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Category: engineering

Mapping ‘figure 8’ Fermi surfaces to pinpoint future chiral conductors

One of the biggest problems facing modern microelectronics is that computer chips can no longer be made arbitrarily smaller and more efficient. Materials used to date, such as copper, are reaching their limits because their resistivity increases dramatically when they become too small. Chiral materials could provide a solution here. These materials behave like left and right hands: they look almost identical and are mirror images of each other, but cannot be made to match.

“It is assumed that the resistivity in some chiral materials remains constant or even decreases as the chiral material becomes smaller. That is why we are working on using electronic chirality to develop materials for a new generation of microchips that are faster, more energy-efficient and more robust than today’s technologies,” says Professor Niels Schröter from the Institute of Physics at MLU. Until now, however, it has been difficult to produce thin layers of these materials without the left-and right-handed areas canceling each other out in their effects.

This is precisely where the new study, in which the Max Planck Institute for Microstructure Physics in Halle was also involved, comes in. “For the first time, we have found materials that are not yet chiral themselves. However, they have the potential to be converted into electronically chiral materials with only a single-handedness through targeted distortion. These achiral materials can serve as so-called parent materials for engineering chiral conductors with reduced resistivity,” explains Schröter.

New Study Reveals How Nanoplastics Make Bacteria More Dangerous

Nanoplastics already raise fears because people can ingest them directly. Now scientists say these tiny particles can create a different kind of danger when they end up in water: they can help bacteria become tougher and harder to remove.

A study in Water Research led by Virginia Tech’s Jingqiu Liao, working with international collaborators, found that nanoplastics can influence how environmental microbes behave in ways that may indirectly affect human health. The concern is not just what the particles might do in the body, but what they might encourage in the water systems people rely on every day.

“It is very important to better understand the adverse effects of the nanoplastics on human health, and not just in humans but also in the environment, which indirectly influences human health,” said Liao, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering. “The nanoplastics can make the antimicrobial-resistant pathogens better survive, which could be harmful to the environment and would have public health implications.”

‘Goldilocks size’ rhodium clusters advance reusable heterogeneous catalysts for hydroformylation

Recent research has demonstrated that a rhodium (Rh) cluster of an optimal, intermediate size—neither too small nor too large—exhibits the highest catalytic activity in hydroformylation reactions. Similar to the concept of finding the “just right” balance, the study identifies this so-called “Goldilocks size” as crucial for maximizing catalyst efficiency. The study is published in the journal ACS Catalysis and was featured as the cover story.

Led by Professor Kwangjin An from the School of Energy and Chemical Engineering at UNIST, in collaboration with Professor Jeong Woo Han from Seoul National University, the research demonstrates that when Rh exists as a cluster —comprising about 10 atoms—it outperforms both single-atom and nanoparticle forms in reaction speed and activity.

Hydroformylation is a vital industrial process used for producing raw materials for plastics, detergents, and other chemicals. Currently, many Rh catalysts are homogeneous—dissolved in liquids—which complicates separation and recycling. This challenge has driven efforts to develop solid, heterogeneous Rh catalysts that are easier to recover and reuse.

From stellar engines to Dyson bubbles, alien megastructures could hold themselves together under the right conditions

New theoretical models have strengthened the case that immense, energy-harvesting structures orbiting their host stars could exist in principle in distant stellar systems. With the right engineering precautions, calculations published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, carried out by Colin McInnes at the University of Glasgow, show that both stellar engines and Dyson bubbles can become gravitationally stable, allowing them to tap into the vast amounts of energy emitted by their host stars.

For decades, astronomers have pondered the possibility of alien civilizations far more technologically advanced than our own. While these studies remain entirely speculative, many have converged on similar ideas for harvesting stellar energy: envisioning vast structures deployed around host stars.

If such structures could exist, they would provide civilizations with vastly more energy than any planet could offer—enough for ventures ranging from the terraforming of new worlds, to interstellar journeys spanning many generations.

A new route to synthesize multiple functionalized carbon nanohoops

The field of nanomaterials is witnessing a transformative shift at the intersection of organic chemistry and molecular engineering. Among the most promising molecular structures are carbon nanohoops, of which [n]cycloparaphenylenes ([n]CPPs) are a representative example.

