The hidden culprit killing lithium-metal batteries from the inside

EurekAlert  July 14, 2021 A team of researchers in the US (Sandia National Laboratory, University of Oregon, industry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory) repeatedly charged and discharged lithium coin cells with the same high-intensity electric current that electric vehicles need to charge. Using cryogenic femtosecond laser cross sectioning and subsequent scanning electron microscopy, they observed the electroplated Li-metal morphology and the accompanying solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) into and through the intact coin cell battery’s separator, gradually opening pathways for soft-short circuits that cause failure. They found that separator penetration by the SEI guided the growth of Li dendrites through the cell. […]

Licensing Opportunity: Virus-Like Particle Technology for Universal Flu Vaccine

Global Biodefense  July 13, 2021 The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has a Technology Transfer opportunity available for a virus-like particle (VLP) vaccine technology for influenza viruses, based on a mixture of VLPs expressing the hemagglutinin protein or the neuraminidase protein from influenza virus strains belonging to different virus subtypes. The technology has demonstrated broad protection against lethal challenge in mice with various influenza virus strains and virus subtypes. Results from ferret and mouse studies demonstrate broad heterosubtypic protection against various influenza virus subtypes, further supporting and strengthening the proposed application of this technology as a universal influenza virus vaccine…read […]

New ‘Metafabric’ Passively Cools The Human Body by Almost 5 Degrees Celsius

Science Alert  July 13, 2021 The metafabric developed by researchers in China uses titanium oxide-polylactic acid composite nanoparticles laminated with a thin layer of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). It is designed to strongly reflect visible light (VIS), mid-infrared (MIR) and ultraviolet (UV) ranges. The wide distribution of nanoparticles, when combined with PTFE nanobeads, provides broad-spectrum scattering and reflectivity across the UV-VIS-NIR band. They tested the material in clear sky conditions measuring the temperature of the fabric in comparison to other common materials lying on a panel. Under peak solar irradiance between 11:00 and 15:00, the temperature of the metafabric was approximately 5.0°, […]

Mosquito-resistant clothing prevents bites in trials

Phys.org  July 13, 2021 An international team of researchers (USA – North Carolina State University, Germany) has developed a mathematical model for fabric barriers that resist bites from Aedes aegypti mosquitoes based on textile physical structure and no insecticides. The model was derived from mosquito morphometrics and analysis of mosquito biting behavior. Woven filter fabrics, precision polypropylene plates, and knitted fabrics were used for model validation. Based on the model predictions, prototype knitted textiles and garments were developed that prevented mosquito biting, and comfort testing showed the garments to possess superior thermophysiological properties. The fabrics provided a three-times greater bite […]

The next generation of information processing is through coherent gate operations

Phys.org  July 14, 2021 Electromagnonics—the hybridization of spin excitations and electromagnetic waves—has been recognized as a promising candidate for coherent information processing in recent years. Among its various implementations, the lack of available approaches for real-time manipulation on the system dynamics has become a common and urgent limitation. A team of researchers in the US (Argonne National Laboratory, University of Chicago) introduced a fast and uniform modulation technique and demonstrated a series of benchmark coherent gate operations in hybrid magnonics, including semiclassical analogies of Landau-Zener transitions, Rabi oscillations, Ramsey interference, and controlled mode swap operations. Their approach lays the groundwork […]

New evidence of an anomalous phase of matter brings energy-efficient technologies closer

Phys.org  July 14, 2021 An international team of researchers (UK, Japan, Slovenia, India, USA – Columbia University, Switzerland) used ultrafast pump-probe microscopy to investigate the possible excitonic insulator Ta2NiSe5. Below 328 K, they observed the anomalous micrometer-scale propagation of coherent modes at velocities of ~105 m/s, which they attributed to the hybridization between phonon modes and the phase mode of the condensate. They developed a theoretical framework to support this explanation and proposed that electronic interactions provide a substantial contribution to the ordered phase in Ta2NiSe5. These results allow us to understand how the condensate’s collective modes transport energy and […]

Preventing oxygen release leads to safer high-energy-density batteries

Phys.org  July 13, 2021 Oxide-based cathode materials are key components of secondary batteries. Problems originating from the lattice oxygen instability in oxide-based intercalation cathodes are widely reported, such as capacity degradation, gas generation, and thermal runaway, highlighting the importance of deep insights into the critical factors for lattice oxygen stability. Researchers in Japan Investigated the lattice oxygen stability in layered rock-salt LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2−δ with a focus on oxygen release behavior and relevant changes in crystal and electronic structures. Release of lattice oxygen facilitates cation mixing, transition metal slab expansion, and Li slab contraction, thus deteriorating the layered structure. In the beginning […]

Scientists develop novel DNA logic circuits

Phys.org  July 12, 2021 To construct a bipedal DNA walking nanomachine an international team of researchers (USA – University of New York, China) constructed a series of DNA logic circuits based on cascade strand displacement amplification. They modified track DNA probes with the stem-loop structure on the electrode interface. In the upstream homogeneous system, target-triggered strand displacement amplification was introduced to generate a large number of single-stranded sequences. The DNA three-way junction structure was then assembled as a bipedal moved around the electrode interface to enrich electrochemical signal molecules. Using incomplete three-way junction and double-stranded structures, logic gates AND and […]

Scientists Have Created a New Bendy And Flexible Form of Ice

Science Alert  July 9, 2021 An international team of researchers (USA – UC Berkeley, China) used tungsten needle in a ultracold chamber around -50 deg C into which water vapor was released and applied an electric field. Water molecules were attracted to the tip of the needle, where they crystallized, forming a microfiber with a maximum width of around 10 micrometers. When the temperature was lowered to between minus 70 and minus150 degrees Celsius they were able to bend. At minus 150 degrees Celsius, the microfiber 4.4 micrometers across was able to bend into a nearly circular shape, with a […]

Top 10 Science and Technology Inventions for the Week of July 09, 2021

01. New type of metasurface allows unprecedented laser control 02. The pressure is off and high temperature superconductivity remains 03. Quantum laser turns energy loss into gain 04. Researchers discover unusual competition between charge density wave and superconductivity 05. Researchers identify ultrastable single atom magnet 06. Stress-free path to stress-free metallic films paves the way for next-gen circuitry 07. Synthetic biology circuits can respond within seconds 08. Ultra-strong squeezing of light demonstrated for ultrafast optical signal processing 09. Ultrathin semiconductors are electrically connected to superconductors for the first time 10. Unlocking radiation-free quantum technology with graphene And others… Graphene additive […]