◎ Science and Technology Daily International Department
Russia
Russia
There is a breakthrough in magnetic superconducting materials
Silicon nanotechnology is climbing the hill
Magnetic superconducting materials refer to superconducting materials containing magnetic ions that can be used to accelerate particles in large hadron colliders, build magnetic levitation vehicles, etc. The main problem in the development and mass production of magnetic superconductors is the use of complex and expensive cooling equipment. Researchers at the Russian Quantum Center have obtained magnetic superconducting materials for the first time at room temperature, and with the help of this technology, quantum computers that do not require complex and expensive cooling devices can be created in the future. The experiments were performed on a single crystal membrane of yttrium iron garnet, which has a spontaneous magnetization effect at certain temperatures.
The Russian State Research And Technical University and the Institute of Microelectronics Technical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences have developed a unique silicon nanocomposite through deposition graphene coating technology. This development will accelerate the development of "micropower plant" technology placed directly on the printed circuit boards of electronic products.
Single-walled carbon nanotube molecular internal connection diagram, the left and right ends are metal parts, and the middle is a semiconductor ultrashort channel. Image source: Physicists Organization Network
Porous silicon structures are increasingly being used in microelectronics technology and biomedicine. An important property of it is that holes of different sizes are evenly distributed throughout the material. In medicine, porous silicon membranes act as filters, for example for hemodialysis. In portable electronics, they are used as electrodes for micro fuel cells, a promising hydrogen energy source that can be integrated into printed circuit boards. But when in contact with a working liquid (water or a weakly alkaline solution), the nanoporous silicon is gradually destroyed. Thanks to the new method of treating the silicon structure, its surface resistance is reduced by hundreds of times and its stability to weakly alkaline solutions is significantly improved. In addition, the effective area of the material surface is more than tripled due to the formation of additional bumps on the inner surface of the aperture. All of this greatly improves the characteristics of microfuel cells and improves the durability of the expensive catalysts used in them.
In addition, the Russian Far Eastern Federal University and the Institute of Automation Process Control of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences have developed a technology for laser printing silicon nanoparticles. The advantages of this technology are fast speed, low manufacturing costs, and the ability to cover large areas with particles. This will make VR glasses and other electronics smaller and less expensive to manufacture. Silicon nanoparticles are the building blocks for the production of miniature photoelectric switches, ultra-thin computer chips, microbial sensors and masking coatings. With the help of laser-printed silicon nanoblocks, the main characteristics of the amplitude, spectrum and propagation direction of the light waves incident on them can be controlled.
United Kingdom
The UK
Bionic technology can be driven
Inflatable devices can relieve pain
Researchers at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom have created a sustainable, scalable polymer film based on plants, mimicking the properties of spider silk, one of nature's strongest materials in nature. This new material is as strong as many of the regular plastics used today and could replace single-use plastics in many common household products. At the same time, the material can be safely degraded in most natural environments without the need for industrial composting equipment, and can also be industrialized and mass-produced.
Combining soft robotics manufacturing, ultra-thin electronics and microfluidics, researchers at the University of Cambridge have developed an ultra-thin inflatable device that can treat the most intense limb pain, such as leg and back pain that cannot be cured by painkillers, without the need for invasive surgery. The device could be an effective long-term solution for treating stubborn pain in millions of people around the world.
A collaborative research team led by the University of Liverpool has discovered a new inorganic material with the lowest thermal conductivity, also known as thermal conductivity, ever recorded. This discovery represents a new breakthrough in materials design to control heat flow at the atomic scale, which will promote the accelerated development of new thermoelectric materials that convert waste heat into electricity and efficiently use fuels, and find a new way to build a sustainable society.
The University of Cambridge has found a way to create sustainable, non-toxic, and biodegradable flash agents from cellulose, a major component of the cell wall of plants, fruits and vegetables, using self-assembly technology to produce brightly colored films.
Suspension containing flash agent. Image source: Eurekalert website
Researchers at the University of Cambridge have developed a new material that looks and feels like a soft jelly, but that can withstand the weight of an elephant standing on it and compresses like a piece of ultra-hard, shatter-proof glass. It also fully reverts to its original shape, even if 80% of its composition is water.
United States
The US
Borene hydride works
A new export to quantum research
In the field of new materials, American scientists have used their own whimsy and achieved a number of breakthroughs. In 2004, the "king of new materials" graphene came out, and people have been trying to design new two-dimensional materials since then, borene is considered to be stronger, lighter and more flexible than graphene, or will become another "magical nanomaterial" after graphene.
The figure shows the atomic structure of bilayer borene. All the atoms in the figure are boron, and the pink boron atoms participate in the bonding between layers. Image source: Northwestern University
Argonne National Laboratory and other institutions have developed boron hydride hydroxide composed of boron and hydrogen atoms, a two-dimensional material that is only two atoms thick and stronger than steel, and is expected to play a role in nanoelectronics and quantum information technology. For the first time, engineers at Northwestern University have created a bilayer atomic-thick borene that promises to revolutionize solar cells and quantum computing.
Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, have for the first time developed an ultra-thin magnet that is single atom thick and can operate at room temperature, which is expected to be used in the fields of next-generation memory, computers, spintronics and quantum physics.
In addition, Carnegie University scientists have developed a new method to synthesize a new crystalline silicon with a hexagonal structure that could potentially be used to manufacture a new generation of electronic and energy devices that will outperform existing devices made of ordinary cubic structure silicon. Princeton researchers have developed the world's purest gallium arsenide to date, containing only one impurity per 10 billion atoms, paving the way for further exploration of quantum phenomena.
Japan
Japan
Batteries become longer
Hydrogen storage alloys show power
The Japanese Institute of Materials and Materials trial production of "diamond batteries", also known as "beta volt batteries", is a kind of "nuclear battery" made of radioactive materials. The nuclei of radioactive material are unstable, releasing various radiation lines and decaying, among which carbon-14 and nickel's radioactive isotope nickel 63, etc., release β rays. Carbon-14 has a half-life of about 5700 years and nickel-63 about 100 years, so long-life batteries can be achieved. "Diamond batteries" use such radioactive materials to release β rays to generate electricity. Japan's current trial production of "diamond batteries" with a life of up to 100 years can be used as a power source for space and underground equipment.
The research team at Kochi University of Technology in Japan has developed a sponge structure "nanoporous supermultiple catalyst" that uniformly contains 14 elements and has nano-scale microporous random connections. This catalyst is achieved by preparing an aluminum alloy containing 14 elements, preferentially dissolving the aluminum in an alkaline solution, and then aggregating elements other than aluminum. Since the alloy only needs to be dissolved, it can be produced on a large scale.
Tomography of a metal foam based on an aluminum alloy. Image source: Physicists Organization Network
The Japan Institute of Quantum Science and Technology Research and Development, Tohoku University and the High Energy Accelerator Research Institute improved the composition of the alloy and found that it is possible to store hydrogen without the use of rare metals, using aluminum and iron. The study found that although aluminum and iron are metals that are not easy to react with hydrogen, if they react with high-temperature hydrogen above 650 ° C in an environment of more than 70,000 atmospheres, hydrogen can be stored and become new metal hydrides. Japan has developed such hydrogen storage alloys that do not use rare metals, which can realize the low-cost transportation of hydrogen storage materials.
A research team composed of Tokyo Institute of Technology and Kumamoto University has developed a new substance that helps fuel cells achieve deplatinization, the "fourteen-element ring iron complex.". The research team made an aromatic fourteen-membered ring iron complex with 14 atoms fixed to iron atoms and a structure one circle smaller than the sixteen-membered ring complex. The oxygen reduction catalytic activity of the newly prepared catalyst was evaluated by potential scanning test and found that it had better catalytic activity and durability than ferric anthocyanine. The team's goal was to increase the catalytic activity to about 30 times the current by optimizing the surrounding structure of the fourteen-membered ring, so as to make the platinum replacement catalyst practical.
France
France
International cooperation is on the rise
Innovations vary
In terms of nanotechnology, the Solid State Physics Laboratory of the University of Paris Sur in France and the Institute of Physics of the Technical University of Graz in Austria have conducted the first three-dimensional imaging of nanosurface phonons, which is expected to promote the development of new and more efficient nanotechnology. In order to develop new nanotechnology, surface phonons must first be visualized at the nanoscale. In the new study, the scientists excited lattice vibrations with electron beams, measured them using special spectroscopic methods, and then performed tomography reconstructions.
In terms of hydrogen energy, researchers at the French National Center for Scientific Research and the Technical University of Munich in Germany have developed a new hydrogen catalyst. Hydrogenase is an enzyme that can both catalyze the electrolysis of water to produce hydrogen and realize the reverse reaction of converting hydrogen into electricity, and the researchers incorporated hydrase into a "redox polymer" so that the hydrogenase can be grafted onto the electrodes. The researchers used this to create a system that could catalyze reactions in both directions, meaning that the system could be used either as a fuel cell or the opposite chemical reaction to produce hydrogen by electrolyzing water.
In terms of nanomaterials, the French National Center for Scientific Research and the MIT Concrete Sustainability Center have successfully used nano-carbon black to make cement electrically conductive. The researchers introduced inexpensive and easy-to-mass-produce nano-carbon materials into the mixture and verified their conductivity. By adding nano-carbon black particles with a volume of 4% in the cement mixture, the resulting sample is electrically conductive. When a voltage as low as 5 volts is applied, the temperature of this cement sample can be raised to 41 degrees Celsius. Since it provides uniform heat distribution, this makes it possible for indoor underfloor heating to replace traditional radiant heating systems. It can also be used for road de-icing.
