[Images above] Credit: NIST
ENERGY
Shark-inspired nozzle design may reduce wear of components within nuclear reactors
Researchers at Polytechnique Montréal (Montreal, QC, Canada) were inspired by shark gills to invent a biomimetic nozzle that reduces the grid-to-rod fretting of nuclear fuel assemblies. This novel safety-enhancing idea holds great potential to minimize wear of critical components, such as the spacer grids supporting fuel rods.
25 years of massive fusion energy experiment data now available to everyone
Since 2023, all data obtained from experiments at the Large Helical Device of the National Institute for Fusion Science are open to the public immediately after acquisition and analysis is completed. All computing program source codes for data analysis are also openly available.
Model suggests green hydrogen is best way to overcome volatility of renewable energy
Researchers at Korea Institute of Energy Research developed a model that verified the effectiveness of using green hydrogen to address power grid instability and output restriction issues arising from the expansion of renewable energy.
Major gains in perovskite solar cell stability
Rice University researchers described a way to synthesize formamidinium lead iodide into ultrastable, high-quality photovoltaic films. The overall efficiency of the resulting perovskite solar cells decreased by less than 3% over more than 1,000 hours of operation at temperatures of 85°C (185°F).
ENVIRONMENT
Mining researchers train robot to search for critical minerals in abandoned mines
The U.S. Department of the Interior estimates there could be as many as 500,000 abandoned mine sites on federal land, and researchers at Montana Technological University’s Department of Mining Engineering are using novel robotic technology to see if any of those already disturbed sites might hold critical minerals.
Concrete–nitrogen mix may provide major health and environment benefits
An international group of researchers note that commercializing nitrogenation, or the addition of nitrogen to concrete, is likely to provide better economic and environmental prospects than similar processes relating to carbon dioxide.
MANUFACTURING
From seashells to cement, nature inspires tougher building material
Inspired by the material that makes up oyster and abalone shells, engineers at Princeton University created a new cement composite that is 17 times more crack-resistant than standard cement and 19 times more able to stretch and deform without breaking.
Researcher clarifies rapid glass-formation process with wide-ranging applications
An Arizona State University professor determined the correlation between glass quality and the presence of a mobile surface layer during glass formation by vapor deposition. The result is an improved quality of glass resulting from a mobile surface layer as the glass is formed.
Engineering of SiC/C microspheres as high-performance microwave absorbing materials
Harbin Institute of Technology researchers developed a high-temperature pyrolysis process that spontaneously forms hollow silicon carbide/carbon microspheres due to interface reactions. This structure not only facilitates lightweight requirements but also significantly enhances the attenuation ability of incident electromagnetic waves.
OTHER STORIES
Tackling challenges in new quantum materials design
Researchers led by Clemson University develop a new noncentrosymmetric triangular-lattice magnet, CaMnTeO6. The new model material displays competing magnetic interactions and features nonlinear optical responses with the capability of generating coherent photons.
New approach to identifying altermagnetic materials
Altermagnetic materials are proposed in theory to possess properties combining those of both antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic materials. Researchers led by Osaka Metropolitan University pioneered a new method to identify altermagnets, using manganese telluride as a testbed.
Researchers engineer new approach for controlling thermal emission
An international team of researchers demonstrated a way to build an interface that joins two surfaces with different geometric properties to localize thermal emissions from both surfaces, enabling a “perfect” thermal emitter.
Breakthrough in next-generation memory technology
Researchers at Pohang University of Science and Technology significantly enhanced the data storage capacity of ferroelectric memory devices by doping hafnia with aluminum and by replacing the conventional structure with a new layered arrangement.
Mixing water with a peptide results in self-assembling and self-healing glass
Researchers from Tel Aviv University and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, working with a colleague from California Institute of Technology, found that mixing a certain peptide with water results in the creation of a self-assembling and self-healing glass.