Science Daily May 1, 2018 A team of researchers in the US (NIST, University of Colorado, University of Nevada Las Vegas, Argonne National Laboratory, Syracuse University) has shown that electroplated rhenium (Re) films in multilayers with metals such as Cu, Au, and Pd have an enhanced superconducting critical temperature relative to previous methods of preparing Re. The dc resistance and magnetic susceptibility indicate a critical temperature of approximately 6 K. It meets ideal characteristics desired for use in circuit boards for ultrafast, next-generation computing applications: superconducting at higher, easier-to-achieve critical temperatures, easy to work with mechanically, non-toxic, and melts at high […]
Category Archives: Advanced materials
New carbon-dioxide-adsorbing crystals could form the basis of future biomedical materials that rely on the shape-memory effect
Science Daily April 27, 2018 The shape-memory effect in crystalline porous materials is poorly understood. An international team of researchers (Ireland, Japan, University of Southern Florida) reports the porous coordination network that exhibits a sorbate-induced shape-memory effect in which multiple sorbates, N2, CO2 and CO promote the effect. It exhibits three distinct phases: the as-synthesized α phase; a denser-activated β phase; and a shape-memory γ phase. Analysis of the structural information of the three phases helped them to understand structure-function relationships and propose crystal engineering principles for the design of more examples of shape-memory porous materials… read more. Open Access […]
Scientists create nanomaterials that reconfigure in response to biochemical signals
Phys.org April 30, 2018 The ability to self-assemble, reconfigure and disassemble in response to chemical signals is a common trait in biological materials, but not in manmade ones. A team of researchers in the US (City University of New York, UC Irvine) started with the base molecule naphthalenediimide (NDI), which is an organic semiconductor, and selectively modified it on both sides by exposing to biochemical signals in the form of simple amino acids. This process allowed the formation and degradation of nanomaterials with wire-like features capable of conducting electrical signals. By using different amino acids, researchers were able to direct […]
Scientists find a new way to make novel materials by ‘un-squeezing’
Nanowerk May 1, 2018 A team of researchers in the US (NERL, University of Colorado, University of Connecticut, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory) mixed high-density forms of manganese selenide and manganese telluride that have different crystal structures by sputtering in which fine sprays of atoms were freed from the surfaces of both starting materials and deposited as a thin film on a hot surface, where the new alloy crystallized and grew. The new alloy had the crystal structure of yet another mineral, wurtzite. Finding new routes to synthesize materials that nature cannot make would catalyze progress towards next-generation technologies… read more. […]
Topological insulator ‘flips’ for superconductivity
Science Daily April 30, 2018 Using a novel “flip-chip” technique an international team of researchers (USA – University of Illinois, Japan) prepared single-crystalline Bi2Se3 films with predetermined thicknesses in terms of quintuple layers (QLs) on top of Nb substrates fresh from in situ cleavage. Measurements of the film surface disclosed superconducting gaps and coherence peaks of similar magnitude for both the topological surface states and bulk states and revealed key characteristics relevant to the mechanism of coupling between the topological surface states and the superconducting Nb substrate. This new sample preparation method opens many new avenues in research, building a […]
Japan Just Found a Huge Rare-Earth Mineral Deposit That Can Supply The World For Centuries
Science Alert April 16, 2018 Rare-earth minerals used in electronic devices are plentiful in layers of the Earth’s crust. There are only a few economically viable areas where they can be mined and they’re generally expensive to extract. Researchers in Japan have found a deposit of rare-earth minerals about 1,150 miles (1,850 km) southeast of Tokyo. It’s within Japan’s exclusive economic zone, so the island nation has the sole rights to the resources there. There’s enough yttrium to meet the global demand for 780 years, dysprosium for 730 years, europium for 620 years, and terbium for 420 years. China has tightly […]
Scientists breed bacteria that make tiny high-energy carbon rings
Science Daily April 6, 2018 Researchers at Caltech used directed evolution to evolve a new function in Escherichia coli bacteria, to produce a high-energy carbon compound, bicyclobutanes, a group of chemicals that contain four carbon atoms arranged so they form two triangles that share a side. The carbon rings are useful starting materials for creating other chemicals and materials… read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
New research shows how paper-cutting can make ultra-strong, stretchable electronics
Nanowerk April 3, 2018 A team of researchers in the US (SUNY Buffalo, Temple University) inspired by kirigami used nanoconfinement engineering and strain engineering to create tiny sheets of strong yet bendable electronic materials made of a polymer, PthTFB. The nanosheets can be stretched up to 2000% with simultaneously high electrical conductivity, show remarkable electronic and mechanical reversibility and reproducibility under more than 1000 cycle. The conductivity of the nanosheets increases by three orders of magnitude due to the charge‐transfer complex formation between polymer chain and halogen, while the electrical conductance can be maintained over the entire strain regime. The […]
Thin engineered material perfectly redirects and reflects sound
Science Daily April 10, 2018 Using 3-D printers, an international team of researchers (USA – Duke University, Finland) fabricated a metamaterial made of a series of rows of hollow columns with a narrow opening cut down the middle of one side. The width of the channels between each row of columns and the size of the cavity inside each individual column controls how the sound is manipulated. The program is fed boundary conditions needed to dictate the outgoing and reflected waves’ behavior. They demonstrated redirecting a sound wave coming straight at the metamaterial to a sharp 60-degree outgoing angle with […]
Crash! Scientists explain what happens when nanoparticles collide
Eurekalert April 4, 2018 To understand the forces that control energy transport at the nanoscale, researchers at SUNY Buffalo focused on small nanoparticles — those with diameters of 5 to 15 nanometers. They found that in collisions, particles of this size behave differently depending on their shape. Nanoparticles with crystal facets transfer energy well, making them an ideal component of materials designed to harvest energy; nanoparticles that are rounder in shape, with amorphous surfaces, adhere to nonlinear force laws making them especially useful for shock mitigation; the behavior of nanoparticles with sharp edges varies depending on sharpness of the edges […]