Metals and alloys news, September 2015

Fractal finding reveals glass isn’t so amorphous after all

By studying metallic glasses, scientists have revealed that the atoms in glass form a fractal pattern at small scales.

New flexible conductor stretches repeatedly without fatigue

A new stretchable, transparent conductor can be stretched and released at least 10,000 times without showing signs of fatigue.

Scientists make ultra-thin invisibility cloak fit for Harry Potter

A new ultra-thin invisibility ‘skin’ cloak can conform to the shape of an object and conceal it from detection with visible light.

A multidisciplinary journal, Heliyon, publishes its first papers

Thin ferroelectric material defies conventional wisdom

A team of physicists has induced stable ferroelectricity in a sheet of strontium titanate only a few nanometers thick.

Expensive platinum needs cheap metal oxides for catalysis

A new study of the catalytic behavior of platinum nanoparticles has revealed the importance of the iron oxide they sit on.

New metal catalysts from machine learning

Scientists have developed a unique model for the fast and accurate prediction of novel metal alloy materials for catalysis.

Researchers develop 'instruction manual' for futuristic metallic glass

A new model can predict for the first time which combinations of metals will best form metallic glass.

New catalyst could make more efficient automobiles less polluting

A new catalyst could help fuel-efficient automobile engines to run more cleanly and efficiently.

Pt nanoparticles hold hollow appeal for catalysis

Simple, new technique creates tiny hollow cages of Pt with walls just a few atoms thick that could be used in catalysis.

Single-minded approach to imaging nanoparticles

Individual nanoparticles in solution can be resolved in 3D by combining developments in electron microscopy, biology, and computation.

Announcing a new ISSN for Materials & Design

Materials and Design is feeling refreshed with a new ISSN.

German Materials Society Award for Prof. Boccaccini

Insulator-to-metal transitions spotted in superconductor

Scientists have announced the first observation of a dynamic Mott transition in a superconductor.

Cheap, abundant alternative to platinum for hydrogen production

A novel catalyst made from cheap, abundant materials is almost as effective as platinum at splitting water to produce hydrogen.

Growing thin films on nanosheets provides magnetic control

Growing magnetic layers on a 2D crystal can provide highly local control over the preferred direction of the magnetism.

Novel ‘electron camera’ captures atomic wrinkles in 2D materials

A new 'electron camera' shows how individual atoms move to form wrinkles in a single layer of molecules.

Indium-coated plastic makes ideal conductor for flexible electronics

Plasmonic nanoparticles split water with hot electrons

A novel material is able to split water by using gold nanoparticles to produce hot electrons.

New technique lets scientists view nanoparticles as individuals

A new way to study nanoparticles one at a time has revealed that seemingly identical particles can have very different properties.

New material sheds light on environmental conditions

A newly developed polymer material can emit light of different colors in response to a wide variety of external conditions.

For 2D boron, it’s all about the base

Theoretical calculations suggest that the properties of atom-thick sheets of boron depend on where those atoms are deposited.

Top 10 Materials News from August 2015