Category Chemistry/Nanotechnology

Berkeley Lab researchers (from left) Kristin Persson, Gerbrand Ceder and Wenhao Sun used the Materials Project to reach a new understanding of metastable materials. Credit: Marilyn Chung, Berkeley Lab

Data-mining used to quantify thermodynamics for nearly 30,000 materials. They say diamonds are forever, but diamonds in fact are a metastable form of carbon that will slowly but eventually transform into graphite, another form of carbon. Berkeley Lab has now quantified the thermodynamic scale of metastability for almost 30,000 known materials. This paves the way for designing and making promising next-generation materials for use in everything from semiconductors to pharmaceuticals to steels...

Schematic illustration and charge transfer mechanism of ENHANS ribbons.

Marty McFly’s self-lacing Nikes in Back to the Future Part II inspired a UCF scientist who has developed filaments that harvest and store the sun’s energy—and can be woven into textiles. The breakthrough would essentially turn jackets and other clothing into wearable, solar-powered batteries. It could one day revolutionize wearable technology, helping everyone from soldiers who now carry heavy loads of batteries to a texting-addicted teen who could charge his smartphone by simply slipping it in a pocket. “That movie was the motivation,” A/Professor Jayan Thomas, University of Central Florida’s NanoScience Technology Center, said of the film released 1989...

The team used conventional laboratory filter paper as a structural template due to its long fibers and the stable structure. Credit: Institute for Complex Systems /Rome

A team has built the first controllable random laser based on cellulose paper in Straubing. Hence, materials no longer need to be artificially outfitted with disordered structures, utilizing naturally occurring ones instead. Material synthesis that is inspired by biology is an area of research at TUM’s Chair of Biogenic Polymers at Straubing Center of Science. It utilizes models from nature and biogenic materials to develop new materials and technologies.

Two components are necessary for a laser: First of all, a medium which amplifies light. And secondly, a structure which retains the light in the medium...

Electrical response of a circular diaphragm composed of a pure bottlebrush elastomer upon electroactuation with increasing voltage and without any external pre-strain. The numbers indicate the electric field-induced area expansion under constant-volume conditions at room temperature. Credit: Image courtesy of North Carolina State University

A multi-institutional team has developed a new electroactive polymer material that can change shape and size when exposed to a relatively small electric field. The advance overcomes two longstanding challenges regarding the use of electroactive polymers to develop new devices, opening the door to a suite of applications ranging from microrobotics to designer haptic, optic, microfluidic and wearable technologies.

“Dielectric elastomers are the most respo...