Feature Channels: Materials Science

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On this week’s Applied Physics Letters, researchers show that unlike human hair, metal wires or synthetic fibers, spider silk partially yields when twisted. This property quickly dissipates the energy that would otherwise send an excited spider spinning on the end of its silk. A greater understanding of how spider silk resists spinning could lead to biomimetic fibers that mimic these properties for potential uses in violin strings, helicopter rescue ladders and parachute cords.

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A new low-temperature solution printing technique allows fabrication of high-efficiency perovskite solar cells with large crystals intended to minimize current-robbing grain boundaries. The meniscus-assisted solution printing (MASP) technique boosts power conversion efficiencies to nearly 20 percent by controlling crystal size and orientation.

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A team of scientists has found evidence for a new type of electron pairing that may broaden the search for new high-temperature superconductors. The findings provide the basis for a unifying description of how radically different copper- and iron-based "parent" materials can develop the ability to carry electrical current with no resistance at strikingly high temperatures.

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Scientists at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University have made the first direct measurements, and by far the most precise ones, of how electrons move in sync with atomic vibrations rippling through an exotic material, as if they were dancing to the same beat.

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In the battle of the batteries, lithium-ion technology is the reigning champion. But a novel manganese and sodium-ion-based material developed at The University of Texas at Dallas might become a contender, offering a potentially lower-cost, more ecofriendly option to fuel next-generation devices and electric cars.

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If your retaining wall is looking more like a leaky eyesore, help is on the way! The Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) July 1 Soils Matter blog post explains maintenance retaining walls require, and options for reinforcing them.

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The central hub for powerful electron beams at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory is getting a makeover to prepare for the installation of LCLS-II – a major upgrade to the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), the world’s first hard X-ray free-electron laser. LCLS-II will deliver the most powerful X-rays ever made in a lab, with beams that are 10,000 times brighter than before, opening up unprecedented research opportunities in chemistry, materials science, biology and energy research.

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ORNL links Earth and human impact systems for better climate predictions; To develop platform to analyze VA’s large health datasets; Neutrons resolve debate over metallic glass behavior origins; 3D printing materials crosslink without heat; Web tool shows energy-savings of airtight buildings; 3D printing and casting yields damage-tolerant parts.

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While modern marine concrete structures crumble within decades, 2,000-year-old Roman piers and breakwaters endure to this day, and are stronger now than when they were first constructed. University of Utah geologist Marie Jackson studies the minerals and microscale structures of Roman concrete as she would a volcanic rock. She and her colleagues have found that seawater filtering through the concrete leads to the growth of interlocking minerals that lend the concrete added cohesion.

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A new look inside 2,000-year-old Roman concrete has provided new clues to the evolving chemistry and mineral cements that allow ancient harbor structures to withstand the test of time.

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A new technique allows researchers to characterize nuclear material that was in a location even after the nuclear material has been removed – a finding that has significant implications for nuclear nonproliferation and security applications.

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Engineers have developed a strong, durable new material to help shape advanced MEMS sensors needed for the internet of things.

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An engineering team has developed 3-D printed graphene aerogel that GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS has declared the lightest 3-D printed material in the world. The team includes researchers from Kansas State University, the University at Buffalo and Lanzhou University in China.

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Tracking movements of individual particles provides understanding of collective motions, synchronization and self-assembly.

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Producing biofuels like ethanol from plant materials requires various enzymes to break down the cellulosic fibers. Researchers from ORNL and NC State used neutrons to identify the specifics of an enzyme-catalyzed reaction that could significantly reduce the total amount of enzymes used, improving production processes and lowering costs.

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Pioneering nanoscientist Yi Cui, professor of materials science and engineering at Stanford University and of photon science at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, has been named a 2017 Blavatnik National Laureate. The $250,000 award recognizes the most promising researchers age 42 and younger at top U.S. academic and research institutions.

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Bottom-up synthesis of tunable carbon nanoribbons provides a new route to enhance industrial, automotive reactions.

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More atomic bonds is the key for performance in a newly discovered family of cage-structured compounds.

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A twisted array of atomic magnets were driven to move in a curved path, a needed level of control for use in future memory devices.

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Simple, economical process makes large-diameter, high-performance, thin, transparent, and conductive foils for bendable LEDs and more.

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Researchers created an atomically thin material at Berkeley Lab and used X-rays to measure its exotic and durable properties that make it a promising candidate for a budding branch of electronics known as “spintronics.”

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Enhanced stability in the presence of water could help reduce smokestack emissions of greenhouse gases.

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New material based on common iron ore can help turn intermittent sunlight and water into long-lasting fuel.

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Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory discovered that they could functionalize magnetic materials through a thoroughly unlikely method, by adding amounts of the virtually non-magnetic element scandium to a gadolinium-germanium alloy. It was so unlikely they called it a “counterintuitive experimental finding” in their published work on the research.

