Nanowerk September 11, 2023 A few MOFs which typically use strong acids as proton sources, display superprotonic conductivity. However, they are rare due to the instability of MOFs in highly acidic conditions. Researchers in South Korea have shown superprotonic conductivity using a moderately acidic guest, zwitterionic sulfamic acid (HSA), which was encapsulated in MOF-808 and MIL-101. HSA acted not only as a proton source but also as a proton-conducting medium due to its extensive hydrogen bonding ability and zwitterion effect. A new sustained concentration gradient method resulted in higher HSA encapsulation compared to conventional methods. The MOFs showed impressive superprotonic […]
New laser tweezers allow gentle, efficient manipulation of cells and nanoparticles (w/video)
Nanowerk September 8, 2023 Optical tweezers are used from manufacturing to biotechnology. However, the requirement of refractive index contrast and high laser power results in potential photon and thermal damage to the trapped objects. Optothermal tweezers have been developed to trap particles and biological cells via opto-thermophoresis with much lower laser powers. But the intense laser heating and stringent requirement of the solution environment prevent their use for general biological applications. A team of researchers in the US (UT Austin, UT Dallas) has proposed hypothermal opto-thermophoretic tweezers (HOTTs) to achieve low-power trapping of diverse colloids and biological cells in their […]
Pixel-by-pixel analysis yields insights into lithium-ion batteries
MIT News September 13, 2023 Reaction rates at spatially heterogeneous, unstable interfaces are difficult to quantify, yet they are essential in engineering many chemical systems, such as batteries and electrocatalysts. Experimental characterizations of such materials by operando microscopy produce rich image datasets, but data-driven methods to learn physics from these images are lacking because of the complex coupling of reaction kinetics, surface chemistry and phase separation. A team of researchers in the US (MIT, Stanford University, industry, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory) showed that heterogeneous reaction kinetics can be learned from in situ scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM) images of carbon-coated […]
Revolutionizing lithium production on a string
Science Daily September 7, 2023 A team of researchers in the US (Princeton University, University of Maryland) has developed an efficient and self-concentrating crystallization method for the selective extraction of lithium from both brine and seawater. The sequential and separable crystallization of cation species with different concentrations and solubilities was enabled by a twisted and slender 3D porous natural cellulose fibre structure via capillary and evaporative flows. The process exhibited an evaporation rate as high as 9.8 kg m−2 h−1, and it selectively concentrated lithium by orders of magnitude. They characterized the composition and spatial distribution of crystals, and a transport model deciphered […]
Scientists unlock reversible twisting of nanoscale materials
Nanowerk September 13, 2023 Nanomaterials usually fail to twist into helical crystals. Considering the irreversibility of the previously studied twisting forces, the reverse process (untwisting) and retwisting areas more difficult to achieve. Researchers in China have reported a new reciprocal effect between molecular geometry and crystal structure which triggered a twisting-untwisting-retwisting cycle for tri-cobalt salicylate hydroxide hexahydrate. The twisting force stemmed from competition between the condensation reaction and stacking process, different from the previously reported twisting mechanisms. The resulting distinct nanohelices gave rise to unusual structure elasticity, as reflected in the reversible change of crystal lattice parameters and the mutual […]
Tonga volcano unleashed fastest ever undersea flows: study
Phys.org September 7, 2023 In December 2021, an undersea volcano in the southern Pacific Ocean, the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha‘apai (Hunga volcano) began erupting. In January 2022 the eruption reached a powerful climax, triggering atmospheric waves that traveled around the globe and a tsunami that swept across the Pacific Ocean. An estimated 75% of Earth’s volcanoes are underwater, and 20% of all fatalities caused by volcanic eruptions since 1600 CE have been associated with underwater volcanism. Yet, explosive underwater eruptions are poorly understood. An international team of researchers (UK, New Zealand, Kingdom of Tonga, Australia, USA – industry) reported that volcanic […]
Valleytronics: Innovative way to store and process information up to room temperature
Science Daily September 8, 2023 The two degenerate valleys in transition metal dichalcogenides can be used to store and process information for quantum information science and technology. A major challenge is maintaining valley polarization at room temperature where phonon-induced intervalley scattering is prominent. A team of researchers in the US (Brookhaven National Laboratory, industry) has demonstrated room temperature valley polarization in heterostructures of monolayer MoS2 and naphthylethylammine based one-dimensional chiral lead halide perovskite. By optically exciting the heterostructures with linearly polarized light close to resonance and measuring the helicity resolved photoluminescence, they obtained a degree of polarization of up to […]
Top 10 Science and Technology Inventions for the Week of September 8, 2023
01. Device offers long-distance, low-power underwater communication 02. ‘Countercation engineering’ for thermoresponsive graphene-oxide nanosheets 03. Better cybersecurity with new material 04. Growing triple-decker hybrid crystals for lasers 05. Mapping Australia’s hidden lithium reserves 06. Novel titanium dioxide catalyst shows promise for electrocatalytic carbon dioxide reduction 07. Scientists demonstrate new, improved way to make infrared light, with quantum dots 08. Scientists develop an energy-efficient wireless power and information transfer system 09. Scientists synthesize new organometallic “sandwich” compound capable of holding more electrons 10. Team develops novel sponge-based triboelectric nanogenerator for corrosion protection in transportation systems And others An age gap in […]
An age gap in the C-suite makes companies more innovative
Phys.org September 5, 2023 A team of researchers in the US (George Mason University, St. John Fisher University) investigated the relationship between internal governance and firms’ innovation. They hypothesized that internal governance stemming from the difference in expected employment horizons between a CEO and the subordinate executives improves a firm’s innovation. Using the age difference between a CEO and their subordinate executives as the primary measure of internal governance, they found a strong positive relationship between internal governance and firms’ innovation output, and scientific and economic values. They showed that the positive relation was causal and the relationship between internal […]
Better cybersecurity with new material
Science Daily September 4, 2023 Perovskite light emitting diodes (PeLEDs) has the potential to revolutionize the fields of optical communication and lighting devices, due to their simplicity of fabrication and outstanding optical properties. An international team of researchers (Sweden, Chile) has demonstrated that PeLEDs could be used in the field of quantum technologies by implementing a highly secure quantum random number generator (QRNG) which is posed to replace classical random number generators in applications such as encryption and gambling, and therefore need to be cheap, fast and have integration capabilities. Using a compact metal-halide PeLED source, the team generated random […]