Ion exchange is a powerful technique for converting one material to another when synthesizing new products. In this process, scientists know what reactants lead to what products, but how the process works—the exact pathway of how one material can be converted to another—has remained elusive.
To power the energy transition, the world needs a reliable supply of critical minerals. Finding alternative materials can help secure the transition.
Scientists have created conducting two-dimensional polymers exhibiting electron mobility comparable to graphene. Their research has been featured in the online edition of Chem.
Quantum Barkhausen noise, which arises from the cooperative quantum tunnelling of a huge number of magnetic spins, has been observed for the first time and may be the largest macroscopic quantum phenomena ever seen.
Researchers in the US and Canada have detected an effect known as quantum Barkhausen noise for the first time. The effect, which comes about thanks to the cooperative quantum tunnelling of a huge number of magnetic spins, may be the largest macroscopic quantum phenomena yet observed in the laboratory.
In the presence of a magnetic field, electron spins (or magnetic moments) in a ferromagnetic material all line up in the same direction – but not all at once. Instead, alignment occurs piecemeal, with different regions, or domains, falling into line at different times. These domains influence each other in a way that can be likened to an avalanche. Just as one clump of snow pushes on neighbouring clumps until the entire mass comes tumbling down, so does alignment spread through the domains until all spins point in the same direction.
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Using lasers and metal powder, Australian scientists have created a super strong, super lightweight new — but they got the idea for this sci fi-sounding creation from plants.
The challenge: Materials that are strong yet lightweight, such as carbon fiber and graphene, are used to make everything from medical implants to airships, and developing ones with ever greater “strength-to-weight ratios” is the goal of many material scientists.
In pursuit of that goal, some have turned to nature, looking for ways to replicate in metal the hollow lattice structures, like those in the Victoria water lily, that make some plants remarkably strong.
A new, microscopic material will end with metals in industry: this is the new futuristic alternative that you will see from now on.
I found this on NewsBreak: Scientists finally make ‘goldene’, potentially breakthrough new material.
Researchers have managed to create “goldene”, an incredibly thin version of gold.
The work follows the successful production of graphene, which is made out of a single layer graphite atoms. That has been hailed as a miracle material: it is astonishingly strong, and much better at conducting heat and electricity than copper.
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I found this on NewsBreak: Scientists Invented a Bizarre New Material That Gets Tougher When You Hit It.
A team led by researchers from the University of Glasgow has developed an innovative wireless communications antenna that combines the unique properties of metamaterials with sophisticated signal processing to deliver a new peak of performance.
Microplastics pose a great threat to human health. These tiny plastic debris can enter our bodies through the water we drink and increase the risk of illnesses. They are also an environmental hazard; found even in remote areas like polar ice caps and deep ocean trenches, they endanger aquatic and terrestrial lifeforms.
