News from the NNI Community - Research Advances Funded by Agencies Participating in the NNI

Researchers at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University have shown, for the first time, that a cheap catalyst can split water and generate hydrogen gas for hours on end in the harsh environment of a commercial device. The reactions that generate hydrogen and oxygen gas take place on different electrodes using different precious metal catalysts. In this case, the scientists replaced the platinum catalyst on the hydrogen-generating side with a catalyst consisting of cobalt phosphide nanoparticles deposited on carbon to form a fine black powder.

While many nanomaterials exhibit promising electronic properties, scientists and engineers are still working to best integrate these materials together to eventually create semiconductors and circuits with them. Northwestern Engineering researchers have created two-dimensional heterostructures from two of these materials, graphene and borophene, taking an important step toward creating integrated circuits from these nanomaterials.

While many nanomaterials exhibit promising electronic properties, scientists and engineers are still working to best integrate these materials together to eventually create semiconductors and circuits with them. Northwestern Engineering researchers have created two-dimensional heterostructures from two of these materials, graphene and borophene, taking an important step toward creating integrated circuits from these nanomaterials.

Scientists at Rice University have demonstrated how to optimize a method that can sense small concentrations of molecules by amplifying the light they emit when their spectral frequencies overlap with those of nearby plasmonic nanoparticles. These nanoparticles emit coherent electron waves that ripple across the surfaces of the nanoparticles, act as antennas, and enhance the molecules’ emitted light up to 10 times when they are in the “sweet spot” near a given nanoparticle.

Scientists at Rice University have demonstrated how to optimize a method that can sense small concentrations of molecules by amplifying the light they emit when their spectral frequencies overlap with those of nearby plasmonic nanoparticles. These nanoparticles emit coherent electron waves that ripple across the surfaces of the nanoparticles, act as antennas, and enhance the molecules’ emitted light up to 10 times when they are in the “sweet spot” near a given nanoparticle.

Researchers at the Center for Nanoscale Materials, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility, which is located at DOE's Argonne National Laboratory, have reported the cause behind a key quantum property of donut-like nanoparticles called "semiconductor quantum rings."  This property may find application in quantum information storage, communication, and computing in future technologies.

Researchers at the Center for Nanoscale Materials, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility, which is located at DOE's Argonne National Laboratory, have reported the cause behind a key quantum property of donut-like nanoparticles called "semiconductor quantum rings."  This property may find application in quantum information storage, communication, and computing in future technologies.

A Berkeley Lab-led team of physicists and materials scientists has, for the first time, unambiguously observed and documented the unique optical phenomena that occur in certain types of synthetic materials called moire superlattices – materials made by layering sheets of single-atom-thick materials on top of one another in precise configurations. The new findings will help researchers understand how to better manipulate materials into light emitters with controllable quantum properties.

A Berkeley Lab-led team of physicists and materials scientists has, for the first time, unambiguously observed and documented the unique optical phenomena that occur in certain types of synthetic materials called moire superlattices – materials made by layering sheets of single-atom-thick materials on top of one another in precise configurations. The new findings will help researchers understand how to better manipulate materials into light emitters with controllable quantum properties.

Most attempts to turn textiles into wearable technology use stiff metallic fibers that alter the texture and physical behavior of the fabric. And coating methods that are successfully able to apply enough material to a textile substrate to make it highly conductive also tend to make the yarns and fabrics too brittle to withstand normal wear and tear. Now researchers at Drexel University have shown that they can create a highly conductive, durable yarn by coating standard cellulose-based yarns with a type of conductive two-dimensional material called MXene. Related video: https://youtu.be/Jxx3pAWvJqY