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Category: nanotechnology – Page 90

Metals aren’t known to “heal” themselves on their own; once they break, it’s assumed the materials remain broken unless outside forces reform them. But new research into metallic properties indicates this isn’t always the case. In fact, some metals appear to naturally mend of their own accord—a discovery that could one day change engineering designs here on Earth and beyond.

According to a study published last week in Nature, materials scientists from Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Texas A&M University discovered at least some metals—in this case copper and platinum—can “undergo intrinsic self-healing.” As Live Science recently noted, the team’s observations came completely by accident while observing the two materials at a nanoscale level.

[Related: Watch this metallic material move like the T-1000 from ‘Terminator 2’].

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The interaction of light and matter on the nanoscale is a vital aspect of nanophotonics. Resonant nanosystems allow scientists to control and enhance electromagnetic energy at volumes smaller than the wavelength of the incident light. As well as allowing sunlight to be captured much more effectively, they also facilitate improved optical wave-guiding and emissions control. The strong coupling of light with electronic excitation in solid-state materials generates hybridized photonic and electronic states, so-called polaritons, which can exhibit interesting properties such as Bose-Einstein condensation and superfluidity.

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Halide perovskites are a family of materials that have attracted attention for their superior optoelectronic properties and potential applications in devices such as high-performance solar cells, light-emitting diodes, and lasers.

Caption :

A new MIT platform enables researchers to “grow” halide perovskite nanocrystals with precise control over the location and size of each individual crystal, integrating them into nanoscale light-emitting diodes. Pictured is a rendering of a nanocrystal array emitting light.

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Credit: Hyundai Motor Group.

During a press conference held yesterday in Seoul, South Korea, Hyundai Motor Group revealed plans for a new generation of high-tech cars incorporating nanoscale features, which it hopes to begin mass producing by 2025–2026.

Nanotechnology is defined as materials or devices that work on a scale smaller than one hundred nanometres (nm). A nanometre is one billionth of a metre or about 100,000 times narrower than a human hair. Individual atoms, for comparison, tend to range in size from 0.1 to 0.5 nm. Many interesting and unique physical effects become possible at this level of detail, making nanotechnology a highly promising technology of the future.

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According to scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), a bifacial perovskite solar cell holds the potential to produce higher energy yields at lower overall costs.

The bifacial solar cell captures direct sunlight on the front and reflected sunlight on the back. As a result, this type of device can outperform its monofacial counterparts, according to the new study.

“This perovskite cell can operate very effectively from either side,” said Kai Zhu, a senior scientist in the Chemistry and Nanoscience Center at NREL and lead author of a new paper.

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A team of researchers from the Instituto de Carboquímica of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) has made a remarkable step forward in the development of efficient and sustainable electronic devices. They have found a special combination of two extraordinary nanomaterials that successfully results in a new hybrid product capable of turning light into electricity, and vice-versa, faster than conventional materials.

The research is published in the journal Chemistry of Materials.

This consists of a one-dimensional conductive polymer called polythiophene, ingeniously integrated with a two-dimensional derivative of graphene known as graphene oxide. The unique features exhibited by this hybrid material hold incredible promise for improving the efficiency of optoelectronic devices, such as smart devices screens, and solar panels, among others.

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Scientists have witnessed something extraordinary. According to new reports and research, scientists watched healing metal, where cracked metal fused back together without any kind of human intervention. The discovery is one that could completely change how machines work, because machines are often victims of what we call fatigue damage.

Fatigue damage is essentially one of the main ways that machines wear out, causing them to break over time. This is a natural condition that happens as machines go through repeated stress and motion, which causes microscopic cracks to form in the metal. Over time those cracks grow more, eventually spreading until the entire device breaks or fails.

The scientists say that this latest discovery only showcases that metals have their own “intrinsic, natural ability to heal,” at least when it comes to fatigue damage at a nanoscale. For other, much larger cracks, the healing process may be unlikely or slow. It’s unclear.

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A team of scientists from Sandia National Laboratories and Texas A&M University has recently witnessed for the first time a stunning phenomenon: pieces of metal cracking, then fusing back together without any human intervention.

If this amazing phenomenon can be harnessed, it could give rise to an engineering revolution in which self-healing bridges, engines, or airplanes could reverse damage caused by wear and tear and thus become safer and longer-lasting.

“This was absolutely stunning to watch first-hand,” said Brad Boyce, a materials scientist at Sandia. “What we have confirmed is that metals have their own intrinsic, natural ability to heal themselves, at least in the case of fatigue damage at the nanoscale.”

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Over the past decade, teams of engineers, chemists and biologists have analyzed the physical and chemical properties of cicada wings, hoping to unlock the secret of their ability to kill microbes on contact. If this function of nature can be replicated by science, it may lead to development of new products with inherently antibacterial surfaces that are more effective than current chemical treatments.

When researchers at Stony Brook University’s Department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering developed a simple technique to duplicate the cicada wing’s nanostructure, they were still missing a key piece of information: How do the nanopillars on its surface actually eliminate bacteria? Thankfully, they knew exactly who could help them find the answer: Jan-Michael Carrillo, a researcher with the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

For nanoscience researchers who seek computational comparisons and insights for their experiments, Carrillo provides a singular service: large-scale, high-resolution molecular dynamics (MD) simulations on the Summit supercomputer at the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility at ORNL.

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