Feature Channels: Materials Science

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Using bundled strands of DNA to build Tinkertoy-like tetrahedral cages, scientists have devised a way to trap and arrange nanoparticles in a way that mimics the crystalline structure of diamond. The achievement of this complex yet elegant arrangement may open a path to new materials that take advantage of the optical and mechanical properties of this crystalline structure for applications such as optical transistors, color-changing materials, and lightweight yet tough materials.

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The material at the heart of the lithium ion batteries that power electric vehicles, laptop computers and smartphones has been shown to impair a key soil bacterium. A study by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Minnesota is an early signal that the growing use of the new nanoscale materials used in the rechargeable batteries that power portable electronics and electric and hybrid vehicles may have untold environmental consequences.

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Phosphine, one of the newest materials to be named a superconductor, was reported in 2015 to exhibit superconductivity under high pressure. A new study provides insight into what may have happened as phosphine underwent this intense compression.

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A Drexel University materials scientist has discovered a way to grow a crystal ball in a lab. Not the kind that soothsayers use to predict the future, but a microscopic version that could be used to encapsulate medication in a way that would allow it to deliver its curative payload more effectively inside the body.

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An international group of physicists led by the University of Arkansas has created an artificial material with a structure comparable to graphene.

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New transparent metamaterials under development could make possible computer chips and interconnecting circuits that use light instead of electrons to process and transmit data, representing a potential leap in performance.

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Sandia National Laboratories is developing nondestructive ways to detect damage below the surface in lightweight composite materials.

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After six years of painstaking effort, a group of University of Wisconsin-Madison materials scientists believe the tiny sheets of the semiconductor zinc oxide they’re growing could have huge implications for the future of a host of electronic and biomedical devices.

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Researchers have successfully demonstrated how it is possible to interface graphene - a two-dimensional form of carbon - with neurons, or nerve cells, while maintaining the integrity of these vital cells. The work may be used to build graphene-based electrodes that can safely be implanted in the brain, offering promise for the restoration of sensory functions for amputee or paralysed patients, or for individuals with motor disorders such as epilepsy or Parkinson's disease.

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Rice scientists: Blood serum proteins must find balance with therapeutic nanoparticles.

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Scientists have been trying for years to make a practical lithium-ion battery anode out of silicon, which could store 10 times more energy per charge than today’s commercial anodes and make high-performance batteries a lot smaller and lighter. But two major problems have stood in the way: Silicon particles swell, crack and shatter during battery charging, and they react with the battery electrolyte to form a coating that saps their performance.

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Imagine a polymer with removable parts that can deliver something to the environment and then be chemically regenerated to function again. Or a polymer that can contract and expand the way muscles do. These functions require polymers with both rigid and soft nano-sized compartments with extremely different properties. Northwestern University researchers have developed a hybrid polymer of this type that might one day be used in artificial muscles; for delivery of drugs or biomolecules; in self-repairing materials; and for replaceable energy sources.

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Oil and water famously don't mix, but finely dispersing one in the other produces a liquid mixture with many useful properties. An emulsion consisting of tiny droplets of one of those liquids immersed in the other is the most common form, found in everything from salad dressings, to cosmetics to industrial lubricants.

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Scientists at the University of Maryland have a new recipe for batteries: Bake a leaf, and add sodium. They used a carbonized oak leaf, pumped full of sodium, as a demonstration battery’s negative terminal, or anode, according to a paper published yesterday in the journal ACS Applied Materials Interfaces.

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“Jets” formed after shock waves passed through cerium metal provided the yield stress of cerium in its post-shock state, indicating the stress that would cause it to become permanently deformed.

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Gardeners often use sheets of plastic with strategically placed holes to allow their plants to grow but keep weeds from taking root. Scientists from UCLA’s California NanoSystems Institute have found that the same basic approach is an effective way to place molecules in the specific patterns they need within tiny nanoelectronic devices.

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Rice University develops conductive material to heat surfaces, simplify ice removal.

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A group of smart materials known as "electrostrictive polymers" have been explored for years by researchers at the INSA de Lyon for their potential mechanical energy harvesting abilities.

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Scientists tune polymer material's transparency.

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A lithium-ion battery that self heats if the temperature is below 32 degrees Fahrenheit has multiple applications, but may have the most impact on relieving winter "range anxiety" for electric vehicle owners, according to a team of researchers from Penn State and EC Power, State College.

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Lithium-air batteries hold the promise of storing electricity at up to five times the energy density of today's familiar lithium-ion batteries, but they have inherent shortcomings. Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have helped prove that a new prototype is powered by a surprising chemical reaction that may solve the new battery's biggest drawback.

