: 21-Nov-2019 2:15 PM EST
Breaking (and Restoring) Graphene’s Symmetry in a Twistable Electronics Device
Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Science

A recent Columbia Engineering study demonstrates a new way to tune the properties of 2D materials simply by adjusting the twist angle between them. The researchers built devices consisting of monolayer graphene encapsulated between two crystals of boron nitride and, by adjusting the relative twist angle between the layers, they were able to create multiple moiré pattern—“the first time anyone has seen the full rotational dependence of coexisting moiré superlattices in one device.”

Released: 21-Nov-2019 7:05 AM EST
Dmitri Zakharov Recognized with the 2019 Chuck Fiori Award
Brookhaven National Laboratory

The award honors Dmitri Zakharov's contributions to environmental transmission electron microscopy at Brookhaven Lab's Center for Functional Nanomaterials.

Released: 20-Nov-2019 2:15 PM EST
The Beauty of Imperfections: Linking Atomic Defects to 2D Materials’ Electronic Properties
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Scientists at Berkeley Lab have revealed how atomic defects emerge in transition metal dichalcogenides, and how those defects shape the 2D material’s electronic properties. Their findings could provide a versatile yet targeted platform for designing 2D materials for quantum information science.

Released: 20-Nov-2019 12:05 PM EST
High school students’ data science contributions boost biomineralization research
Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Two high school students developed software to analyze images of diatoms—algae that produce silicon for constructing cell walls—to determine the differences between wild and genetically modified strains of these organisms. This work was instrumental to a research team interested in optimizing diatoms for biomineralization, the process of making materials from biological systems.

Released: 20-Nov-2019 11:25 AM EST
Turning Up the Heat to Create New Nanostructured Metals
Brookhaven National Laboratory

The metallic thin films with 3-D interlocking nanostructures could be used in catalysis, energy storage, and biomedical sensing.

Released: 19-Nov-2019 11:05 AM EST
With artificial intelligence to a better wood product
Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology

Empa scientist Mark Schubert and his team are using the many opportunities offered by machine learning for wood technology applications. Together with Swiss Wood Solutions, Schubert develops a digital wood-selection- and processing strategy that uses artificial intelligence.

Released: 19-Nov-2019 6:20 AM EST
Artificial Intelligence algorithm can learn the laws of quantum mechanics and speed up drug delivery
University of Warwick

Artificial Intelligence can be used to predict molecular wave functions and the electronic properties of molecules. This innovative AI method developed by a team of researchers at the University of Warwick, the Technical University of Berlin and the University of Luxembourg, could be used to speed-up the design of drug molecules or new materials.

Released: 19-Nov-2019 3:45 AM EST
DHS awards $197k for blockchain-agnostic approach to tracking raw material imports
Homeland Security's Science And Technology Directorate

DHS S&T has awarded $197,292.00 to Factom, Inc. based in Austin, Texas, to develop a blockchain security system that agencies can use to create and verify identities and help detect fraud involving imports, such as raw materials.

14-Nov-2019 3:00 PM EST
A four-way switch promises greater tunability of layered materials
Oak Ridge National Laboratory

A team from Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Vanderbilt University made the first experimental observation of a material phase that had been predicted but never seen.

17-Nov-2019 11:00 AM EST
New, slippery toilet coating provides cleaner flushing, saves water
Penn State College of Engineering

In the Wong Laboratory for Nature Inspired Engineering, housed within the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Materials Research Institute, researchers have developed a method that dramatically reduces the amount of water needed to flush a conventional toilet, which usually requires 6 liters.

Released: 18-Nov-2019 9:00 AM EST
In its 15th year, INCITE advances open science with supercomputer grants to 47 projects
Oak Ridge National Laboratory

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science announced allocations of supercomputer access to 47 science projects for 2020—awarding 60 percent of the available time on some of the nation’s most powerful supercomputers, with the ultimate goal of accelerating discovery and innovation. In 2020, 14 projects will run on Theta and 39 projects on Summit, where six of these projects will receive an allocation on both systems.



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