Feb 09, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Ferromagnetic materials have a self-generating magnetic field, ferroelectric materials generate their own electrical field. Although electric and magnetic fields are related, physics tells us that they are very different classes of material. Now the discovery by University of Warwick-led scientists of a complex electrical ‘vortex’-like...
Nanopatch antennas made with liquid metal trap light to identify biological and chemical molecules
Feb 09, 2022 (Nanowerk News) The proliferation of point-of-care testing, from at-home blood glucose meters to COVID-19 rapid tests, is accelerating and improving medical care. Continuing to upgrade the sensing technology that is fueling the growth of these products, however, is becoming increasingly challenging. Some optical sensing chips, for example,...
Sustainable batteries roadmap to 2030 and beyond
Feb 09, 2022 (Nanowerk Spotlight) Batteries are a key technology for battling carbon dioxide emissions from the transport, power, and industry sectors. To be effective towards that goal, batteries must exhibit ultra-high performance beyond their capabilities today: energy and power performance approaching theoretical limits, outstanding lifetime and reliability, and enhanced...
Harnessing sea pineapples and blood waste for metal-air-battery catalysts
Feb 09, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Sea pineapples, an edible ascidian, are a delicacy in Japan. The Tohoku region is famed for its sea pineapple production - known as hoya in Japanese. Now, a research group has established a new use for the scores of sea pineapple shells that get discarded...
High-resolution 3D study of pine pollen reveals nanofoams are key to surviving mass extinctions
Feb 09, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Scientists from the Natural History Museum, London (United Kingdom), and the ESRF, the European Synchrotron, Grenoble (France), have found that some pollen has survived mass extinctions thanks, in part, to its nanofoam wall structure. This may explain why the survival of certain plants. It is...
How Mars lost its oceans
Feb 08, 2022 (Nanowerk News) It has long been known that Mars once had oceans due in part to a protective magnetic field similar to Earth’s. However, the magnetic field disappeared, and new research may finally be able to explain why. Researchers recreated conditions expected in the core of Mars...
Towards self-sensing soft robots with electrochemically driven pumps
Feb 08, 2022 (Nanowerk News) The word “robot” would probably conjure up images of hard metallic bodies that are invulnerable to attacks. In modern day-to-day life, however, robots are hardly needed for defending against enemy attacks. Instead, they are required to perform more mundane tasks such as handling delicate objects...
Self-assembling and complex, nanoscale mesocrystals can be tuned for a variety of uses
Feb 08, 2022 (Nanowerk News) A research team from KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces report to have found the key to controlled fabrication of cerium oxide mesocrystals (Angewandte Chemie, "Radiation Chemistry Provides Nanoscopic Insights into the Role of Intermediate Phases in CeO2...
Predicting the efficiency of oxygen-evolving electrolysis on the Moon and Mars
Feb 08, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Scientists at The University of Manchester and The University of Glasgow have provided more insight into the possibility of establishing a pathway to generate oxygen for humans to potentially call the Moon or Mars ‘home’ for extended periods of time. Creating a reliable source of...
Self-cleaning bioplastics repel liquid and dirt
Feb 08, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Inspired by the always immaculate lotus leaf, researchers have developed a self-cleaning bioplastic that is sturdy, sustainable and compostable. The innovative plastic developed at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, repels liquids and dirt – just like a lotus leaf – then breaks down rapidly once...