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Category: materials

US scientists create reusable ‘jelly ice’ that never melts

Frozen tofu inspires US scientists to create reusable ‘jelly ice’ that never melts.

Interestingly, the jelly ice is 90% water and can be molded into different shapes.

“Compared to regular ice of the same shape and size, jelly ice has up to 80% of the cooling efficiency — the amount of heat the gel can absorb through phase change,” said Jiahan Zou, the study researcher.

“And we can reuse the material and maintain the heat absorbance across multiple freeze-thaw cycles, so that’s an advantage compared to regular ice,” added Zou.

Crafting the Perfect Bite of Meat

Israeli and Palestinian engineers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem develop novel metamaterials for the cost-effective injection molding of whole cuts of meat. Link to images: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1EIb0hFDVh67Lddqkmf4x…sp=sharing In a new publication in Nature Communications, Israeli and Palestinian engineers from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem pioneered the use of metamaterials to create whole cuts of meat.

Skyrmions as Active Matter

Pairs of skyrmions—tiny whirlpools that emerge in some magnetic materials—might be able to self-propel, a behavior reminiscent of that of active-matter systems such as motile bacteria.

In nature, the collective motion of birds and fish can generate impressive dynamics and unique structures, as seen in flocks of starlings and shoals of sardines. The science of active matter studies such complex behaviors across a wide range of scales and origins [1], and it has attracted growing interest over the past three decades. Active matter encompasses not only living things but also inanimate objects. Examples include active colloids [2] and active liquid crystals [3] that are able to self-propel—that is, move by themselves powered by internal energy sources. Now Clécio de Souza Silva and colleagues at the Federal University of Pernambuco in Brazil have suggested an intriguing addition to the active-matter catalog: coupled pairs of skyrmions, whirlpool-like spin arrangements that emerge in certain magnetic materials.

MXene as a frame for 2D water films shows new properties

Water still has unknown sides. When water is forced into two dimensions by enclosing it in appropriate materials, new properties, phase transitions, and structures emerge. MXenes as a class of materials offer a unique platform for exploring these types of phenomena. MXenes consist of transition metal carbides and nitrides with a layered structure whose surfaces can help them absorb water easily. The water forms an extremely thin film between the individual layers.

A team led by Dr. Tristan Petit, HZB, and Yury Gogotsi, Drexel University, has investigated a series of MXene samples containing enclosed water and different ions at BESSY II using various analytical methods. The work is published in the journal Nature Communications.

X-ray revealed the formation of amorphous ice clusters in the enclosed water, which increases the distance between the MXene layers. The previously metallic MXene film then becomes a semiconductor.

A shape-changing antenna for more versatile sensing and communication

MIT researchers developed a method to design and fabricate reconfigurable antennas with adjustable frequency ranges. Users can adjust the frequency by squeezing, bending, or stretching the material, making the antenna more versatile for sensing and communication than traditional static antennas.

Unified theory may reveal more superconducting materials

Electricity flows through wires to deliver power, but it loses energy as it moves, delivering less than it started with. But that energy loss isn’t a given. Scientists at Penn State have found a new way to identify types of materials known as superconductors that allow power to travel without any resistance, meaning no energy is lost.

Novel method upgrades liquid crystals with better recall

Researchers have developed a novel way for liquid crystals to retain information about their movement. Using this method could advance technologies like memory devices and sensors, as well as pave the way to future soft materials that are both smart and flexible.

Liquid crystals, which are used in liquid crystal display (LCD) screens for TVs and phones, contain molecules that mimic the properties of both liquids and solids, giving them . While soft materials like liquids, gels and polymers have been widely used for their easy-to-process structures and lightweight properties, they tend to deform easily and often require replacement.

Everyday materials are made of molecules that align themselves in preferred directions. But liquid crystals could become much more useful if their molecules are all facing in one direction—obtaining what is called polar order.

Inspired by Death Valley, researchers mimic a mystery of nature to make ice move on its own

In Associate Professor Jonathan Boreyko’s Nature-Inspired Fluids and Interfaces Lab, Ph.D. student Jack Tapocik watched a disk-shaped chunk of ice resting on an engineered metal surface. As the ice melted, the water formed a puddle beneath.

Even after many seconds of melting, the ice disk remained adhered to the engineered surface. At first, Tapocik was tempted to conclude that nothing would happen, but he waited. His patience paid off. After a minute, the ice slingshot across the metal plate he designed, gliding along as if it was propelled supernaturally.

The results are important because they have a host of potential applications. The methods team members developed lay the foundation for rapid defrosting and novel methods of energy harvesting. Their work has been published in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.

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