News by Subject Chemistry & Physics

A unique combination of imaging tools and atomic-level simulations has allowed a team led by the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory to solve a longstanding debate about the properties of a promising material that can harvest energy from light.

Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have discovered a new way of controlling the drying patterns formed by re-crystallizing salt. They found that the coffee ring effect can be used to pin the edge of drying droplets, creating a range of different geometric patterns. The same principles may be applied to understand and improve the adhesion of printer ink to surfaces and the manufacture of film-based devices.

Know that sickening feeling when you find your car banged up by a runaway shopping cart? It may become just a bad memory if auto body manufacturers make use of a new suite of tests developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and three industry partners. Data from these tests could eventually help your vehicle's exterior better defend itself against dings, dents, scratches and things that go bump on the highway.

Researchers have developed a new mechanism to protect enzymes from oxygen as biocatalysts in fuel cells. The enzymes, known as hydrogenases, are just as efficient as precious metal catalysts, but unstable when they come into contact with oxygen. They are therefore not yet suitable for technological applications. The new protective mechanism is based on oxygen-consuming enzymes that draw their energy from sugar.

A team of researchers, affiliated with South Korea's Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) presents alternative approaches for versatile future applications of plastic magnets.

Kyungsuk Yum, an assistant professor in UTA's Materials Science and Engineering Department, and his doctoral student, Amirali Nojoomi, have developed a process by which 2-D hydrogels can be programmed to expand and shrink in a space- and time-controlled way that applies force to their surfaces, enabling the formation of complex 3-D shapes and motions.

A new wirelessly powered light-emitting device, which sticks onto animal tissue like a sticker with tissue-adhesive and elastic nanosheets, could possibly facilitate treatment for hard-to-detect microtumors and deeply located lesions that are hard to reach with standard phototherapy. If clinically applied, the device could be beneficial for cancer patients who seek minimally invasive treatment, helping them live longer and improve their quality of life.