Blog
- Scientists discover quantum phase transition in pressurized cuprate superconductors 03/03/2022 The discovery of cuprate high-temperature superconductors in 1986 impacted science and technology considerably and continues to fascinate the communities of condensed matter physics and material sciences because they host the highest ambient-pressure superconducting transition temperature and unconventional electronic behavior. However, the underlying mechanism of the superconductivity is yet an unsolved mystery. Searching for the universal links between the superconducting state and its neighboring quantum states is considered an effective approach to elucidate the high temperature superconducting mechanism.
- An easy to assemble PDMS/CNTs/PANI flexible supercapacitor with high energy-to-power density 02/03/2022 The fabrication of a flexible supercapacitor with state-of-the-art performance is described, based on a facile and low-cost fabrication method that encompasses aligned carbon nanotube arrays (ACNTA)-polyaniline/polydimethylsiloxane electrodes (ACNTA-PANI/PDMS). The ACNTA were partially embedded in PDMS to ensure excellent adhesion and integration whilst PANI was electrodeposited on its surface to improve energy storage properties.
- Tiny electrical vortexes bridge gap between ferroelectric and ferromagnetic materials 24/02/2022 Ferromagnetic materials have a self-generating magnetic field, ferroelectric materials generate their own electrical field. Although electric and magnetic fields are related, physics tells us that they are very different classes of material. Now the discovery by University of Warwick-led scientists of a complex electrical ‘vortex’-like pattern that mirrors its magnetic counterpart suggests that they could actually be two sides of the same coin.
- Researchers create molecule that can pave way for mini-transistors 22/02/2022 Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have succeeded in developing a simple hydrocarbon molecule with a logic gate function, similar to that in transistors, in a single molecule. The discovery could make electric components on a molecular scale possible in the future. The results are published in Nature Communications.
- NEWS Flip battery sideways for NMR studies 17/02/2022 Researchers have recorded the first ever nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra of unmodified, off-the-shelf button batteries as they are charged and discharged. The metal battery casing had so far prevented such studies as it blocks the NMR radiofrequency field. But a team from Sandia National Laboratories, US, has found a way around this – simply turn the battery by 90°.
- NEWS Dilanthanide complexes smash record for strongest single-molecule magnet 15/02/2022 Newly discovered dilanthanide complexes are the strongest single-molecule magnets ever made. It’s the first time that chemists have isolated complexes featuring lanthanide–lanthanide bonds, and could offer a way to make powerful new permanent magnets.
- Towards high-performance organic optoelectronics with better crystallinity at semiconductor interface 10/02/2022 Semiconductor electronic devices can be made of either inorganic crystals, formed by the strong bonding of atoms and ions, or organic crystals, which demonstrate weaker bonds held together by van der Waals forces (weak electric forces of attraction between neutral atoms or molecules that do not share a chemical bond). These weak bonds make organic semiconductors viable for flexible optoelectronics applications such as wearable electronic devices and flexible solar cells. However, this very characteristic also lends them a disadvantage: organic semiconductors typically exhibit poor charge carrier mobility and, therefore, do not conduct electricity well.
- Record-breaking molecular magnet 08/02/2022 Dilanthanide complexes could pave the way for a new breed of powerful permanent magnets
- Scientists Observe Quantum Spin Liquids: A State of Matter We've Never Seen Before 03/02/2022 An exotic and totally new state of matter called a quantum spin liquid has been hypothesized for decades, and now scientists have been able to observe it in a laboratory for the first time.
- A well-known iron-based magnet is also a potential quantum information material 01/02/2022 Scientists pursuing better performance in a well-known type of iron-based magnet also discovered wide-gap semiconducting behavior and a quantum state useful for quantum information processing—all in a single low-cost material that has been in existence for decades.
- Light could boost performance of fuel cells, lithium batteries and other devices 27/01/2022 Engineers from MIT and Kyushu University in Japan have demonstrated for the first time that light can be used to significantly improve the performance of fuel cells, lithium batteries and other devices that are based on the movement of charged atoms, or ions.