Lifeboat Foundation

Researchers at the University of Bayreuth have developed a new method for controlling the growth of physical micro-runners. They used an external magnetic field to assemble paramagnetic colloidal spheres—i.e. only magnetic due to external influences—into rods of a certain length. Colloidal particles are tiny particles in the micro-or nanometer range that can be used in medicine as carriers of biochemicals.

Conversely, stimulated Raman spectroscopy represents a modern analytical method used to study molecular vibrational properties and interactions, offering valuable insights into molecular fine structure. Its applications span various domains, including chemical analysis, biomedical research, materials science, and environmental monitoring.

By combining these two techniques, an exceptionally powerful analytical tool for studying complex molecular materials emerges.

In a new paper published in Light: Science & Applications, a team of scientists, led by Professor Zhedong Zhang and Professor Zhe-Yu Ou from Department of Physics, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China, developed a microscopic theory for the ultrafast stimulated Raman spectroscopy with quantum-light fields.

For decades, scientists have been studying a group of unusual materials called multiferroics that could be useful for a range of applications including computer memory, chemical sensors and quantum computers.

Recent research has demonstrated the effectiveness of ultrathin Bi4O5Br2 nanosheets with controlled oxygen vacancies in enhancing the piezocatalytic production of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), presenting a viable, environmentally friendly alternative to traditional methods.

Hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) serves as a crucial chemical raw material with extensive applications in numerous industrial and everyday contexts. However, the industrial anthraquinone method of producing H₂O₂ is fraught with significant drawbacks, including high levels of pollution and energy consumption. An alternative approach involves harnessing ubiquitous mechanical energy for piezocatalytic H₂O₂ evolution, which offers a promising strategy. Despite its potential, this method faces challenges due to its unsatisfactory energy conversion efficiency.

Bi₄O₅Br₂ is regarded as a highly attractive photocatalytic material due to its unique sandwich structure, excellent chemical stability, good visible light capture ability, and suitable band structure. Aspired by its non-centrosymmetric crystal structure, piezoelectric performance has begun to enter the vision of researchers recently. However, its potential as an efficient piezocatalyst is far from being exploited, especially since the impacts of defects on piezocatalysis and piezocatalytic H₂O₂ production over Bi₄O₅Br₂ remains scanty. Thus, mechanical energy-driven piezocatalysis provides a promising method for H₂O₂ synthesis from pure water with great attraction.

Researchers have created a new class of materials called “glassy gels” that are very hard and difficult to break despite containing more than 50% liquid. Coupled with the fact that glassy gels are simple to produce, the material holds promise for a variety of applications.

Gels and glassy polymers are classes of materials that have historically been viewed as distinct from one another. Glassy polymers are hard, stiff and often brittle. They’re used to make things like water bottles or airplane windows. Gels – such as contact lenses – contain liquid and are soft and stretchy.

“We’ve created a class of materials that we’ve termed glassy gels, which are as hard as glassy polymers, but – if you apply enough force – can stretch up to five times their original length, rather than breaking,” says Michael Dickey, corresponding author of a paper on the work and the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at North Carolina State University. “What’s more, once the material has been stretched, you can get it to return to its original shape by applying heat. In addition, the surface of the glassy gels is highly adhesive, which is unusual for hard materials.”

The element actinium was first discovered at the turn of the 20th century, but even now, nearly 125 years later, researchers still don’t have a good grasp on the metal’s chemistry. That’s because actinium is only available in extremely small amounts and working with the radioactive material requires special facilities. But to improve emerging cancer treatments using actinium, researchers will need to better understand how the element binds with other molecules.

Small-angle scattering (SAS) is a powerful technique for studying nanoscale samples. So far, however, its use in research has been held back by its inability to operate without some prior knowledge of a sample’s chemical composition. Through new research published in The European Physical Journal E, Eugen Anitas at the Bogoliubov Laboratory of Theoretical Physics in Dubna, Russia, presents a more advanced approach, which integrates SAS with machine learning algorithms.

Prussian blue (PB), a well-known pigment used to dye jeans, has been recognized as an emerging material for next-generation batteries. A team of researchers, led by Professor Hyun-Wook Lee in the School of Energy and Chemical Engineering at UNIST has made a significant breakthrough in the development of low-cost, high-performance lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) using PB, leading to significantly reduced battery prices.

Researchers from the Institute for Molecules and Materials at Radboud University, Netherlands, have demonstrated that a complex self-organizing chemical reaction network can perform various computational tasks, such as nonlinear classification and complex dynamics prediction.