Materials
High-efficiency neutron imaging detector features new oblique design
March 31, 2013 6:53 pm | News | CommentsTo increase the neutron detection efficiency of bulk-micromegas (MICRO-MEsh GAseous Structure) neutron detectors, researchers from China and the University of Tennessee-Knoxville have proposed three new types of thin-film converters: micro-channel, parallel micro-pillar, and oblique micro-pillar 2D array. When validated using Monte Carlo simulations, the latter design showed a threefold increase in neutron detection efficiencies.
Light may recast copper as chemical industry "holy grail"
March 29, 2013 8:50 am | News | CommentsWouldn't it be convenient if you could reverse the rusting of your car by shining a bright light on it? It turns out that this concept works for undoing oxidation on copper nanoparticles, and it could lead to an environmentally friendly production process for an important industrial chemical, University of Michigan engineers have discovered.
Even graphene has weak spots
March 29, 2013 7:51 am | News | CommentsGraphene has become famous for its extraordinary strength. But less-than-perfect sheets of the material show unexpected weakness, according to researchers at Rice University and Tsinghua University. The kryptonite to this Superman of materials is in the form of a seven-atom ring that inevitably occurs at the junctions of grain boundaries in graphene, where the regular array of hexagonal units is interrupted. At these points, under tension, polycrystalline graphene has about half the strength of pristine samples of the material.
DuPont drops Kevlar lawsuit against Easton-Bell
March 28, 2013 1:45 pm | by RANDALL CHASE - AP Business Writer - Associated Press | News | CommentsDuPont Co. has dropped a federal lawsuit accusing sports equipment maker Easton-Bell Sports of misusing the Kevlar trademark in packaging for bicycle tires and locks. But the fight may not be over. DuPont's filing Thursday dismissing the lawsuit comes two days after a federal judge in California refused to dismiss or transfer to Delaware a lawsuit filed by Easton-Bell.
Nanoscale edge variations observed with record-breaking resolution
March 28, 2013 9:35 am | News | CommentsA team of researchers from the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, the University of Maryland, and NIST have measured large variations in the magnetic properties along the edge of a thin-film 500-nm-diameter disk. This work represents a significant development in the measurement of magnetic thin-film edge properties, which are especially important for nanodevices, such as magnetic memory cells, where the edge to area ratio is large.
Engineers enable bulk silicon to emit visible light for the first time
March 27, 2013 2:56 pm | News | CommentsCertain semiconductors, when imparted with energy, in turn emit light; they directly produce photons, instead of producing heat. This phenomenon is commonplace and used in light-emitting diodes, or LEDs. Research from the University of Pennsylvania has enabled "bulk" silicon to emit broad-spectrum, visible light for the first time, opening the possibility of using the element in devices that have both electronic and photonic components.
Nanotechnology research study turns brain tumors blue
March 27, 2013 11:46 am | News | CommentsResearchers from Georgia Tech and Children's Healthcare of Atlanta have developed a technique that assists in identifying tumors from normal brain tissue during surgery by staining tumor cells blue. The technique could be critically important for hospitals lacking sophisticated equipment in preserving the maximum amount of normal tissue and brain function during surgery.
Clays expand under pressure
March 27, 2013 8:20 am | News | CommentsIt was always believed that water is “squeezed” out of the clay structure under pressure, but physicists at Umeå University, together with German colleagues, show that this appears to be not always true if excess of liquid water is available around.
Measuring Mars: The MAVEN magnetometer takes shape
March 27, 2013 7:40 am | by Claire De Saravia, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center | News | CommentsScheduled for launch in late 2013, the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission will carry a sensitive magnetic-field instrument built and tested by a team at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. Very little magnetic field traces remain on Mars, which is forcing NASA to eliminate all magnetic traces from its spacecraft. The magnetometer may help determine the history of the loss of atmospheric gases to space through time, providing answers about Mars’ climate evolution.
Engineers develop nanofoams for better body armor
March 26, 2013 10:50 am | News | CommentsEngineers at the University of California, San Diego are developing nanofoams that could be used to make better body armor; prevent traumatic brain injury and blast-related lung injuries in soldiers; and protect buildings from impacts and blasts. It’s the first time researchers are investigating the use of nanofoams for structural protection.
Metascreen forms ultrathin invisibility cloak
March 26, 2013 8:35 am | News | CommentsUp until now, the invisibility cloaks put forward by scientists have been fairly bulky contraptions—an obvious flaw for those interested in Harry Potter-style applications. However, researchers from the U.S. have now developed a cloak that is just micrometers thick and can hide 3D objects from microwaves in their natural environment, in all directions and from all of the observers’ positions.
Trees used to create recyclable, efficient solar cell
March 26, 2013 8:01 am | News | CommentsSolar cells are just like leaves, capturing the sunlight and turning it into energy. It’s fitting that they can now be made partially from trees. Georgia Institute of Technology and Purdue University researchers have developed efficient solar cells using natural substrates derived from plants such as trees. Just as importantly, by fabricating them on cellulose nanocrystal substrates, the solar cells can be quickly recycled in water at the end of their lifecycle.
