A new study of the batteries commonly used in hybrid and electric-only cars has revealed an unexpected factor that could limit the performance of batteries currently on the road.
Just like the bones that hold up your body, your cells have their own scaffolding that holds them up. This scaffolding, known as the extracellular matrix, or ECM, not only props up cells but also provides attachment sites, or “sticky spots,” to which cells can bind, just as bones hold muscles in place.
Researchers are creating graphene p-n junctions by transferring films of the electronic material to substrates that have been patterned by compounds that are either strong electron donors or electron acceptors.
A new method for creating very thin layers of materials at the atomic scale, reported in the latest issue of the journal Science, could “unlock an important new technology” for creating nanomaterials, according to nanomaterials expert Dr. Jay A. Switzer of Missouri University of Science and Technology in the journal.
A University of South Carolina doctoral student has discovered how and why tin whiskers grow. These hair-like fibers of metal grow out of the tin used as solder and coating on many electronic circuits. The presence of these whiskers can cause short-circuits since they act as bridges to conduct electricity to closely-spaced parts, a problem expected to become more prevalent as devices are designed smaller and smaller.
A team of interdisciplinary researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has developed a new method for significantly increasing the heat transfer rate across two different materials. Results of the team’s study, published in the journal Nature Materials, could enable new advances in cooling computer chips and lighting-emitting diode (LED) devices, collecting solar power, harvesting waste heat, and other applications.
Turning lignin, a plant’s structural “glue” and a byproduct of the paper and pulp industry, into something considerably more valuable is driving a research effort headed by Amit Naskar of Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
The University of Virginia is partnering with global packaging leader MeadWestvaco Corporation to support the development of a new material invented by physics professor Louis A. Bloomfield.
Using a combination of the new tools of metamaterials and transformation optics, engineers at Penn State University have developed designs for miniaturized optical devices that can be used in chip-based optical integrated circuits.
By tweaking the formula for growing oxide thin films, researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory achieved virtual perfection at the interface of two insulator materials.
Electron microscopy at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory is providing unprecedented views of the individual atoms in graphene, offering scientists a chance to unlock the material’s full potential for uses from engine combustion to consumer electronics.
ORNL researcher combined theoretical and experimental studies to understand and control the self-assembly of insulating barium zirconium oxide nanodots and nanorods within barium-copper-oxide superconducting films.
Using solar power and ultrathin films of iron oxide, Israeli researchers have found a new way to split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen. The breakthrough could lead to viable replacements for fossil fuels.
Based on a new discovery, the world’s multi-billion dollar foundry industry may soon develop a sweet tooth. Scientists have identified a compound that can replace some of the toxic chemicals now used to produce the molds this industry depends upon. The compound is called sugar.
Using polymer nanofibers thinner than human hairs as scaffolds, researchers have coaxed a type of brain cell to wrap around fibers that mimic the shape and size of nerves found in the body.
Photovoltaic cell efficiency may soon get a big boost, thanks to next-generation antireflection coatings crafted from nanomaterials capable of cutting down on the amount of light reflected away from a cell’s surface.
A research team at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) has developed a novel system for examining and measuring nanoscale thermal conductance at the interface between two materials.
Scientists from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have demonstrated the first solar cell with external quantum efficiency (EQE) exceeding 100 percent for photons with energies in the solar range.
Recently a team of British researchers has discovered a new class of materials that resists bacterial attachment.
By using a variety of materials not commonly associated with MEMS technology, researchers have created stronger microstructures that can form precise, tall and narrow 3-D shapes – characteristics that were never before possible in MEMS.
A new video-article in JoVE, Journal of Visualized Experiments, details the use of a new laser-activated bio-adhesive polymer. The chitosan-based polymer, SurgiLux, was developed by scientists at the University of New South Wales. Chitosan is a polymer derived from chitin, which is found in fungal cell walls or in exoskeletons of crustaceans and insects.This molecular component allows SurgiLux to form low energy bonds between the polymer and the desired tissue when it absorbs light. The technology may soon replace traditional sutures in the clinic.
Researchers at ORNL have found that nitrogen atoms in the compound uranium nitride exhibit unexpected, distinct vibrations that form a nearly ideal realization of a physics textbook model known as the isotropic quantum harmonic oscillator.
A Boise State University research team has developed a new type of micro pump that can be used in forensic DNA profiling. The pump represents a giant leap in miniaturization.
With a novel idea, a lot of work and some of the world’s most sophisticated equipment, researchers at McMaster University have developed a new way to study the structures of complex surfaces, opening the door to future discoveries in materials, energy and technology.
Preserving historical treasures, self-healing materials, and surfaces that slough off bacteria are just some of the topics from the more than 1,300 intriguing talks that will be presented at the AVS 59th International Symposium & Exhibition.
