Towards artificial photosynthesis with engineering of protein crystals in bacteria
Tokyo Institute of TechnologyIn-cell engineering can be a powerful tool for synthesizing functional protein crystals with promising catalytic properties.
In-cell engineering can be a powerful tool for synthesizing functional protein crystals with promising catalytic properties.
Bruno Schuler and his young team are embarking on an ambitious research project: He will selectively generate defects in atomically-thin semiconductor layers and attempt to measure and control their quantum properties with simultaneous picosecond temporal resolution and atomic precision. The resulting insights are expected to establish fundamental knowledge for future quantum computers.
Microscopic materials made of clay designed by researchers at the University of Missouri could be key to the future of synthetic materials chemistry.
A new study describes how a novel nanomaterial can treat disorders of toxic levels of hydrogen sulfide that occur in Down syndrome and many other disorders.
The Spallation Neutron Source at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory set a world record when its particle accelerator beam operating power reached 1.7 megawatts, substantially improving on the facility’s original design capability.
Research into a new, unique technology to fabricate composite metal parts for a wide range of applications operating in extreme environments across the aviation, space and energy industries is showing promise for additive manufacturing.
Superconductors - found in MRI machines, nuclear fusion reactors and magnetic-levitation trains - work by conducting electricity with no resistance at temperatures near absolute zero, or -459.67F. The search for a conventional superconductor that can function at room temperature has been ongoing for roughly a century, but research has sped up dramatically in the last decade because of new advances in machine learning (ML) using supercomputers such as Expanse at the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) at UC San Diego.
Visible light is a mere fraction of the electromagnetic spectrum, and the manipulation of light waves at frequencies beyond human vision has enabled such technologies as cell phones and CT scans. Rice University researchers have a plan for leveraging a previously unused portion of the spectrum.
Research in the Energy Sciences Center explores how heat changes in chemical reactions, paving the way for more efficient fuels and processes.
Although electrons usually move in three dimensions, scientists can force electrons to move in two dimensions (2D) by creating ultra-thin materials. In this new work, however, researchers found that by adding superconductivity to 3D electrons in a bulk material, the superconducting electrons form 2D superconducting “puddles.” These puddles of electrons may be a way for some superconductors to reorganize themselves before undergoing an abrupt phase transition into an insulating state.
Researchers demonstrates the efficacy of curcumin, a natural antioxidant substance extracted from turmeric, in reducing coral bleaching, a phenomenon caused primarily by climate change.
A team led by researchers at the University of Washington reports that it is possible to imbue graphite — the bulk, 3D material found in No. 2 pencils – with "exotic" physical properties similar to graphite’s 2D counterpart, graphene.
Researchers from Sandia National Laboratories and Texas A&M University announce the first observation of a self-healing metal. If harnessed, the newly discovered phenomenon could someday lead to engines, bridges and airplanes that reverse damage caused by wear and tear, making them safer and longer-lasting.
Over the past decade, teams of engineers, chemists and biologists have analyzed the physical and chemical properties of cicada wings, hoping to unlock the secret of their ability to kill microbes on contact. If this function of nature can be replicated by science, it may lead to products with inherently antibacterial surfaces that are more effective than current chemical treatments.
In an effort to discover new 2D materials, a team of scientists from Ames National Laboratory determined the structure of boron monoxide using new NMR methods and previously unavailable analytical tools.
University of Washington professor Xiaodong Xu studies the properties of single atomic layer semiconductors, looking for new materials and new ways to control electrical conductivity.
Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) announced that Dr. Jaewoo Kim of the Solutions to Electromagnetic Interference in Future-mobility(SEIF), together with Prof. Seonghoon Kim of Hanyang University and Prof. O-bong Yang of Jeonbuk National University has successfully developed a 100% SRC using only one type of polypropylene (PP) polymer.
Scientists hoping to reduce the environmental impact of the construction industry have developed a way to grow building materials using knitted molds and the root network of fungi.
A University of Minnesota Twin Cities team has, for the first time, synthesized a thin film of a unique topological semimetal material that has the potential to generate more computing power and memory storage while using significantly less energy.
Greeshma Gadikota, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering in Cornell Engineering, will lead an effort to decarbonize the concrete industry by harnessing carbon dioxide-capture and mineralization technologies to produce low-carbon construction materials. The $4 million project, part of President Joe Biden’s Clean Energy Plan, will be funded by the U.S. Department of Energy.
Recent research sheds light on the mechanism behind how quantum materials change from an electrical conductor to an electric insulator. Below a critical temperature, strontium doped lanthanum strontium nickel oxide is an insulator due the separation of introduced holes from the magnetic regions, forming “stripes.” These stripes fluctuate and melt at 240K, at which temperature the material should become a conducting metal. Instead, it remains an insulator. This is because of certain atomic vibrations that trap electrons and impede electrical conduction.
Researchers at SLAC and Stanford found a way to make thin films of an exciting new nickel oxide superconductor that are free of extended defects. This improved the material’s ability to conduct electricity with no loss and revealed that it’s more like superconducting cuprates than previously thought.
Case Western Reserve University chemical engineer Rohan Akolkar is leading a research team working to develop a new zero-carbon, electrochemical process to produce iron metal from ore. If successful, the project could be a first step toward eliminating harmful greenhouse gas emissions by eventually replacing century-old, blast-furnace ironmaking with a new electrolytic-iron production process.
A team from Ames National Laboratory conducted an in-depth investigation of the magnetism of TbMn6Sn6, a Kagome layered topological magnet. They were surprised to find that the magnetic spin reorientation in TbMn6Sn6 occurs by generating increasing numbers of magnetically isotropic ions as the temperature increases.
