Materials Science News

Dr. Wheeler (front) developed a switchable photovoltaic window along with (from left) Nathan Neale, Robert Tenent, Jeffrey Blackburn, Elisa Miller, and David Moore. Image credit: Dennis Schroeder, National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Researchers Develop Switchable Photovoltaic Window

Nov 29, 2017 by News Staff

A team of researchers at the U.S. DoE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory has developed a thermochromic window capable of converting sunlight into...

A metasurface uses circularly polarized light to generate and control new and complex states of light, such swirling vortices of light. Image credit: Second Bay Studio / Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

Newly Developed Metasurface Generates Structured Light Beams

Nov 9, 2017 by News Staff

A team of researchers has developed a new tool that can produce complex states of light. The research appears in the journal Science. A metasurface uses...

$Gallium indium forms fractal patterns with the application of low voltage. Image credit: North Carolina State University.$

Voltage-Driven Liquid Metal Forms Snowflake-Like Fractals

Oct 31, 2017 by News Staff

A team of scientists at North Carolina State University has demonstrated that a gallium-based liquid metal alloy forms snowflake-like fractal patterns...

Tokuda et al apply electrical charges to morph liquid metal into 2D shapes. How the electric field creates deformation: (a) a liquid metal blob far from the electrodes and in absence of field is subject to no force; (b) deformation occurs when the blob is in contact with one of the electrodes and an electric voltage is applied across it; (c) deformation in this work as a 2D process. Image credit: INTERACT Lab, University of Sussex.

Programmable Liquid Matter: Researchers Find Way to Morph Liquid Metal into Physical Shapes

Oct 18, 2017 by News Staff

University of Sussex researcher Yutaka Tokuda and co-authors have applied electrical charges to manipulate liquid metal into 2D shapes such as letters...

Portus Cosanus pier, Orbetello, Italy. Image credit: J.P. Oleson.

New Research Shows How Natural Chemistry Strengthened Ancient Roman Marine Concrete

Jul 4, 2017 by News Staff

While modern marine concrete structures crumble within years, ancient Roman piers and breakwaters endure to this day, and are stronger now than when they...

A crystal of the trilayer nickelate compound Pr4Ni3O8. Image credit: Argonne National Laboratory.

New Nickelate Material Shows Potential for High-Temperature Superconductivity

Jun 19, 2017 by News Staff

Materials scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory have identified the trilayer nickelate compound Pr4Ni3O8 as a promising...

Schematic illustration depicting synthesis of the 3D-hm LSMO catalysts. Image credit: Wang et al.

Step Forward in Engineering High-Efficiency Nanohybrid Catalysts

Jun 1, 2017 by News Staff

Versatile superstructures composed of nanoparticles have recently been prepared using various disassembly methods. However, little information is known...

Sound-shaping metamaterial bricks and the grid to contain them. Image credit: Gianluca Memoli et al, doi: 10.1038/ncomms14608.

Researchers Invent Sound-Shaping Metamaterial

Feb 28, 2017 by News Staff

A team of researchers from the Universities of Sussex and Bristol, UK, has invented the first metamaterial that easily bends, shapes and focuses sound...

A layered ruthenate Ca2RuO4-y exhibits NTE; the sintered-body structure shows colossal NTE when extremely anisotropic thermal expansion of the crystal grains produces deformation, consuming open spaces (voids) on heating; the total volume change related to NTE reaches 6.7% at most, the largest reported so far. Image credit: Koshi Takenaka et al.

Record-Breaking Material Shrinks When Heated

Feb 10, 2017 by News Staff

Most materials expand when heated, but a few materials do the opposite and contract. Researchers at Nagoya University are now adding to this curious class...

Heat-driven transistor. Image credit: Linköping University.

Researchers Create World’s First Heat-Driven Transistor

Jan 31, 2017 by News Staff

Researchers at Linköping University in Sweden have created what they say is a heat-gated organic transistor. Heat-driven transistor. Image credit: Linköping...

World’s Thinnest Electrical Wires Developed: Just Three Atoms Wide

Dec 27, 2016 by News Staff

Researchers are reporting development of the world’s thinnest electrical wires, made of chalcogenide and diamondoids (the smallest possible bits of diamond)....

Schematic of a transistor with a molybdenum disulfide channel and 1-nm carbon nanotube gate. Image credit: Sujay Desai / Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Researchers Create World’s Smallest Transistor

Oct 6, 2016 by News Staff

A team of scientists headed by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory researcher Prof. Ali Javey has used carbon nanotubes and a compound called molybdenum...

Crystal structure of beta-Ti3Au (blue – titanium, red – gold). Image credit: Rice University.

New Biocompatible Alloy is Four Times Harder than Pure Titanium

Jul 25, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new biocompatible alloy has been developed, and it’s about 3-4 times harder than most steels and pure titanium. Crystal structure of beta-Ti3Au (blue...

Surface of a lotus leaf. Image credit: William Thielicke / CC BY-SA 4.0.

Lotus Leaf Inspires Water-Repellent, Antibacterial Metal Surfaces

Jun 29, 2016 by News Staff

A group of scientists from Europe has harnessed new photonics technology to develop superhydrophobic, antibacterial metal surfaces, taking us a step closer...

The new compound emits a broadband spectrum of light upon excitation with an infrared laser. Image credit: Nils Wilhelm Rosemann.

New Compound Can Transform Infrared into Visible Light

Jun 10, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

A team of scientists in Germany has developed a compound that can transform infrared into warm, white-colored light. The new compound emits a broadband...

System outline of a blood oxygen level monitor: red and green PLEDs are directed to shine into the finger; reflected light from inside the finger is caught by an ultraflexible organic photodetector; this reflected light provides a measure of blood oxygen and pulse rate; the output of the sensor can be shown on a PLED display. Image credit: Tomoyuki Yokota et al. / Someya Laboratory, University of Tokyo.

Japanese Researchers Develop Ultraflexible ‘E-Skin’

Apr 18, 2016 by News Staff

Professor Takao Someya’s research group at the University of Tokyo’s Graduate School of Engineering has developed an ultraflexible ‘e-skin’...

Schematic representation of confined ultra-long acetylenic linear carbon chains inside different double-walled carbon nanotubes. Image credit: Lei Shi / University of Vienna.

Route to Carbyne: Scientists Create Ultra-Long 1D Carbon Chains

Apr 9, 2016 by News Staff

An international team of researchers, led by Dr. Thomas Pichler from the University of Vienna, has presented a novel method to grow stable, ultra-long...

A close-up look at the transparent wood created by Dr. Lars Berglund and co-authors. Image credit: KTH Royal Institute of Technology.

Swedish Scientists Develop Optically Transparent ‘Wood’

Mar 31, 2016 by News Staff

A team of scientists at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden, has developed transparent wood that could be used in building materials...

Multi-pixel electroluminescent displays fabricated via replica molding; the device measures 5 mm thick, with each of the 64 pixels measuring 4 mm; it can be deformed and stretched in various ways. Image credit: Organic Robotics Lab at Cornell University.

Researchers Develop Highly Stretchable Electroluminescent ‘Skin’

Mar 4, 2016 by News Staff

A team of scientists led by Dr. Rob Shepherd from Cornell University, Ithaca, has developed an artificial octopus-like skin that can stretch, sense internal...