Materials Science News

A stretchable light-emitting device becomes an epidermal stopwatch. Image credit: Zhou et al, doi: 10.1021/acsmaterialslett.9b00376.

Researchers Develop Electronic Tattoo-Like Stopwatch

Nov 1, 2019 by News Staff

A team of scientists from Nanjing University and Lanzhou University of Technology has developed a stretchable light-emitting device that operates at low...

Arapaima gigas. Image credit: Shizhao / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Arapaima Fish Scales are One of Nature’s Toughest Flexible Materials

Oct 17, 2019 by News Staff

Arapaima gigas is a large Amazonian fish (weighing up to 150 kg) living primarily in seasonal lakes infested with ferocious piranhas. The freshwater giant...

Organic solar cell. Image credit: Thor Balkhed.

Newly-Developed Solar Cells Convert Ambient Indoor Light into Electricity

Sep 17, 2019 by News Staff

An international team of researchers from Sweden and China has developed organic photovoltaic cells that convert ambient indoor light into electricity. Organic...

Raman et al highlighted the remarkable possibility and potential of generating small amounts of power by radiative cooling at night using low-cost, off-the-shelf, commodity components (less than $30 USD for the initial proof of concept demonstration). In off-grid locations throughout the world, this approach of generating light from darkness highlights an entirely new way of maintaining lighting, entirely passively, at night. The power generated could also be used to power small sensors in remote locations, with their lifetimes not being limited by batteries but the lifetime of the thermoelectric module, which can be an order of magnitude longer. Image credit: Raman et al, 10.1016/j.joule.2019.08.009.

Thermoelectric Device Generates Light from ‘Darkness of Space’

Sep 13, 2019 by News Staff

A thermoelectric generator device developed by researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles and Stanford University harnesses the cold darkness...

Mackay et al found theoretically a new type of electromagnetic surface wave. Image credit: Arek Socha.

New Type of Electromagnetic Wave Discovered

Sep 4, 2019 by News Staff

An international team of scientists from the United Kingdom and the United States has discovered a previously unknown type of electromagnetic wave: a Dyakonov-Voigt...

This electron microscope (colorized) image shows the arrangement of electrons on the gold particle. Image credit: Ye et al, doi: 10.1002/advs.201900911.

Researchers Create World’s Thinnest Gold Sheets Ever, Just Two Atoms Thick

Aug 12, 2019 by News Staff

A team of researchers at the University of Leeds, UK, has created gold nanosheets with a thickness of only 0.47 nm (two atomic layers thick) — the...

Array of 1 mm magnetic droplets: fluorescent green droplets are paramagnetic without any jammed nanoparticles at the liquid interface; red are paramagnetic with nonmagnetic nanoparticles jammed at the interface; brown droplets are ferromagnetic with magnetic nanoparticles jammed at the interface. Image credit: Xubo Liu et al / Berkeley Lab.

Researchers 3D Print Ferromagnetic Liquid Droplets

Jul 19, 2019 by News Staff

Using a modified 3D printer, an international team of researchers led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has made a new material that is both liquid...

Schematic for the fabrication of the eggshell microparticle-reinforced hydrogels and cell encapsulation in 3D. Image credit: Wu et al, doi: 10.1039/C9BM00230H.

Eggshell Particle-Reinforced Hydrogel Can Help Grow and Repair Bones

Jul 11, 2019 by News Staff

A team of researchers at the University of Massachusetts Lowell has found that chicken eggshell microparticles inserted into a hydrogel matrix can be used...

Device structure: (a) schematic of the processed device with control gate (CG), source (S) and drain (D) contacts (gold); the red spheres represent stored charge in the floating gate (FG); (b) details of the layer structure within the device. In both (a, b) InAs is colored blue, AlSb gray and GaSb dark red. Image credit: Tizno et al, doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-45370-1.

New Type of Computer Memory Invented

Jun 21, 2019 by News Staff

An oxide-free, floating-gate memory cell invented and patented by Lancaster University researchers promises to transform daily life with its ultra-low...

Prototype of the cooling and heating patch embedded in a mesh armband. Image credit: David Baillot / Jacobs School of Engineering, University of California, San Diego.

