Category: Advanced Materials
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Cracking in lithium-ion batteries speeds up electric vehicle charging
Cracks in predominant lithium-ion electrodes shorten battery lifespans, but a neuroscience-inspired technique shows that they have an upside.
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For the first time, controlling the degree of twist in nanostructure particles
Being able to decide not only whether a micron-scale particle twists but also how much could open new avenues for machine vision and more.
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Q&A: Plastic to metal, steel to aluminum—the future of welding and lightweight vehicles
New techniques for welding very different materials could enable better cars.
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“Transformer” pinwheels offer new twist on nano-engineered materials
Producing chirality, a property found throughout nature, through large-scale self-assembly could lead to applications in sensing, machine perception and more.
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Heat-resistant nanophotonic material could help turn heat into electricity
The key to beating the heat is degrading the materials in advance.
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Photosynthesis copycat may improve solar cells
The new approach moves energy efficiently and could reduce energy losses converting light into electricity.
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Durable coating kills the COVID virus and other germs in minutes
Polyurethane locks in the antimicrobial power of tea tree and cinnamon oils. The new technology could start making public spaces safer within a year.
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Toward manufacturing semitransparent solar cells the size of windows
A peel-off patterning technique could enable more fragile organic semiconductors to be manufactured into semitransparent solar panels at scale.
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Nanostructures get complex with electron equivalents
Nanoparticles of two different sizes break away from symmetrical designs.
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Spray-on coating could make solar panels snow-resistant
Cold-weather-friendly formula foils snow/ice accumulation in Alaska test.
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$3.4M to turn up the heat at solar-thermal plants
Improved heat-trapping materials for solar thermal energy could help the U.S. meet its goal of cutting solar energy costs in half by 2030.
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How pearls achieve nanoscale precision
Coaxing order from unpredictable layers, mollusks do what humans can’t