These ring-shaped structures represent the smallest possible slices of carbon nanotubes, which themselves are a widely renowned material of the 21st century.

Given that their structures can, in principle, be precisely tuned at the atomic level, nanohoops hold great potential as molecular components for next-generation optoelectronic devices, including high-resolution displays, photonic circuits, and responsive sensing materials.

‘Spectral slimming’ yields ultranarrow plasmons in single metal nanoparticles

Researchers have developed a new strategy to overcome a long-standing limitation in plasmonic loss by reshaping light–matter interactions through substrate engineering.

“Why can’t plasmons achieve quality factors as high as dielectrics?” “Because metals heat up easily—they’re inherently lossy.” This exchange is almost inevitable whenever plasmonic nanostructures come up in a discussion.

Now, researchers from the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) and international collaborators have shown that this long-held limitation is not as fundamental as once believed. The research team has demonstrated a powerful new strategy to control optical spectra at the nanoscale, enabling high-quality (high-Q) plasmonic hotspots in individual metal nanoparticles, a long-standing challenge to slim spectra in plasmonics.

Establishing a new QM/MM design principle based on electronic-state responses

A research team has proposed a new design principle for QM/MM (quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics) simulations. The approach enables objective and automatic determination of the quantum-mechanical region based on electronic-state changes, addressing a long-standing challenge in multiscale molecular simulations.

The researchers included Professor Hirotoshi Mori (Department of Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Chuo University), together with Nichika Ozawa (first-year Ph.D. student at Ochanomizu University) and Assistant Professor Nahoko Kuroki of Ochanomizu University.

The findings are published in the journal Advanced Science as a cover article.

Led Team Discovers Metallic Material With Record Thermal Conductivity

A UCLA-led, multi-institution research team has discovered a metallic material with the highest thermal conductivity measured among metals, challenging long-standing assumptions about the limits of heat transport in metallic materials.

Published this week in Science, the study is led by Yongjie Hu, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering. The team reported that metallic theta-phase tantalum nitride conducts heat nearly three times more efficiently than copper or silver, the best conventional heat-conducting metals.

Thermal conductivity describes how efficiently a material can carry heat. Materials with high thermal conductivity are essential for removing localized hot spots in electronic devices, where overheating limits performance, reliability and energy efficiency. Copper currently dominates the global heat-sink market, accounting for roughly 30% of commercial thermal-management materials, with a thermal conductivity of about 400 watts per meter-kelvin.

Sami Tellatin — Kilimo — Leading The Way To A Water-Positive Future

Leading The Way To A Water-Positive Future — Sami Tellatin — Head of Water & Climate Solutions, [Kilimo](https://www.facebook.com/agrokilimo?__cft__[0]=AZYVjPpsA2hiLM5-TRnxJRoTmkVIP8k9Hro7mpHQd6HkG9roy2B0jBJyWOF7RxuqTpjcE0BjwYcznt__ZsPQBKTYGtf5mRXVr0xUT7RzlbzkSECEuWuYt0aFqjGwwCAKMCXdjJofqt5U9mF08TfSYqYpa8pmedmmVDH3rTrwH4QaMQKi6UK55095pUIWFEwu4DM&__tn__=-]K-R)

Sami Tellatin is Head of Water & Climate Solutions at Kilimo (https://kilimo.com/en/), an organization that connects companies with farmers in the same watershed to implement water-positive practices, generate measurable water savings, and secure resources for both communities and companies.

Kilimo’s operations already span 7 countries, helping steward water resources across more than 500,000 acres of land and partnering with global leaders like Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and major CPGs.

In her role, Sami leads the design and deployment of scalable water-positive solutions that help companies, farmers, and communities address water scarcity through more efficient and sustainable irrigation practices.

Prior to this role, Sami co-founded FarmRaise, an enterprise that unlocks funding for farmers and ranchers seeking to invest in their profitability and sustainability, allowing farmers to learn which public and private funding opportunities they’re eligible for and streamlines the application process, moving the industry toward one common application that unlocks funding to drive conservation practice adoption.

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