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Categories: Chemistry: Thermodynamics, Engineering: Graphene
Published New fabric makes urban heat islands more bearable



Researchers detail a new wearable fabric that can help urban residents survive the worst impacts of massive heat caused by global climate change, with applications in clothing, building and car design, and food storage. By addressing both direct solar heating and the thermal radiation emitting from pavement and buildings in urban heat islands, the material kept 2.3 degrees Celsius (4.1 degrees Fahrenheit) cooler than the broadband emitter fabric used for outdoor endurance sports and 8.9 degrees Celsius (16 degrees Fahrenheit) cooler than the commercialized silk commonly used for shirts, dresses and other summer clothing.
Published 3D-printed mini-actuators can move small soft robots, lock them into new shapes



Researchers have demonstrated miniature soft hydraulic actuators that can be used to control the deformation and motion of soft robots that are less than a millimeter thick. The researchers have also demonstrated that this technique works with shape memory materials, allowing users to repeatedly lock the soft robots into a desired shape and return to the original shape as needed.
Published New plasma escape mechanism could protect fusion vessels from excessive heat



The exhaust heat generated by a fusing plasma in a commercial-scale reactor may not be as damaging to the vessel's innards as once thought, according to new research about escaping plasma particles.
Published Researchers engineer new approach for controlling thermal emission



If a material absorbs light, it will heat up. That heat must go somewhere, and the ability to control where and how much heat is emitted can protect or even hide such devices as satellites. An international team of researchers has published a novel method for controlling this thermal emission in Science.
Published Newly developed material logs and stores stress information of infrastructure



A new material may be the key to quickly flag damaged infrastructure. This material offers a way to reduce the manpower required to regularly monitor structures that undergo daily use such as bridges. Compared to previous methods, this environmentally friendly material boasts the ability to operate without a power supply, and store information about previous incidents of mechanical stress. The application of this mechanoluminescent material is expected to make it easier and less costly to assess the safety of structures we may use in our everyday lives.
Published Pushing an information engine to its limits



The molecules that make up the matter around us are in constant motion. What if we could harness that energy and put it to use? Over 150 years ago Maxwell theorized that if molecules' motion could be measured accurately, this information could be used to power an engine. Until recently this was a thought experiment, but technological breakthroughs have made it possible to build working information engines in the lab. Researchers have now teamed up to build an information engine and test its limits.
Published Towards next-gen functional materials: direct observation of electron transfer in solids



Nanoscale electron transfer (ET) in solids is fundamental to the development of multifunctional materials. However, ET in solids is not yet clearly understood. Now, researchers achieved a direct observation of solid-state ET through X-ray crystal analysis by fabricating a novel double-walled non-covalent crystalline nanotube, which can absorb electron donor molecules and maintain its crystalline structure during ET. This innovative approach can lead to the design of novel functional materials soon.
Published Overcoming barriers to heat pump adoption in cold climates and avoiding the 'energy poverty trap'



Converting home heating systems from natural gas furnaces to electric heat pumps is seen as a way to address climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Published Graphene gets cleaned up



Engineers establish the link between oxygen and graphene quality and present an oxygen-free chemical vapor deposition method (OF-CVD) that can reproducibly create high-quality samples for large-scale production. The graphene they synthesized with their new method proved nearly identical to exfoliated samples and was capable of producing the fractional quantum Hall effect.
Published Researchers create materials with unique combo of stiffness, thermal insulation



Researchers have demonstrated the ability to engineer materials that are both stiff and capable of insulating against heat. This combination of properties is extremely unusual and holds promise for a range of applications, such as the development of new thermal insulation coatings for electronic devices.
Published Performance of eco-friendly cooling applications enhanced



Researchers have developed a sustainable and controllable strategy to manipulate interfacial heat transfer, paving the way for improving the performance of eco-friendly cooling in various applications such as electronics, buildings and solar panels.
Published Breakthrough discovery uses engineered surfaces to shed heat



Splash a few drops of water on a hot pan and if the pan is hot enough, the water will sizzle and the droplets of water seem to roll and float, hovering above the surface. The temperature at which this phenomenon, called the Leidenfrost effect, occurs is predictable, usually happening above 230 degrees Celsius. A team has now discovered a method to create the aquatic levitation at a much lower temperature.
Published Renewable grid: Recovering electricity from heat storage hits 44% efficiency



Closing in on the theoretical maximum efficiency, devices for turning heat into electricity are edging closer to being practical for use on the grid, according to new research.
Published Strings that can vibrate forever (kind of)



Researchers have engineered string-like resonators capable of vibrating longer at ambient temperature than any previously known solid-state object -- approaching what is currently only achievable near absolute zero temperatures. Their study pushes the edge of nanotechnology and machine learning to make some of the world's most sensitive mechanical sensors.
Published New polystyrene recycling process could be world's first to be both economical and energy-efficient



Engineers have modeled a new way to recycle polystyrene that could become the first viable way of making the material reusable.
Published Scientists develop new battery-free lactic acid sensor



Scientists have created a new type of chemosensor (demonstrated for lactic acid sensing) which functions with electricity but without the need for reference electrodes or battery power.
Published Powering wearable devices with high-performing carbon nanotube yarns



Carbon nanotube (CNT) yarns are promising for flexible and fabric-type wearable materials that can convert waste heat into thermoelectricity. To improve the thermoelectric properties of CNT yarns, researchers dispersed CNT filaments in a highly viscous glycerol, enabling the production of CNT yarn with highly aligned bundles together with surfactants that prevent increased thermal conductivity. This innovative approach can significantly improve carbon nanotube-based thermoelectric materials, making it possible to power wearable devices using just body heat.
Published Enhancing superconductivity of graphene-calcium superconductors



Researchers experimentally investigate the impact of introducing high-density calcium on the superconductivity of calcium-intercalated bilayer graphene.
Published Ion irradiation offers promise for 2D material probing



Two-dimensional materials such as graphene promise to form the basis of incredibly small and fast technologies, but this requires a detailed understanding of their electronic properties. New research demonstrates that fast electronic processes can be probed by irradiating the materials with ions first.
Published A powerful tool speeds success in achieving highly efficient thermoelectric materials



Thermoelectric materials could play an important role in the clean energy transition, as they can produce electricity from sources of heat that would otherwise go to waste. Researchers report a new approach to efficiently predict when thermoelectric materials will have improved performance in converting heat into electricity.