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Named for the region in Tanzania where it comes from, the International Mineralogical Association has declared merelaniite Mineral of the Year for 2016. An international team of mineral enthusiasts and scientists unraveled the mysterious layers that make up merelaniite's unique structure.

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Earthquakes and explosions damage thousands of structures worldwide each year, destroying countless lives in their wake, but a team of researchers at Penn State is examining a completely new way of safeguarding key infrastructure, thanks to a $50,000 Multidisciplinary Research Seed Grant provided by the College of Engineering.

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High-strength, lightweight steels can finally be processed on an industrial scale, thanks to a breakthrough in controlling undesired brittle stages from production, by WMG, University of Warwick.

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Scientists have measured a thin film made of a single type of conjugated polymer — a conducting plastic — as it interacted with ions and electrons. They show how there are rigid and non-rigid regions of the film, and that these regions could accommodate electrons or ions — but not both equally.

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Argonne researchers have identified a nickel oxide compound as an unconventional but promising candidate material for high-temperature superconductivity. The project combined crystal growth, X-ray spectroscopy and computational theory.

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A new study at the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine (VCOM) and the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech has found a connection between common household chemicals and birth defects.

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A team of scientists has developed a method to create structures whose building blocks are a millionth of a meter in size by encoding DNA with assembly instructions.

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Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed new electrolytes that enable lithium batteries to run at temperatures as low as -60 degrees Celsius with excellent performance -- in comparison, today's lithium-ion batteries stop working at -20 degrees Celsius. The new electrolytes also enable electrochemical capacitors to run as cold as -80 degrees Celsius -- their current limit is -40 degrees Celsius.

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Javier Vela, scientist at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory, believes improvements in computer processors, TV displays and solar cells will come from scientific advancements in the synthesis of low-dimensional nanomaterials.

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Argonne will highlight its array of innovative battery work – including its revolutionary Nickel Manganese Cobalt blended cathode structure – during Battery Industry Day on Wednesday, June 14.

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University of Illinois at Chicago scientists have discovered a new chemical method that enables graphene to be incorporated into a wide range of applications while maintaining its ultra-fast electronics.

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An international team led by scientists from the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University has detected new features in the electronic behavior of a copper oxide material that may help explain why it becomes a perfect electrical conductor – a superconductor – at relatively high temperatures.

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Researchers create materials with controllable electrical and magnetic properties, even at room temperature.

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Novel electrode materials have designed pathways for electrons and ions during the charge/discharge cycle.

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First observation of “quantum” heat transport uncovers the ultimate limits for nanoscale devices.

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Lithium-sulfur batteries have great potential as a low-cost, high-energy, energy source for both vehicle and grid applications. However, they suffer from significant capacity fading. Now scientists from the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have made a surprising discovery that could fix this problem.

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Researchers made a sheet of boron only one atom thick with the potential to change solar panels, computers, and more.

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New well-packed organic glass better resists changes when exposed to light.

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A team of scientists has discovered a new crystal form of DDT that is more effective against insects than the existing one. Its research points to the possibility of developing a new version of solid DDT—a pesticide that has historically been linked to human-health afflictions and environmental degradation—that can be administered in smaller amounts while reducing environmental impact.

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Scientists devised a new synthesis route to produce a catalyst that doubles the conversion rate compared to the best previously reported catalyst.

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A new device design allows ten-fold increase in spin currents, laying the path to use in computing and high-efficiency electronics.

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An X-ray technique, coupled with theoretical work, revealed how oxygen atoms embedded very near the surface of a copper sample had a more dramatic effect on the early stages of the reaction with carbon dioxide (CO2) than earlier theories could account for. This information could prove useful in designing new types of materials to further enhance reactions and make them more efficient in converting carbon dioxide into liquid fuels and other products.

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Heterogeneous nanostructured materials are widely used in various optoelectronic devices, including solar cells. However, the nano-interfaces contain structural defects that can affect performance. Calculations run at NERSC helped researchers ID the root cause of the defects in two materials and provide design rules to avoid them.

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Neutron scattering has revealed in unprecedented detail new insights into the exotic magnetic behavior of a material that could pave the way for quantum calculations far beyond the limits of a computer’s binary code. A research team led by the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has confirmed magnetic signatures likely related to Majorana fermions—elusive particles that could be the basis for a quantum bit, or qubit, in a two-dimensional graphene-like material, alpha-ruthenium trichloride. The results, published in the journal Science, verify and extend a 2016 Nature Materials study in which the team first proposed this unusual behavior in the material.

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A method that significantly cuts the time and cost needed to grow graphene has won a 2017 TechConnect National Innovation Award. This is the second year in a row that a team at Argonne’s Center for Nanoscale Materials has received this award.

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Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have developed a new way to track dynamic molecular features in soft materials, including the high-frequency molecular vibrations that transmit waves of heat, sound, and other forms of energy.