Aug 18, 2023 (Nanowerk News) Creating novel materials by combining layers with unique, beneficial properties seems like a fairly intuitive process—stack up the materials and stack up the benefits. This isn’t always the case, however. Not every material will allow energy to travel through it the same way, making the...
Novel nonlinear circuit to harvest clean power using graphene (w/video)
Aug 18, 2023 (Nanowerk News) Obtaining useful work from random fluctuations in a system at thermal equilibrium has long been considered impossible. In fact, in the 1960s eminent American physicist Richard Feynman effectively shut down further inquiry after he argued in a series of lectures that Brownian motion, or the...
Microscopic transformations of electrocatalyst surfaces
Copper, essential for CO2 reduction to valuable chemicals like ethanol, benefits from a disordered surface arrangement, which can form spontaneously during the initial stages of electrocatalytic CO2 reduction, with CO causing this transformation.
Researchers unveil wireless power for medical implants using near-infrared light
Aug 18, 2023 (Nanowerk Spotlight) In a recent study published in the journal Advanced Materials ("Skin Thermal Management for Subcutaneous Photoelectric Conversion Reaching 500 mW"), a team of researchers from China introduced a new approach to harnessing the power of second near-infrared light (NIR-II) for subcutaneous photoelectric conversion. This research...
Cutting-edge imaging technique shines light on how DNA strands stack up
Aug 17, 2023 (Nanowerk News) In a new study, researchers at the Department of Biochemistry, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), have used a novel imaging technique to pinpoint how strongly adjacent bases – the building blocks of DNA – stack up on top of each other in a single strand....
Researchers develop a unique quantum mechanical approach to determining metal ductility
Aug 17, 2023 (Nanowerk News) A team of scientists from Ames National Laboratory and Texas A&M University developed a new way to predict metal ductility. This quantum-mechanics-based approach fills a need for an inexpensive, efficient, high-throughput way to predict ductility. The team demonstrated its effectiveness on refractory multi-principal-element alloys. These...
Nano-thin ‘liquid-like’ coatings may pave the way for a ‘self-cleaning’ world
Aug 17, 2023 (Nanowerk News) University of Sydney researchers have observed oil molecules retaining their 'liquid-like' properties when they are chemically attached as an extremely thin layer to solid surfaces, opening new possibilities for designing sustainable materials with non-stick characteristics. The findings are published in the leading chemistry journal Angewandte...
Faster spin waves could make novel computing systems possible
Aug 17, 2023 (Nanowerk News) Research is underway around the world to find alternatives to our current electronic computing technology, as great, electron-based systems have limitations. A new way of transmitting information is emerging from the field of magnonics: instead of electron exchange, the waves generated in magnetic media could...
Hummingbird beak points the way to designing complex micro machines
Aug 16, 2023 (Nanowerk News) A Cornell research team has developed a new way to design complex microscale machines, one that draws inspiration from the operation of proteins and hummingbird beaks. The group’s paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ("Bifurcation instructed design of multistate machines"). The...
Researchers turn potato chip bags into energy-saving cooling films
Aug 16, 2023 (Nanowerk News) Aluminium-plastic composite (APL) films are very often used for food packaging, but they pose a challenge when it comes to plastic recycling. Researchers led by Bayreuth-based physical chemist Prof. Dr. Markus Retsch have now developed an upcycling process that gives such films an innovative second...