Crystalline materials news, November 2019

Open Call - Materials Today Chemistry: Special Issue on FINAEC (Functional Interfaces based Nanomaterials for Applications in Environment and Chemistry)

Solvent dance leads to crystal growth

Using computer-based simulations of atoms and molecules in solution, scientists have identified a general mechanism governing crystal growth.

Deadline Extended for the 2020 Robert Cahn Award

Catalyst switching creates one material out of four polymers

By juggling four different chemical reactions in a single flask, researchers have combined four polymers to form a single multicrystalline substance.

Electric field causes liquid crystals to display novel structures

By applying an intermittent electrical field, researchers have managed to get blue-phase liquid crystals to adopt novel structures with novel properties.

Molybdenum disulfide sandwich makes superconducting transistor

By studying superconductivity in molybdenum disulfide, scientists have developed a superconducting transistor and discovered new superconducting states.

Scientists assemble nanomaterials using light-based ‘tractor beam’

Using optical tweezers as a light-based ‘tractor beam’, researchers have developed a method for assembling nanomaterials into larger structures.

Why do some crystals shrink when they’re heated?

By analyzing the atomic structure of scandium fluoride, scientists have discovered why certain crystalline materials shrink when they're heated.

New technique provides unprecedented insight into crystallization

Using computer modeling and a novel imaging technique, scientists have been able to study the self-assembly of crystalline materials at a high resolution.

Diffuse diffraction means perfect graphene

Scientists have found that a broad diffraction pattern can help determine whether graphene and other 2D materials are structurally perfect.

New analysis technique brings battery cathodes to order

A new technique for probing the crystalline microstructure of battery cathodes can reveal the short-term order of the ions in these materials.

New lensless technique spies new properties in old materials

Scientists have used a novel technique called lensless microscopy to uncover previously unknown abilities in nickel and barium hexaferrite.