Phase change memory is a type of nonvolatile memory that harnesses a phase change material's (PCM) ability to shift from an amorphous state, i.e., where atoms are disorganized, to a crystalline state, i.e., where atoms are tightly packed close together.
An international research team involving scientists from the University of Vienna, the Faculty of Physics of the University of Warsaw and Univeristy of Edinburgh has described the process of growing three-dimensional manganese dendrites.
The peptide-guided treatment builds new mineral microlayers that penetrate deep into the tooth to create effective, long-lasting natural protection. The ultimate goal is to provide easily accessible relief for the millions of adults worldwide who suffer from tooth sensitivity.
A team led by researchers at the University of Washington has developed new bioplastics that degrade on the same timescale as a banana peel in a backyard compost bin.
Materials science pioneer Shirley Meng has been selected as the recipient of the 2023 Battery Division Research Award by The Electrochemical Society. The recognition honors Meng's innovative research on interfacial science, which has paved the way for improved battery technologies.
The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), a part of the University of Alabama System, announced that UAH chemical engineering students recently won a number of awards at the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Southern Student Regional Conference.The ChemE Car Team won fifth place in the competition and advanced to the national round that will be held in fall 2023.
Researchers from the National University of Singapore drew inspiration from the spider silk spinning process to fabricate strong, stretchable, and electrically conductive soft fibres. Their novel technique overcomes the challenges of conventional methods, which require complex conditions and systems. Such soft and recyclable fibres have a wide range of potential applications, such as a strain-sensing glove for gaming or a smart mask for monitoring breathing status for conditions such as obstructive sleep apnea.
The climate control used by termites in their mounds could inspire tomorrow’s climate-smart buildings.
Researchers have now pioneered a machine learning-based simulation method that supersedes traditional electronic structure simulation techniques. Their Materials Learning Algorithms (MALA) software stack enables access to previously unattainable length scales.
In research that could lead to a new age in illumination, researchers from Japan and Germany have developed an eco-friendly light-emitting electrochemical cells using new molecules called dendrimers combined with biomass derived electrolytes and graphene-based electrodes.
Using a combination of high-powered X-rays, phase-retrieval algorithms and machine learning, Cornell researchers revealed the intricate nanotextures in thin-film materials, offering scientists a new, streamlined approach to analyzing potential candidates for quantum computing and microelectronics, among other applications.
Solid electrolytes with high lithium-ion conductivity can be designed for millimeter-thick battery electrodes by increasing the complexity of their composite superionic crystals, report researchers from Tokyo Tech.
MIT team worked with fermions in the form of potassium-40 atoms, and under conditions that simulate the behavior of electrons in certain superconducting materials.
Quantum information processors that operate with ternary logic (qutrits) offer significant potential advantages in quantum simulation and error correction, as well as the ability to improve specific quantum algorithms and applications. Building on previous R&D with qutrits at the Advanced Quantum Testbed (AQT), the paper's experimental team, led by a promising UC Berkeley graduate student, successfully entangled two transmon qutrits with gate fidelities significantly higher than in previously reported works.
Khalil Amine, a researcher in PSE’s Chemical Sciences and Engineering Division (CSE), was recently elected as a Fellow of the European Academy of the Sciences. This article highlights this Fellowship and Amine’s research in CSE.
Electrochemical engineer Rohan Akolkar from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio—whose pioneering research has applications in nano-material fabrication, energy storage, electrometallurgy and sensors—has been selected as the 2023 winner of an international award from The Electrochemical Society (ECS).
The Laboratory Directed Research and Development project is aimed at increasing knowledge about greener reduction processes to help accelerate and achieve CO2-free production of metals.
With the year-long shutdown underway, the Advanced Photon Source Upgrade project is in the midst of building seven new beamlines, constructing the infrastructure for two more, and updating several more existing beamlines. Robert Winarski is coordinating all of this work, and his background as a scientist who has constructed beamlines is key to his success.
The Illinois Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, or MRSEC, at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has been funded for an additional six years at $18M. The center’s interdisciplinary research will continue with two new focuses at the cutting edge of materials science, and outreach and education activities will continue work to develop a STEM pipeline and foster community among researchers, students and the public.
New ferroelectric material could give robots muscles actuation of ferroelectric polymers driven by Joule heating.
Is it possible to 3D print biodegradable sensors and displays? Researchers from Empa's Cellulose & Wood Materials laboratory have developed a cellulose-based material that allows just that. The mixture of hydroxpropyl cellulose with water, carbon nanotubes and cellulose nanofibrils changes color when heated or stretched – without the addition of any pigments.
Through international joint research between Korea and Germany, the joint research team consisting of the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM), K-Lab and Germany’s Fraunhofer Gesellschaft and BBW Lasertechnik GmbH developed a new 2D on-the-fly composite equipment by applying a scanner that allows for laser welding and cutting of materials for bipolar plates for fuel cells with thickness of 0.075mm.
Until now, researchers have been unable to model how deceptively simple tubular structures —called chemical gardens — work and the patterns and rules that govern their formation.
Scientists directly observed a pair-density wave (PDW) in an iron-based superconducting material with no magnetic field present. This state of matter, which is characterized by coupled pairs of electrons that are constantly in motion, had been thought to only arise when a superconductor is placed within a large magnetic field. This exciting result opens new potential avenues of research and discovery for superconductivity.
Physicists from the National University of Singapore (NUS) have developed an innovative method of converting human hair waste into a functional material that can be used to encrypt sensitive information or detect environmental pollutants.
In recent years, scientists have been studying special materials called topological materials, with special attention paid to the shape, i.e., topology, of their electronic structures (electronic bands). Although it is not visible in real space, their unusual shape in topological materials produces various unique properties that can be suitable for making next-generation devices.