May 21, 2022 (Nanowerk News) A group of scientists led by Nate Cira of Harvard and Cornell University and Stefan Karpitschka of the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization has discovered that some liquid droplets first spread out on surfaces and then contract again on their own. This boomerang...
Washable and recyclable solar cell-infused textiles
May 21, 2022 (Nanowerk News) In previous studies, solar cells have been installed on the surfaces, layered on top, or weaved into the threads of textiles. During the three-year Sun-powered Textiles project, researchers at Aalto University’s departments of physics and design developed a method of adhering solar cells to textiles...
Light-controlled reactions at the nanoscale
May 19, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Controlling strong electromagnetic fields on nanoparticles is the key to triggering targeted molecular reactions on their surfaces. Such control over strong fields is achieved via laser light. Although laser-induced formation and breaking of molecular bonds on nanoparticle surfaces have been observed in the past, nanoscopic...
Floquet matter and metamaterials: Time to join forces
May 19, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Metamaterials – artificial media with tailored subwavelength structures – have now encompassed a broad range of novel properties that are unavailable in nature. This field of research has stretched across different wave platforms, leading to the discovery and demonstration of a wealth of exotic wave...
Recycling more precious metals from nuclear and electronic waste using the Picasso pigment, Prussian blue nanoparticles
May 19, 2022 (Nanowerk News) A big problem with the disposal of nuclear and electronic wastes is that the process wastes precious metals such as gold and platinum-group metals, which are key metals in computer chips. Nagoya University in collaboration with Tokyo Institute of Technology have discovered that a solution...
Electrons in a crystal exhibit linked and knotted quantum twists
May 20, 2022 (Nanowerk News) As physicists delve deeper into the quantum realm, they are discovering an infinitesimally small world composed of a strange and surprising array of links, knots and winding. Some quantum materials exhibit magnetic whirls called skyrmions — unique configurations described as “subatomic hurricanes.” Others host a...
Collaboration reveals interplay between charge order and superconductivity at the nanoscale
May 20, 2022 (Nanowerk News) High temperature superconductivity is something of a holy grail for researchers studying quantum materials. Superconductors, which conduct electricity without dissipating energy, promise to revolutionize our energy and telecommunication power systems. However, superconductors typically work at extremely low temperatures, requiring elaborate freezers or expensive coolants. For...
Biocompatible binary hologram with drug-elution capabilities
May 20, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Holographic devices are used for security enhancement, entertainment, 3D display technologies and augmented reality but not limited to them. Due to their high information capacity, the ability to track ongoing external processes by assessing changes in the diffraction pattern, as well as well-established and simple...
Nano-sized neuromorphic memory device simulates neurons and synapses
May 20, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Researchers have reported a nano-sized neuromorphic memory device that emulates neurons and synapses simultaneously in a unit cell, another step toward completing the goal of neuromorphic computing designed to rigorously mimic the human brain with semiconductor devices. Neuromorphic computing aims to realize artificial intelligence (AI)...
Towards 4D printing with structural colors
May 20, 2022 (Nanowerk Spotlight) The colors in the world around us are produced through either absorption of light by molecules (pigmentary colors) or scattering of light by nanostructures (structural colors). Nature provides many spectacular examples of structural colors – the bright colors of some butterflies, beetles, fish or birds...