Material Science News and Discussions

Post Reply
User avatar
caltrek
Posts: 6509
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 1:17 pm

Re: Material Science News and Discussions

Post by caltrek »

Physicists Uncover the Secret Behind the Behavior of Unique Superconducting Materials
March 4, 2022

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/945499
(EurekAlert)

The Science

Over the last 35 years, scientists have investigated a special type of materials called superconductors. When cooled to the correct temperatures, these materials allow electricity to flow without resistance. One team is researching superconductors using the Summit supercomputer. The team found that negative particles in the superconductors interact strongly with the smallest units of light in the materials. This interaction leads to sudden changes in the materials’ behavior. This interaction is at the root of understanding how a certain type of copper-based superconductor works.

The Impact

The team wanted to find out how the interactions between particles in the material change when they are in a crowded space with lots of other interacting particles. They hope that the results will help them better understand a unique class of superconducting materials based on copper. These materials will be more efficient than typical superconductors, thanks to their ability to work at relatively warm temperatures. This work could eventually lead to extremely efficient future electronic devices.
Summary

Researchers modeled the complicated interactions between negatively charged electron particles in a material and the interactions between electrons and phonons. Phonons are the smallest units of vibrational energy in a material. These models involved millions of particle states, with each state comprising distinct characteristics. The result is one of the team’s largest calculations to date of copper-based superconductors. The method gives the researchers a framework to study the so-called “self-energy” of electrons. The results could help the team get closer to understanding the mechanisms of a unique family of copper-based superconductors, which would be more efficient than typical copper-based superconductors.

Funding

The work was supported by the Department of Energy Office of Science through the Theory of Materials Program at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and by the National Science Foundation. Advanced codes were provided by the Center for Computational Study of Excited-State Phenomena in Energy Materials (C2SEPEM). The Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility provided computational resources in this study. The Texas Advanced Computing Center and National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center provided additional computational resources in this study.
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
weatheriscool
Posts: 12967
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: Material Science News and Discussions

Post by weatheriscool »

Bacterial enzyme makes new type of biodegradable polymer
https://phys.org/news/2022-03-bacterial ... lymer.html
by American Chemical Society

Strings of sugars called polysaccharides are the most abundant biopolymers on Earth. Because of their versatile and environmentally friendly properties, these molecules could eventually replace some plastics. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Central Science have identified a previously unknown bacterial enzyme that can make a new type of polysaccharide, which is similar to the biopolymer chitin. The new molecule is biodegradable and could be useful for drug delivery, tissue engineering and other biomedical applications.

Polysaccharides play many roles in organisms, and because they are biocompatible and biodegradable, these molecules are promising carrier materials for a broad range of therapeutics. The identity of individual sugar molecules in the chain, and the way they are linked together, make them function in different ways. Enzymes known as glycoside phosphorylases can cut certain polysaccharides apart or make new ones, depending on the reaction conditions. For example, one such enzyme makes chitin, the major component of arthropod exoskeletons and fungal cell walls. Stephen Withers and colleagues wondered if there might be previously unknown, naturally occurring enzymes that could make new types of polysaccharides.
weatheriscool
Posts: 12967
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: Material Science News and Discussions

Post by weatheriscool »

Researchers discover new form of ice

by Natalie Bruzda, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
https://phys.org/news/2022-03-ice.html
UNLV researchers have discovered a new form of ice, redefining the properties of water at high pressures.

Solid water, or ice, is like many other materials in that it can form different solid materials based on variable temperature and pressure conditions, like carbon forming diamond or graphite. However, water is exceptional in this aspect as there are at least 20 solid forms of ice known to us.

A team of scientists working in UNLV's Nevada Extreme Conditions Lab pioneered a new method for measuring the properties of water under high pressure. The water sample was first squeezed between the tips of two opposite-facing diamonds—freezing into several jumbled ice crystals. The ice was then subjected to a laser-heating technique that temporarily melted it before it quickly re-formed into a powder-like collection of tiny crystals.

By incrementally raising the pressure, and periodically blasting it with the laser beam, the team observed the water ice make the transition from a known cubic phase, Ice-VII, to the newly discovered intermediate, and tetragonal, phase, Ice-VIIt, before settling into another known phase, Ice-X.

