March 26, 2020: New research conducted in part at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory may bring a whole new class of chemical elements into a materials science balancing act for designing alloys for aviation and other applications.
April 8, 2020: Using a combination of experimental and computational data, researchers discover paths to optimize pulses from highly intense X-ray beams. One potential method of seeing the structure of a single, free-form molecule at atomic resolution involves aiming extremely short, highly intense X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) pulses at a sample material.
April 9, 2020: Researchers of the Structural Engineering Laboratory, Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Toyohashi University of Technology have developed a new concept for strengthening steel in critical building structures using bond-free carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) laminates to enhance the buckling performance of structural steel elements. The research findings were published in Construction and Building Materials in early 2020.
April 9, 2020: Physicists at ETH Zurich have developed the first high-repetition-rate laser source that produces coherent soft X-rays spanning the entire "water window." That technological breakthrough could enable a broad range of studies in the biological, chemical and material sciences, as well as in physics.
April 15, 2020: In Egypt, experts were baffled when they discovered an iron dagger in Tutankhamun's tomb, dating more than 200 years before the Iron Age. The dagger was tested using X-ray fluorescence spectrometry, revealing the blade’s composition to be mostly iron.
April 15, 2020: Yogesh Vohra, Ph.D., uses microwave-plasma chemical vapor deposition to create thin crystal films of never-before-seen materials. This effort seeks materials that approach a diamond in hardness and are able to survive extreme pressure, temperature and corrosive environments.
April 16, 2020: Scientists from Cardiff University have created a new and simple method for creating catalysts made from precious metals and have shown that gold still remains the most stable and efficient of them all.
April 16, 2020: A team of scientists may have developed a way to address a decades-long challenge in the field of quantum materials— the spectral tuning of proposed quantum light sources.
April 16, 2020: One of the major challenges related to space exploration is the development of production technologies capable of exploiting the few resources available in extra-terrestrial environments. Laser 3D printing of lunar dust may be the answer to such queries.
April 17, 2020: Several variants of steel exist today; but one type, called martensitic steel, stands out from its steel cousins as stronger and more cost-effective to produce. Hence, martensitic steels naturally lend themselves to applications in the aerospace, automotive and defense industries, among others, where high-strength, lightweight parts need to be manufactured without boosting the cost.
April 17, 2020: Researchers have synthesized nanoparticles that can be induced by a change in pH to release a deadly dose of ionized iron within cells. This mechanism could potentially open up new approaches to the targeted elimination of malignant tumors.
April 17, 2020: Scientists have theorized that organometallic halide perovskites -- a class of light harvesting “wonder” materials for applications in solar cells and quantum electronics -- are so promising due to an unseen yet highly controversial mechanism called the Rashba effect. Scientists have now experimentally proven the existence of the effect in bulk perovskites.
April 17, 2020: Lithium batteries hold a lot of promise for the future of many applications, including electric vehicles, but tend to be prohibitively expensive. Naoaki Yabuuchi, professor at Yokohama National University, and his team have developed a new electrode material to make lithium batteries not only cheaper, but longer lasting with higher energy density.
April 17, 2020: Inspired by how human bone and colorful coral reefs adjust mineral deposits in response to their surrounding environments, researchers have created a self-adapting material that can change its stiffness in response to the applied force. This advancement can someday open the doors for materials that can self-reinforce to prepare for increased force or stop further damage.
April 20, 2020: Researchers at Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST) have successfully fabricated a suspended graphene nanomesh in a large area by helium ion beam microscopy. This provides a practical way to investigate the intrinsic properties of graphene nanomesh for gas sensing, phonon engineering and quantum technology.
April 20, 2020: A research team, led by Dr. Oh Hyung-Suk and Dr. Lee Woong-hee, at the Clean Energy Research Center at Korea Institute of Science and Technology, developed a technology to reduce the use of precious metal catalysts at electrodes where oxygen is produced. The use of precious metal catalysts is one of the problems hindering the practical application of artificial photosynthesis technology.
April 20, 2020: A team of researchers affiliated with several institutions in Portugal has identified the molecular structure of folium, a blue watercolor dye used by medieval artists and book publishers. In their paper published in the journal Science Advances, the group describes following recipes from ancient manuscripts to produce the dye and then applying modern techniques to identify its molecular structure.
April 20, 2020: A new X-ray detector prototype is on the brink of revolutionizing medical imaging, with dramatic reduction in radiation exposure and the associated health risks, while also boosting resolution in security scanners and research applications, thanks to a collaboration between Los Alamos National Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory researchers.
