Lifeboat Foundation

Non-metal nitrides are compounds in which nitrogen and non-metallic elements are linked by covalent bonds. Because of their technologically interesting properties, they have increasingly become the focus of materials research. In Chemistry—A European Journal, an international team with researchers from the University of Bayreuth presents previously unknown phosphorus-nitrogen compounds synthesized under very high pressures.

They contain structural units whose existence could not be empirically proven before. The study exemplifies the great, as yet untapped potential of high-pressure research for nitrogen chemistry.

The researchers succeeded in synthesizing a previously unknown modification of the phosphorus nitride P₃N₅, the polymorph δ-P₃N₅, at a pressure of 72 gigapascals. At 134 gigapascals, the phosphorus nitride PN₂ formed in the diamond anvil cell. Both compounds are classified as ultra-incompressible materials with the bulk moduli above 320 GPa.

The new sodium-sulfur batteries are also environmentally friendly, driving the clean energy mission forward at a low cost.

To realize the universal goal of net-zero emissions by 2050, the world is keenly looking at advancements in battery technology. Lower costs, higher capacity, and optimal utilization of scarce natural resources are expected to play a major role in taking the mission forward.

Their findings were published in Advanced Materials.

Continue reading “A novel sodium-sulphur battery has 4 times the capacity of lithium-ion batteries” »

A simple alloy has claimed the crown for toughest material ever recorded. In a new study, a team led by researchers at Berkeley Lab ran the alloy through a series of tests and discovered not only its incredible toughness, but high strength and ductility that actually improve in colder temperatures, unlike most known materials.

The alloy in question contains chromium, cobalt and nickel (CrCoNi), and it belongs to a class of metals called high entropy alloys (HEAs). Most alloys are made up of one dominant element with smaller amounts of others added in, but HEAs contain equal amounts of each element. This can give them some impressive properties, such as high strength-to-weight ratios, an elastic modulus that rises with the temperature, or ultra strength and ductility.

In previous work, the researchers found that CrCoNi showed high strength and toughness at low temperatures of around −196 °C (−321 °F). For the new study, the team investigated how it would hold up at even colder temperatures of −253 °C (−424 °F), at which helium exists as a liquid. And sure enough, its toughness hit new heights in preventing cracks propagating.

A textbook theory for the freezing of water also explains the growth of a new phase in a more complicated phase transition of a different material.

When water freezes, the ice forms first in “nuclei”—tiny seed crystals that can grow or shrink and survive only if they reach a minimum size—at least according to the textbook theory. Researchers have now shown that this understanding also applies to a more complicated phase transition in vanadium dioxide (VO₂), a material whose electrical properties and crystal structure both change at its so-called metal-to-insulator phase transition [1]. The team measured the threshold size for the “seeds” that drive this transition and demonstrated a new technique for studying crystal structure transitions. The result suggests that the classical nucleation theory is valid for a range of materials that are important in areas such as catalysis, lasers, and alloy and ceramic manufacturing.

Place a bucket of purified water in a subfreezing-temperature environment, and tiny ice seeds will start forming. Many will quickly dissolve, but those that are larger than a certain threshold size will grow and eventually merge to make a single block of ice. This view of crystallization, associated with classical nucleation theory, has been well accepted for the water–ice transition. Junqiao Wu of the University of California, Berkeley, and his colleagues wanted to test whether the same nucleation phenomenon is at play in VO₂ when it makes a transition from one crystalline structure to another.

The asteroid strike simulation website lets users customize material, size, and speed then witness the destruction, in the name of science.

Intel released nine research papers at IEDM 2022 that lay the groundwork for future chip designs as the company looks to deliver on its promise of developing processors with over a trillion transistors by 2030.

The research includes new 2D materials for transistors, new 3D packaging technology that narrows the performance and power gap between chiplet and single-die processors to a nearly-imperceptible range, transistors that ‘don’t forget’ when power is removed, and embedded memories that can be stacked directly on top of transistors and store more than one bit per cell, among other innovations.

It was a simple idea—maybe even too simple to work.

Research scientist James Ponder and a team of Georgia Tech chemists and engineers thought they could design a transparent polymer film that would conduct electricity as effectively as other commonly used materials, while also being flexible and easy to use at an industrial scale.

They’d do it by simply removing the nonconductive material from their conductive element. Sounds logical, right?

😁

Using well-known materials and manufacturing processes, researchers have built an effective, passive, ultrathin laser isolator that opens new research avenues in photonics.

Year 2017 😗

In 2015, researchers at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) developed the first on-chip metamaterial with a refractive index of zero, meaning that the phase of light could be stretched infinitely long. The metamaterial represented a new method to manipulate light and was an important step forward for integrated photonic circuits, which use light rather than electrons to perform a wide variety of functions.

Now, SEAS researchers have pushed that technology further — developing a zero-index waveguide compatible with current silicon photonic technologies. In doing so, the team observed a physical phenomenon that is usually unobservable—a standing wave of light.

Continue reading “A zero-index waveguide: Researchers directly observe infinitely long wavelengths for the first time” »