Scientists build a nanoscale glass blower
March 25, 2013 3:43 pm | News | CommentsUsing a principle similar to the way plastic bags shrivel and crumple in a fire, researchers at EPFL in Switzerland are using the electrical properties of a scanning electron microscope to change the size of glass capillary tubes at the nanoscale. Their method has already been patented and it could pave the way to many novel applications.
Hybrid ribbons a gift for powerful batteries
March 25, 2013 12:21 pm | by Mike Williams, Rice University | News | CommentsAccording to recent research at Rice University, vanadium oxide and graphene may be a key new set of materials for improving lithium-ion storage. Ribbons created at Rice from these two materials are thousands of times thinner than a sheet of paper, yet have potential that far outweighs current materials for their ability to charge and discharge very quickly. Initial capacity remains at 90% or more after more than 1,000 cycles.
Catalyst in a teacup: New approach to chemical reduction
March 25, 2013 10:26 am | News | CommentsTaking their inspiration from Nature, scientists at the University of New South Wales have developed a new method for carrying out chemical reduction—an industrial process used to produce fuels and chemicals that are vital for modern society. Their catalyst-based approach has the big advantages that it uses cheap, replenishable reagents and it works well at room temperature and in air—so much so, it can even be carried out safely in a teacup.
Nanowire solar cells raise efficiency limit
March 25, 2013 8:35 am | News | CommentsThe typical solar cell efficiency limit―called the "Shockley-Queisser Limit"―has for many years has been a landmark for solar cell efficiency. Scientists from at the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen and other colleagues have shown that a single nanowire can increase this limit by concentrating sunlight up to 15 times normal intensity.
Paint-on plastic electronics
March 25, 2013 7:51 am | News | CommentsSemiconducting polymers are an unruly bunch, but University of Michigan engineers have developed a new method for getting them in line that could pave the way for cheaper, greener, "paint-on" plastic electronics.
New solar cell design based on dots, wires
March 25, 2013 7:40 am | by David L. Chandler, MIT News Office | News | CommentsUsing exotic particles called quantum dots as the basis for a photovoltaic cell is not a new idea, but attempts to make such devices have not yet achieved sufficiently high efficiency in converting sunlight to power. A new wrinkle added by a team of researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology—embedding the quantum dots within a forest of nanowires—promises to provide a significant boost.
Engineers explain physics of fluids over 100 years after original discovery
March 22, 2013 2:12 pm | News | CommentsSome 135 years ago, the English physicist Lord Baron Rayleigh wrote that two fluid jets or drops do not always merge into one body of liquid, a counter-intuitive phenomena in physics that has since been studied in much detail. Much work has been done in drop-bath bouncing, but no work has been done in bouncing jets except for a couple of demonstrations in textbooks. Researchers at Virginia Tech have demonstrated and explain this phenomenon for the first time.
Engineers explain physics of fluids over 100 years after original discovery
March 22, 2013 2:12 pm | News | CommentsSome 135 years ago, the English physicist Lord Baron Rayleigh wrote that two fluid jets or drops do not always merge into one body of liquid, a counter-intuitive phenomena in physics that has since been studied in much detail. Much work has been done in drop-bath bouncing, but no work has been done in bouncing jets except for a couple of demonstrations in textbooks. Researchers at Virginia Tech have demonstrated and explain this phenomenon for the first time.
Engineers explain physics of fluids over 100 years after original discovery
March 22, 2013 2:12 pm | News | CommentsSome 135 years ago, the English physicist Lord Baron Rayleigh wrote that two fluid jets or drops do not always merge into one body of liquid, a counter-intuitive phenomena in physics that has since been studied in much detail. Much work has been done in drop-bath bouncing, but no work has been done in bouncing jets except for a couple of demonstrations in textbooks. Researchers at Virginia Tech have demonstrated and explain this phenomenon for the first time.
Carbon dioxide could help produce valuable chemical cheaply
March 21, 2013 5:09 pm | News | CommentsChemical companies each year churn out billions of tons of acrylate, a valuable commodity chemical involved in the manufacture of everything from polyester cloth to disposable diapers. It is usually made by heating propylene, a compound derived from crude oil. Researchers at Brown and Yale universities have demonstrated a new “enabling technology” that could instead use excess carbon dioxide to produce acrylate.
N.Y. strikes nanotechnology deal with Israel
March 21, 2013 11:32 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsNew York state has a new agreement with Israel aimed at increasing collaboration on nanotechnology research. Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday that his administration has signed a memorandum of understanding with Israel that will expand technological and economic relations in nanotechnology, which involves manipulating matter on an atomic scale.
Researchers trap light, improve laser potential of MEH-PPV polymer
March 21, 2013 8:33 am | News | CommentsResearchers from North Carolina State University have come up with a low-cost way to enhance a polymer called MEH-PPV's ability to confine light, advancing efforts to use the material to convert electricity into laser light for use in photonic devices.
X-ray laser explores how to write data with light
March 21, 2013 7:52 am | News | CommentsUsing laser light to read and write magnetic data by quickly flipping tiny magnetic domains could help keep pace with the demand for faster computing devices. Now experiments with SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory's Linac Coherent Light Source X-ray laser have given scientists their first detailed look at how light controls the first trillionth of a second of this process, known as all-optical magnetic switching.