A team of researchers that includes William T.M. Irvine, assistant professor in physics at the University of Chicago, has succeeded in creating a defect in the structure of a single-layer crystal by simply inserting an extra particle, and then watching as the crystal “heals” itself.
Battery materials on the nano-scale reveal how nickel forms a physical barrier that impedes the shuttling of lithium ions in the electrode, reducing how fast the materials charge and discharge.
A University of Arkansas physicist and his colleagues have examined the lower limits of novel materials called complex oxides and discovered that unlike conventional semiconductors the materials not only conduct electricity, but also develop unusual magnetic properties.
In a study that could lead to advances in the emerging fields of optical computing and nanomaterials, researchers at Missouri University of Science and Technology report that a new class of nanoscale slot waveguides pack 100 to 1,000 times more transverse optical force than conventional silicon slot waveguides.
A team led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Ho Nyung Lee has discovered a strain relaxation phenomenon in cobaltites that has eluded researchers for decades and may lead to advances in fuel cells, magnetic sensors and a host of energy-related materials.
A University of Arkansas researcher and his colleagues have developed a better understanding of how these graphene-metal interfaces affect the movement of electrons through two-terminal junctions.
Krishna Rajan of Iowa State University and the Ames Laboratory is using data mining, information theory and statistical learning concepts to develop a new approach to discovering materials.
A new kind of roof-and-attic system field-tested at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory keeps homes cool in summer and prevents heat loss in winter, a multi-seasonal efficiency uncommon in roof and attic design.
A strip of glass covered in hairy nanoparticles can cheaply and conveniently measure mercury, which attacks the nervous system, and other toxic metals in fluids.
Spinach power has just gotten a big boost. Vanderbilt researchers have combined the photosynthetic protein that converts light into electrochemical energy in spinach with silicon, the material used in solar cells, in a fashion that produces substantially more electrical current than has been reported by previous "biohybrid" solar cells.
A new synthetic protein can pinpoint cancer and other diseases in the body by finding nearby damaged collagen.
Knowing the position of missing oxygen atoms could be the key to cheaper solid oxide fuel cells with longer lifetimes. New microscopy research from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory is enabling scientists to map these vacancies at an atomic scale.
A field of young sunflowers will slowly rotate from east to west during the course of a sunny day, each leaf seeking out as much sunlight as possible as the sun moves across the sky through an adaptation called heliotropism. It’s a clever bit of natural engineering that inspired imitation from a UW-Madison electrical and computer engineer, who has found a way to mimic the passive heliotropism seen in sunflowers for use in the next crop of solar power systems.
Researchers have developed and validated a new technology in which composite nanofibrous scaffolds provide a loose enough structure for cells to colonize without impediment, but still can instruct cells how to lay down new tissue.
Penn State researchers have designed and computationally tested a type of manmade metamaterial capable for the first time of manipulating a variety of acoustic waves with one simple device.
Plastic electronics hold the promise of cheap, mass-produced devices. But plastic semiconductors have an important flaw: the electronic current is influenced by “charge traps” in the material. New research reveals a common mechanism underlying these traps and provides a theoretical framework to design trap-free plastic electronics.
Findings have promising implications for development of terahertz semi-conductors and other applications
University of Arkansas physicists have found a way to systematically study and control the transition of graphite, the “lead” found in pencils, to graphene, one of the strongest, lightest and most conductive materials known.
The fabric in a cotton T-shirt was converted into a material that can store electricity. A flexible source of electrical power made from this kind of material might one day be able to charge your cell phone, or any number of other mobile electronic devices.
Artem R. Oganov, PhD, built on earlier work on theoretical structure of “M-carbon”.
Cork, known for such low-tech applications as wine bottle stoppers and bulletin boards, now shows promise, in University of Delaware research, as the core material in composites used in high-tech automotive, aircraft and energy applications.
Sandia National Laboratories’ researchers say Sandia's new aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscope (AC-STEM) is 50 to 100 times better than what came before, both in resolution and the time it takes to analyze a sample.
Sandia has developed a unique materials approach to multilayered, ceramic-based, 3-D microelectronics circuits, such as those used in cell phones. The approach compensates for how changes due to temperature fluctuations affect something called the temperature coefficient of resonant frequency, a critical property of materials used in radio and microwave frequency applications.
A new study shows that the availability of hydrogen plays a significant role in determining the chemical and structural makeup of graphene oxide, a material that has potential uses in nano-electronics, nano-electromechanical systems, sensing, composites, optics, catalysis and energy storage.
Researchers have developed a novel technology that could change how industry designs and casts complex, costly metal parts. This new casting method makes possible faster prototype development times, as well as more efficient and cost-effective manufacturing procedures.
RSS
Medicine keyboard_arrow_right
Sciencekeyboard_arrow_right
Life keyboard_arrow_right
Business keyboard_arrow_right
Journal News keyboard_arrow_right
By Location keyboard_arrow_right
Meetings, Grants, and Events keyboard_arrow_right