Category Physics

Scientists Transform Algae into Unique Functional Perovskites with Tunable Properties

Calcitic shells of the dinoflagellate L. granifera. A) The calcitic shells of L. granifera exhibiting a porous ultrastructure. B) A single shell of L. granifera. C) Raman spectrum from a single shell confirming its calcitic nature. D) Electron back-scattering diffraction (EBSD) map and E) a corresponding (0001) pole figure of a single polished shell demonstrating that it consists of single crystalline domains where the c-axis of calcite is pointing radially from the center of the shell outwards. The colors in (E) correlate with similarly colored areas in (D). Scale bars: (A) 50 µm, (B) 5 µm and (D) is 5 µm.

Perovskites are materials that are increasingly popular for a wide range of applications because of their remarkable electrical, optical, and photonic properties...

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New Material provides Breakthrough in ‘Softbotics’

Engineering breakthrough in softbotics
Robotic snail powered by breakthrough self-healing, electrically conductive material. Credit: Carnegie Mellon University College of Engineering

Carnegie Mellon University engineers have developed a soft material with metal-like conductivity and self-healing properties that is the first to maintain enough electrical adhesion to support digital electronics and motors. This advance, published in Nature Electronics, marks a breakthrough in softbotics and the fields of robotics, electronics, and medicine.

At Carnegie Mellon University, softbotics represents a new generation of soft machines and robots manufactured by multi-functional materials that have integrated sensing, actuation, and intelligence.

The research team introduced the material, a liquid-metal filled organogel composite...

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Viable Superconducting Material Created

A one millimeter diameter sample of lutetium hydride against a white background to illustrate viable superconducting materials.
An approximately one millimeter diameter sample of lutetium hydride, a superconducting material created in the lab of Rochester scientist Ranga Dias, seen though a microscope. This composite image is the result of focus stacking and color-enhancing several images. (University of Rochester photo / J. Adam Fenster)

In a historic achievement, University of Rochester researchers have created a superconducting material at both a temperature and pressure low enough for practical applications.

“With this material, the dawn of ambient superconductivity and applied technologies has arrived,” according to a team led by Ranga Dias, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering and physics...

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Complex Oxides could Power the Computers of the future

Complex oxides could power the computers of the future
These are the devices for computer architectures ‘beyond CMOS’ created by Job van Rijn (upper panel) and Anouk Goossens (lower panel). Credit: Banerjee group, University of Groningen

As the evolution of standard microchips is coming to an end, scientists are looking for a revolution. The big challenges are to design chips that are more energy efficient and to design devices that combine memory and logic (memristors). Materials scientists from the University of Groningen, the Netherlands, describe in two papers how complex oxides can be used to create very energy-efficient magneto-electric spin-orbit (MESO) devices and memristive devices with reduced dimensions.

The development of classic silicon-based computers is approaching its limits...

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