Blog
- 06/04/2021 2D materials combine, becoming polarized and giving rise to photovoltaic effect For the first time, researchers have discovered a way to obtain polarity and photovoltaic behavior from certain nonphotovoltaic, atomically flat (2D) materials. The key lies in the special way in which the materials are arranged. The resulting effect is different from, and potentially superior to, the photovoltaic effect commonly found in solar cells.
- 01/04/2021 Cadmium cyanide surprises chemists by shrinking when irradiated with x-rays Contraction expands potential applications for inorganic materials
- 30/03/2021 Subtle quantum phenomenon found to alter chemical reactivity for the first time
- 25/03/2021 Ionization source for mass spectrometry needs no external power supply Device could have applications for portable instruments
- 23/03/2021 Warped nanographene at odds with aromaticity Scientists discover a π-electron circuit with an odd number of electrons in a polycyclic system
- 18/03/2021 Nano-gate: Researchers create voltage-controlled nanopores that can trap particles as they try to pass through Scientists from the Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research at Osaka University fabricated nanopores in silicon dioxide, that were only 300 nm, in diameter surrounded by electrodes. These nanopores could prevent particles from entering just by applying a voltage, which may permit the development of sensors that can detect very small concentrations of target molecules, as well as next-generation DNA sequencing technology.
- 16/03/2021 Stable 2D boron material created for the first time Atomically thin boron stabilised by hydrogenating the material to create borophane
- 11/03/2021 Subtle quantum phenomenon found to alter chemical reactivity for the first time A new frontier has been discovered in how quantum phenomena control chemical reactivity. By colliding beams of two different reactants, a Chinese team spanning three universities has shown that the outcome can only be explained by interactions between electron spin and orbital angular momentum. This is the first time that electronic angular momentum has been found to affect such reactions, explains Xueming Yang from South University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen. The finding is ‘very special’, adds his colleague Zhigang Sun from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics.
- 09/03/2021 Taking 2-D materials for a spin Scientists from the University of Tsukuba and a scientist from the Institute of High Pressure Physics detected and mapped the electronic spins moving in a working transistor made of molybdenum disulfide. This research may lead to much faster computers that take advantage of the natural magnetism of electrons, as opposed to just their charge.
- 04/03/2021 A New Class of Superconductors: Commonly Mistaken Name Leads to Discovery A new theory that could explain how unconventional superconductivity arises in a diverse set of compounds might never have happened if physicists Qimiao Si and Emilian Nica had chosen a different name for their 2017 model of orbital-selective superconductivity.