For the first time, researchers have succeeded in creating an iron molecule that can function both as a photocatalyst to produce fuel and in solar cells to produce electricity. The results indicate that the iron molecule could replace the...
In the search for clean energy alternatives to fossil fuels, one promising solution relies on photoelectrochemical (PEC) cells—water-splitting, artificial-photosynthesis devices that turn sunlight and water into solar fuels such as hydrogen.
In just a decade, researchers in the field have...
Kyoto University scientists are one step closer to designing porous materials that can change and retain their shapes—a function known as shape-memory effect.
Shape-memory materials have applications in many fields. For example, they could be implanted in the body and...
When materials reach extremely small size scales, strange things begin to happen. One of those phenomena is the formation of mesocrystals.
Despite being composed of separate individual crystals, mesocrystals come together to form a larger, fused structure that behaves as...
The world fell in love with plastics because they're cheap, convenient, lightweight and long- lasting. For these same reasons, plastics are now trashing the Earth.
Colorado State University chemists have announced in the journal Science another major step toward waste-free,...
Biomedical engineers from Duke University and Washington University in St. Louis have demonstrated that, by injecting an artificial protein made from a solution of ordered and disordered segments, a solid scaffold forms in response to body heat, and in...
This is an image of near-infrared-light-driven hydrogen evolution from water photo-driven by triruthenium photosensitizer.
Credit: Kyushu University
Hydrogen gas is a promising "green" fuel. The lightest chemical element, hydrogen is an efficient energy store and could potentially replace gasoline in vehicles....
ORNL researchers have discovered a new type of quantum critical point, a new way in which materials change from one state of matter to another. Featured here are researchers Lekh Poudel (left), Andrew Christianson and Andrew May.
Credit: Genevieve Martin,...
The electron wave function A canister of liquid helium inside the blue cylinder allowed researchers to experiment with tiny electron bubbles only 3.6 nanometers in diameter. The work suggests that the wave function of an electron can be split...
Imagine grabbing carbon dioxide from car exhaust pipes and other sources and turning this main greenhouse gas into fuels like natural gas or propane: a sustainability dream come true.
Several recent studies have shown some success in this conversion, but...
The strongest synthetic materials are often those that intentionally mimic nature.
One natural substance scientists have looked to in creating synthetic materials is nacre, also known as mother-of-pearl. An exceptionally tough, stiff material produced by some mollusks and serving as their inner shell...
