Dec 10, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Helical structures are ubiquitous across biology, from the double-stranded helix of DNA to how heart muscle cells spiral in a band. Inspired by this twisty ladder, researchers from Hiroshima University’s Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering have developed an artificial polymer that organizes itself...
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Exploiting optical materials to capture hidden data through new imaging approach
Dec 10, 2024 (Nanowerk News) In an era where autonomous navigation, medical diagnostics and remote sensing are rapidly evolving, traditional cameras— limited to capturing only the red, green, and blue (RGB) light intensities—are falling short of data demands. These cameras often miss essential spectral and polarization details crucial for identifying...
Cracking the code for materials that can learn
Dec 09, 2024 (Nanowerk News) It's easy to think that machine learning is a completely digital phenomenon, made possible by computers and algorithms that can mimic brain-like behaviors. But the first machines were analog and now, a small but growing body of research is showing that mechanical systems are capable...
Scientists and artists create enduring color-shifting coatings for architectural art
Dec 09, 2024 (Nanowerk Spotlight) Creating materials that change color based on viewing angle represents a significant challenge at the intersection of art and science. Natural examples of this phenomenon, called iridescence, appear in butterfly wings, peacock feathers, and opals. Unlike traditional pigments that absorb specific wavelengths of light, these...
New nano-device for generating structured light for advanced applications
Dec 09, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Researchers have developed a tiny, room-temperature device that creates a special type of structured light called radially polarized photons, which are highly useful for secure communication, advanced imaging, and precision optical tools. By carefully designing and positioning a quantum dot within a nanoantenna, they achieved...
Space-time crystals, an important step toward new optical materials
Dec 08, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Photonic time crystals consist of materials with uniform composition in space but properties that vary periodically over time. With this periodic variation, the spectral composition of light can be modulated and amplified as needed – key capabilities for optical information processing. “This gives us new...
Straining a material’s atomic arrangement may make for cleaner, smarter devices
Dec 06, 2024 (Nanowerk News) What’s the best way to precisely manipulate a material’s properties to the desired state? It may be straining the material’s atomic arrangement, according to a team led by researchers at Penn State. The team discovered that “atomic spray painting” of potassium niobate, a material used...
Revealing elusive electron behavior in metal-organic framework photocatalysts
Dec 06, 2024 (Nanowerk Spotlight) Transforming sunlight into chemical energy is one of nature's most elegant tricks. Scientists studying artificial versions of this process have long struggled to track the fleeting movements of electrons that occur when light strikes a catalyst - the material that speeds up chemical reactions. These...
Scalable robotic fibres with light-emitting, self-healing and magnetic properties
Dec 06, 2024 (Nanowerk News) A team of interdisciplinary scientists from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering under the College of Design and Engineering at the National University of Singapore (NUS) has developed flexible fibres with self-healing, light-emitting and magnetic properties. The Scalable Hydrogel-clad Ionotronic Nickel-core Electroluminescent (SHINE) fibre...
Thin coating of MXene material could replace thick layers of insulation
Dec 05, 2024 (Nanowerk News) In everyday life, materials that conduct electricity well, like metals, also tend to conduct heat. For instance, a metal spoon left in a hot cup of tea will get hot, while the ceramic mug remains cool. This is because good electrical conductors are usually good...