Zach Grande, a UNLV Ph.D. student, led the work which also demonstrated that the transition to Ice-X, when water stiffens aggressively, occurs at much lower pressures than previously thought.
weatheriscool
Posts: 12967
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: Material Science News and Discussions

Post by weatheriscool »

Concrete made with old tires proves itself in real-world setting
By Nick Lavars
March 30, 2022
https://newatlas.com/materials/crumb-ru ... ding-slab/

With a notoriously large carbon footprint, concrete is a prime target for researchers developing greener materials for the future of construction. A number of studies have shown how old rubber tires can be used to make versions that are stronger, more heat-resistant and flexible enough for use as a road material. A new study has assessed its value in real-world settings by using concrete containing old tires as a residential slab and monitoring its performance over several years, where it outshone conventional concrete in a number of ways.

The type of concrete at the center of this study is known as crumb rubber concrete, and its production involves grinding rubber tire down into crumbs of a similar consistency to sand. These crumbs can then be used to replace a certain proportion of the sand typically mixed in with the cement, water and other ingredients to form concrete, lessening the reliance on the natural material and giving the discarded rubber a second life.

Scientists at the University of South Australia and Melbourne's RMIT University have sought to take this material from the "lab to the slab," noting that while it has shown a lot of promise in laboratory testing, its reliability in real-world construction requires further exploration.
weatheriscool
Posts: 12967
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: Material Science News and Discussions

Post by weatheriscool »

Manganese oxide material can rapidly store and release low-grade heat without decomposing
https://phys.org/news/2022-04-manganese ... grade.html
by Tohoku University
Scientists in Japan have found a common substance that can reversibly and rapidly store and release relatively large amounts of low-grade heat without decomposing. The research could lead to more efficient reuse of industrial waste heat. The results were published in the journal Nature Communications and were a collaboration between scientists at Tohoku University's Institute for Materials Research and Rigaku Corporation, a company that designs and manufactures X-ray-based measurement and thermal analysis tools.

In their investigations, the researchers used a layered manganese oxide mineral containing potassium ions and crystal water. This mineral is quite similar in its composition to birnessite, which is commonly found on the Earth's surface. The team fabricated their compound in the form of an insoluble black powder and then examined its crystal structure using an X-ray diffractometer and a transmission electron microscope. They then examined how the compound's structure changed when heated or cooled, and how much and how quickly heat energy was stored and released.

Heating the material up to 200︎ degrees Celsius dehydrated it by giving its stored water molecules the energy they need to be released into the surrounding atmosphere. When the dehydrated material was then cooled below 120︎C in a dry container and then exposed to humid air, it absorbed water molecules and released its stored heat.
weatheriscool
Posts: 12967
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: Material Science News and Discussions

Post by weatheriscool »

Shedding new light on controlling material properties in solid-layered perovskite
https://phys.org/news/2022-04-material- ... skite.html
by Kyoto University
Materials scientists may soon be able to control material properties with light.

A team consisting of researchers at Kyoto University and Kurume Institute of Technology have discovered a scaling law that determines high-order harmonic generation in the solid-layered perovskite material, Ca2RuO4.

High-order harmonic generation is a nonlinear optical phenomenon where extreme ultraviolet photons are emitted by a material as a result of interactions with high intensity light.

"The phenomenon, which was first observed in atomic gas systems, has since paved the way to attosecond science," says study author Kento Uchida. "But it is slightly more unpredictable in some strongly correlated solids, like Ca2RuO4."
weatheriscool
Posts: 12967
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: Material Science News and Discussions

Post by weatheriscool »

A new class of catalysts for environmentally-friendly coatings
https://phys.org/news/2022-04-class-cat ... tings.html
by University of Konstanz

Chemists from Konstanz have developed a new class of catalysts that enable manufacturing of polyethylene dispersions directly in water. This opens up perspectives for the environmentally-friendly, solvent-free production of plastic coatings.

Polyethylene (PE) is one of today's most important types of plastic. It is used in a wide range of everyday objects—from plastic bottles to pipes, ski coatings and toys. In the form of PE dispersions, it also forms the basis for different coatings and adhesives.

