Researchers use multicomponent alloys to make strong and ductile soft magnetic materials. Latest results now published in the journal Nature. Soft magnetic materials (SMMs) applied in electric engines transform energy from sustainable resources into electricity. Conventional SMMs, which are currently used in industry, are prone to damage under severe mechanical loads. Researchers from the Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung (MPIE), the Technical University of Darmstadt and the Central South University, China, have developed a new design strategy that increases the lifetime of…
Discovery by Brazilian researchers featured on cover of the journal Nanoscale is noteworthy because of possible applications in next-generation electronic devices. Certain materials at very low temperatures conduct electric current without resistance or losses. This property, known as superconductivity, was discovered in 1911 by Dutch physicist Heike Kamerlingh Onnes (1853-1926), who won the 1913 Nobel Prize in Physics for his research in the field. Even though more than a century has passed since its discovery, research on superconductivity is still…
They will be useful in space, laser surgery, security systems. Researches of the Science Lab of Fiber Technology and Photonics at the Ural Federal University (UrFU) have developed and produced infrared optical fibers with unique properties. The fibers are nontoxic and, as studies have shown, retain their outstanding properties when treated with ionizing beta radiation by doses up to 1 MGy. The team of scientists published an article describing the research, properties and areas of application of the obtained fibers in the journal Optical…
A new self-healing coating material. Fast, localized, and low-energy-consumption self-healing material… Expected applications: automotive coating materials. [ACS Appl. Polym. Mater.] Published as supplementary cover of the May 2022 issue. A transparent protective coating material that can be self-healed in 30 minutes when exposed to sunlight has been developed. Excellent durability of automotive coatings is the most important issue in protecting a vehicle surface. In addition, protective coating materials should be colorless and transparent so that the original color of the…
Porous material from melamine efficiently captures CO2 from flue gases; could be scaled down. Using an inexpensive polymer called melamine — the main component of Formica — chemists have created a cheap, easy and energy-efficient way to capture carbon dioxide from smokestacks, a key goal for the United States and other nations as they seek to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The process for synthesizing the melamine material, published this week in the journal Science Advances, could potentially be scaled down…
… that’s both ultrastrong and ductile. Components could have aerospace, medical, energy and automotive applications. A team of researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the Georgia Institute of Technology has 3D printed a dual-phase, nanostructured high-entropy alloy that exceeds the strength and ductility of other state-of-the-art additively manufactured materials, which could lead to higher-performance components for applications in aerospace, medicine, energy and transportation. The work, led by Wen Chen, assistant professor of mechanical and industrial engineering at UMass,…
Wearable electronics, from health and fitness trackers to virtual reality headsets, are part of our everyday lives. But finding ways to continuously power these devices is a challenge. University of Washington researchers have developed an innovative solution: the first-of-its kind flexible, wearable thermoelectric device that converts body heat to electricity. This device is soft and stretchable, yet sturdy and efficient — properties that can be challenging to combine. The team published these findings July 24 in Advanced Energy Materials. “It’s…
A team at the UPV/EHU-University of the Basque Country has used food industry waste to develop a nasal plug designed to tackle nosebleeds. Nosebleeds, also known as epistaxis, are one of the most frequent otolaryngologic (ENT) emergencies worldwide. It is estimated that 60% of the world’s population will experience an episode of epistaxis at least once in their lifetime, although only 6-10% of them will seek medical attention. There are several methods for treating epistaxis and one of the most…
The use of an imperfect 2D material, contrary to conventional approaches, was found to increase carrier mobility by two orders at room temperature. This discovery paves a smoother path to 2D materials for semiconductors. Two dimensional (2D) semiconductors have a unique property that allows their thickness to be reduced to one or few atoms – and this property could potentially minimise the short channel effects that remain an issue in advanced silicon-based transistors, for example, turning on a transistor prematurely….
Semiconductor microfabrication technology enables voltage output greater than 0.5 V. Using a semiconductor microfabrication technology, a research team consisting of NIMS, AIST and the University of Tsukuba has succeeded in developing a thermoelectric device consisting of an array of π junctions, each composed of two types of thermoelectric layers connected by a metal electrode layer (figure (a)). This device demonstrated the ability to generate voltages greater than 0.5 V, meeting a criterion for certain IoT (internet of things) device operations….
Graphene scientists from The University of Manchester have created a novel ‘nano-petri dish’ using two-dimensional (2D) materials to create a new method of observing how atoms move in liquid Publishing in the journal, Nature, the team led by researchers based at the National Graphene Institute (NGI) used stacks of 2D materials like graphene to trap liquid in order to further understand how the presence of liquid changes the behaviour of the solid. The team were able to capture images of…
Transparent glassy material could be used to provide a light-based readout of stress in the body or buildings. Researchers have created a new glass-ceramic that emits light in response to mechanical stress, a property known as mechanoluminescence. With further development, the new material could be used to create a light source that is switched on by mechanical stress. This could be useful for monitoring stress in artificial joints in the body or providing warnings of dangerous stress or fractures in…
Materials by recipe: Powder-based laser beam melting (LPPF) is probably the best-known AM process and has great potential for industrial applications. But how can the limited range of materials for this process be circumvented and the market potential further expanded? This question was addressed by the IWM of RWTH Aachen University and the Fraunhofer IFAM in the “LPBF powder kit” project funded by the AiF. The result was the development of a sustainable solution for the individual and robust processing…
NV-doped diamond is one of the most promising materials for the realization of quantum technologies. So far, however, the availability in industrially suitable quality and quantity is severely limited. In the BMBF-funded project GrodiaQ, Fraunhofer IAF is developing innovative processes and equipment in cooperation with five German companies to enable the industrial use of (111)-oriented diamond substrates and the establishment of a European supply chain for quantum devices. To ensure the availability of high-purity as well as large-area diamond wafers…
Nature creates layered materials like bone and mother-of-pearl that become less sensitive to defects as they grow. Now researchers have created, using biomimetic proteins patterned on squid ring teeth, composite layered 2D materials that are resistant to breaking and extremely stretchable. “Researchers rarely reported this interface property for the bone and nacre because it was difficult to measure experimentally,” said Melik Demirel, Lloyd and Dorothy Foehr Huck Chair in Biomimetic Materials and director of the Center for Advanced Fiber Technologies,…
Researchers have found a material that can perform much better than silicon. The next step is finding practical and economic ways to make it. Silicon is one of the most abundant elements on Earth, and in its pure form the material has become the foundation of much of modern technology, from solar cells to computer chips. But silicon’s properties as a semiconductor are far from ideal. For one thing, although silicon lets electrons whizz through its structure easily, it is…
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