Researchers Develop Wearable Cooling and Heating Patch

May 20, 2019 by News Staff

A team of researchers at the University of California, San Diego, has designed and demonstrated a wearable patch with long-term, energy-efficient cooling...

eNPoMs (electrochromic nanoparticle-on-mirror constructs) formed from gold nanoparticles encapsulated in a conductive polymer shell. Image credit: Hyeon-Ho Jeong & Jialong Peng / NanoPhotonics Cambridge.

Gold Nanoparticles Used to Create Smallest Ever Pixels

May 13, 2019 by News Staff

Nanopixels created by University of Cambridge researchers are a million times smaller than those in smartphone screens. The team’s work was published...

A carrier bag labeled as biodegradable after three years in the marine environment. Image credit: Napper & Thompson, doi: 10.1021/acs.est.8b06984.

Biodegradable Bags Survive 3 Years in Soil and Marine Environment

Apr 30, 2019 by News Staff

According to a new study, published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, biodegradable plastic bags are capable of carrying full loads...

In order to make artificial nacre, Spiesz et al use bacteria to create alternating thin layers of crystalized calcium carbonate and sticky polymer. Image credit: J. Adam Fenster / University of Rochester.

Biologists Use Bacteria to Make Artificial Mother-of-Pearl

Apr 23, 2019 by News Staff

Natural materials such as tooth enamel, nacre (also known as mother-of-pearl), or bone attain their impressive mechanical properties from combining organic...

Snow-TENG: (a) harnessing and sensing biomechanical movements by attaching a snow-TENG to different locations of the human body; (b) measurement of the electrical output from a snow-TENG device that uses a snowfall mode when attached on the (i) shoulder, (ii) wrist, and (iii) knee; (c-i) a photograph of the snow-TENG device assembled and attached to the bottom of a snow boot as a self-powered biomechanical sensor; (c-ii) electrical outputs from the snow-TENG as the wearer performs different movements -- running, jumping, walking, and marching. Image credit: Ahmed et al, doi: 10.1016/j.nanoen.2019.03.032.

Researchers Develop Snow-Based Energy Harvester

Apr 16, 2019 by News Staff

An international team of scientists from the United States, Canada, Egypt and Ireland has developed a snow-based triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) that...

Ordinary-looking pajamas are transformed into ‘smart’ ones with five strategically placed sensors that measure heartbeat, respiration and posture. Image credit: Trisha L. Andrew.

Phyjama: Smart Pajama with Self-Powered Sensors Could Help Improve Sleep Patterns

Apr 3, 2019 by News Staff

A team of researchers led by University of Massachusettes Amherst’s Dr. Trisha Andrew has developed ‘smart’ pajamas embedded with self-powered sensors...

Researchers Create and Test New Kind of Airplane Wing

Apr 1, 2019 by News Staff

Assembled from hundreds of tiny identical pieces, the new wing can change shape to control the plane’s flight. The wing design was tested in NASA’s...

A 3D image of a supercrystal from phase-field simulations. Image credit: L-Q Chen Group, Penn State.

Physicists Create Stable ‘Supercrystals’

Mar 26, 2019 by News Staff

Stimulation with ultrafast light pulses can realize and manipulate states of matter with emergent structural, electronic and magnetic phenomena. According...

Chen et al’s rewritable paper demonstrates excellent rewriting performances (legible time > 6 months and reversibility > 100 times); its color rapidly changes from blue to colorlessness when the temperature is higher than 149 degrees Fahrenheit (65 degrees Celsius), and the colorless state can be maintained at room temperature; the color returns to blue when the temperature is lower than 14 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 10 degrees Celsius). Image credit: Chen et al, doi: 10.1021/acsami.8b14625.

Scientists Develop Long-Lasting, Easy-to-Use Rewritable Paper

Dec 10, 2018 by News Staff

A team of materials scientists in China has created a ‘rewritable’ paper that can be drawn or printed on over and over again; the messages can last...

Mok et al developed flexible organic photovoltaics with a chemical additive that mitigates the material’s brittle qualities without losing efficiency. Image credit: Jeff Fitlow / Rice University.

Researchers Develop Flexible Organic Solar Cells

Nov 21, 2018 by News Staff

A team of scientists from Rice University, Houston Community College and Brookhaven National Laboratory has developed flexible organic photovoltaics that...