Professor Stefan Mecking and Dr. Fei Lin from the Department of Chemistry at the University of Konstanz have now taken a big step closer to the environmentally-friendly, solvent-free production of PE coatings. In their recent article in the international edition of the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition, the chemists describe a new class of water-soluble catalysts that make it possible to manufacture PE dispersions directly in water. This eliminates energy-intensive intermediate steps in the production of solvent-free, emission-free coatings.

Organic solvents as the existing industry standard

Because of their technical characteristics and their comparatively low production costs, plastics have become an essential industrial material. They are comprised of large, long-chain molecules that, depending on the type, can also be branched polymers and are composed of many repeat units formed from basic building blocks. In the case of polyethylene, the basic building block is ethylene—a gaseous hydrocarbon compound.
weatheriscool
Posts: 12967
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: Material Science News and Discussions

Post by weatheriscool »

Building nanoalloy libraries from laser-induced thermionic emission reduction experiments
https://phys.org/news/2022-05-nanoalloy ... ssion.html
by Thamarasee Jeewandara , Phys.org

High-entropy nanoalloys (HENA) have widespread applications in materials science and applied physics. However, their synthesis is challenging due to slow kinetics that cause phase segregation, sophisticated pretreatment of precursors, and inert conditions. In a new report now published in Science Advances, Haoqing Jiang and a team of scientists in industrial engineering, nanotechnology and materials science in the U.S., and China, described a process of converting metal salts to ultrafine HENAs on carbonaceous supports using nanosecond pulse lasers. Based on the unique laser induced thermionic emission and etch on carbon, the team gathered the reduced metal elements of ultrafine HENAs stabilized via the defective carbon support. The resulting process produced a variety of HENAs ranging from 1-to-3 nanometers and metal elements of up to 11 grams per hour, with a productivity reaching 7 grams per hour. The HENAs exhibited excellent catalytic performance during oxygen reduction, with great practical potential.
weatheriscool
Posts: 12967
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: Material Science News and Discussions

Post by weatheriscool »

Scientists develop powerful family of 2D materials
https://phys.org/news/2022-05-scientist ... rials.html
by Barri Bronston, Tulane University
A team from the Tulane University School of Science and Engineering has developed a new family of two-dimensional materials that researchers say has promising applications, including in advanced electronics and high-capacity batteries.

Led by Michael Naguib, an assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Engineering Physics, the study has been published in the journal Advanced Materials.

"Two-dimensional materials are nanomaterials with thickness in the nanometer size (nanometer is one millionth of a millimeter) and lateral dimensions thousands of times the thickness," Naguib said. "Their flatness offers unique set of properties compared to bulk materials."

The name of the new family of 2D materials is transition metal carbo-chalcogenides, or TMCC. It combines the characteristics of two families of 2D materials—transition metal carbides and transition metal dichalcogenides.
weatheriscool
Posts: 12967
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: Material Science News and Discussions

Post by weatheriscool »

Researchers develop 3D-printed shape memory alloy with superior superelasticity
https://phys.org/news/2022-05-3d-printe ... icity.html
by Michelle Revels, Texas A&M University
Laser powder bed fusion, a 3D-printing technique, offers potential in the manufacturing industry, particularly when fabricating nickel-titanium shape memory alloys with complex geometries. Although this manufacturing technique is attractive for applications in the biomedical and aerospace fields, it has rarely showcased the superelasticity required for specific applications using nickel-titanium shape memory alloys. Defects generated and changes imposed onto the material during the 3D-printing process prevented the superelasticity from appearing in 3D-printed nickel-titanium.

Researchers from Texas A&M University recently showcased superior tensile superelasticity by fabricating a shape memory alloy through laser powder bed fusion, nearly doubling the maximum superelasticity reported in literature for 3D printing.

This study was recently published in vol. 229 of the Acta Materialia journal.

Nickel-titanium shape memory alloys have various applications due to their ability to return to their original shape upon heating or upon removal of the applied stress. Therefore, they can be used in biomedical and aerospace fields for stents, implants, surgical devices and aircraft wings. However, developing and properly fabricating these materials requires extensive research to characterize functional properties and examine the microstructure.
Post Reply