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Lithium ions are depleted as a battery charges and are also lost to the formation of a thin coating on a battery’s anode. ORNL researchers used powerful neutron science facilities to try to understand the dynamics behind this phenomenon.

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The new principal editor of the Metallurgical and Materials Transactions family of journals will be Tresa M. Pollock of the University of California, Santa Barbara.

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In the ever-escalating evolutionary battle with drug-resistant bacteria, humans may soon have a leg up thanks to adaptive, light-activated nanotherapy developed by researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder.

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A group of researchers from Russia, Australia and the Netherlands have developed a technology that can reduce Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanning times by more than 50%, meaning hospitals can drastically increase the number of scans without changing equipment.

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Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Ralph Dinwiddie uses infrared cameras to create heat maps of working materials that reveal their thermal properties and subsurface structure.

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A detailed assessment called into question the previous identification of ferroelectric materials based solely on scanning probe microscopy

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An innovative precast concrete (PC) T-wall panel system was developed to enhance constructability and lateral load resistance of fast-track, low-rise buildings.

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This study shows that slenderness has an important influence on the punching strength of slabs with shear reinforcement, despite the fact that it is neglected in many codes of practice.

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New concrete research indicates that critical crack does not develop until after the specified service load has been surpassed, suggesting that current pipe designs are overly conservative.

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Rice University scientists mix up a new type of flexible composite.

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Researchers at the University of Chicago and Argonne may have found a way for the semiconductor industry to hit miniaturization targets on time and without defects.

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In a recent experiment, Argonne battery scientists Jun Lu, Larry Curtiss and Khalil Amine, along with American and Korean collaborators, were able to produce stable crystallized lithium superoxide (LiO2) instead of lithium peroxide during battery discharging. Unlike lithium peroxide, lithium superoxide can easily dissociate into lithium and oxygen, leading to high efficiency and good cycle life.

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Building on its capabilities in data-intensive science, the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory has expanded its Computational Science Initiative.

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Stanford researchers have developed the first lithium-ion battery that shuts down before overheating, then restarts immediately when the temperature cools.

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Scientists at three Department of Energy national laboratories have discovered how to keep a promising new type of lithium ion battery cathode from developing a crusty coating that degrades its performance. The solution: Use a simple manufacturing technique to form the cathode material into tiny, layered particles that store a lot of energy while protecting themselves from damage.

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Lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide, or NMC, is one of the most promising chemistries for better lithium batteries, especially for electric vehicle applications, but scientists have been struggling to get higher capacity out of them. Now researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have found that using a different method to make the material can offer substantial improvements.

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Magnesium infused with dense silicon carbide nanoparticles could be used for airplanes, cars, mobile electronics and more.

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Inspired by healing wounds in skin, a new approach protects and heals surfaces using a fluid secretion process.

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A team of researchers led by scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has identified several mechanisms that make a new, cold-loving material one of the toughest metallic alloys ever.

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Self-compacting high-performance concrete (SCHPC) has till now suffered from one weakness – when exposed to fire it flakes and splits, which reduces its loadbearing capacity. Empa scientists have now developed a method of manufacturing fire resistant self-compacting high-performance concrete which maintains its mechanical integrity under these conditions.

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In the quest for sustainable alternative energy and fuel sources, one viable solution may be the conversion of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) into liquid fuels.

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Unmanned Aerial Systems Research Center at ORNL offers world of opportunities; New ORNL material offers clear advantages for consumer products and more; Hospital occupancy data helping ORNL study population distribution; Laser beams, plasmonic sensors able to detect trace biochemical compounds; ORNL devises new tool to map vegetation, wildlife habitat; ORNL software connects dots of disparate data; ORNL breaks mold with steel like none other

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Thor is expected to dramatically improve the design of similar machines aiming for high-yield fusion.

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Using the Titan supercomputer, researchers at insurance company FM Global are trying to better understand fire growth and suppression for commercial and industrial storage warehouses.

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Researchers combine high-resolution microscopy with new electron image analysis to measure atomic positions with an unprecedented precision of less than half the radius of a hydrogen atom.

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Research performed by U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory Associate Scientist Durga Paudyal was recently featured on the cover of the November 13, 2015, issue of Physical Review Letters.

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Science and Technology Highlights from the DOE National Laboratories

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Scientists at Indiana University have created a highly efficient biomaterial that catalyzes the formation of hydrogen -- one half of the "holy grail" of splitting H2O to make hydrogen and oxygen for fueling cheap and efficient cars that run on water.

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New study models adhesion force as key to contact between two rough, yet elastic, surfaces.