Korea
South Korea
Nano research investment is large
Funding is guaranteed by planning
According to the 2021 Nanotechnology Development Implementation Plan and the Seventh Industrial Technology Innovation Plan (2019-2023) 2021 Implementation Plan, the South Korean government's nano research funding has increased rapidly for three consecutive years.
The Sungkyunkwan University study in South Korea demonstrated a new direction for coating graphene coatings on nickel-rich oxides to prepare cathodes containing high conductivity activity without the use of traditional conductive agents, further revealing the application feasibility of Gr nanotechnology.
The Korean research team has developed a nano-thin film cathode that currently has the best performance using titanium disulfide as an active material and does not use a solid electrolyte.
The Korea Academy of Science and Technology has completed the mass production of metal nanoparticles for hydrogen fuel cell catalysts using the metal thin film deposition process used in semiconductor manufacturing projects. Special substrates are used during the manufacturing process to avoid metal deposition as thin films.
A joint study in South Korea to create a conductive channel with a line width of 4.3 angstroms was successful. The study used two-dimensional black phosphorus of transparent single atom thickness as a conductive material. The material is expected to become a new generation of semiconductor devices to replace graphene. The results were validated by transmission electron microscopy at atomic resolution.
The ultrafast pulsed laser developed by the Korea Institute of Science and Technology plugs an additional resonator containing graphene into a fiber pulsed laser oscillator operating in the femtosecond range, increasing the pulse frequency of existing lasers by 10,000 times.
Israel
Israel
Camouflage according to the environment
Stealth material on the battlefield
Israeli company Polaris Solutions said it worked with the Israeli Ministry of Defense to develop a thermal visual stealth material called "Kit 300" in cooperation. The material is composed of metal, polymer and microfibers, which are mainly used to help soldiers avoid being discovered by thermal imaging equipment at night, but it can also customize colors and patterns according to the needs of the combat environment (such as Gobi, jungle, etc.), and help soldiers camouflage in visible light conditions. In addition, the material is waterproof, has high strength and flexibility, and can be bent into a U-shape as a temporary stretcher.
Researchers at the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology said in a post in the journal Science that it has developed an ultra-thin "two-dimensional material (composed of only one layer of atoms)" that can "capture" light, and scientists can use a special "quantum microscope" to observe the propagation of light in it. The material is expected to pave the way for a new generation of miniature optical technology, said Professor Kamina of the Israeli Institute of Technology, who said the discovery could reduce the diameter of the fiber from 1 micron to 1 nanometer.
The technion research team published a paper saying that removing an oxygen atom from the original structure can significantly improve the conductivity of ferroelectric materials. The researchers found that the atoms of the ferroelectric material barium titanate form a cubic-like lattice structure, and by removing an oxygen atom from the lattice structure, a unique topology called a "quadrupole" can be formed, and the conductivity of the material will be significantly improved, which will help reduce the energy consumption of electronic devices in the future.
Germany
Germany
Record battery efficiency
Synthetic vanadium elements
The Energy and Materials Research Center in Helmholz, Germany, used X-ray microscopy to take 1,000 tomographic images in 1 second, setting a new world record in the field of materials research. The center invented a self-assembling methyl monolayer membrane material placed between silicon and perovskite, which improved the filling performance as well as the stability of solar cells, and created a world record for the efficiency of perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells. The Hulich Research Center et al. synthesized and characterized so-called two-dimensional materials and proved that the materials were topological insulators of magnetic oscillators. The University of Augsburg has developed a stable compound based on the principle of quantum effect hindering magnetic sequencing that can replace paramagnetic salts to achieve ultra-low temperatures.
The Max Planck Colloidal and Interface Institute has developed a carbon nitride nanotube membrane that can catalyze various photochemical reactions with high conversion. These carbon nanotubes act as spatially isolated nanoreactors to convert sewage into clean water. The German Electron Synchrotron Radiation Accelerator uses high-intensity X-rays to observe the operation of individual catalyst nanoparticles, an important step towards a better understanding of true industrial catalytic materials. Using a particle accelerator facility in Darmstadt, Germany, German scientists successfully synthesized and studied element 114, and the results showed that the lithium nucleus is not a so-called "stability island".
The Fritz Hubble Institute found that by irradiating semiconductor zinc oxide with a laser, the semiconductor surface can become metal and then back. The Technical University of Munich and others have found that nano-coatings on the interface of solid-state batteries stabilize batteries. Karlsruhe Institute of Technology has found that coating and drying two layers of electrodes at the same time can reduce drying time to less than 20 seconds, which can increase the production speed of lithium-ion batteries by at least one-third.
The German Federal Institute for Testing for the First Time in the World certified a standard for the determination of fluorescence quantum efficiency, providing reliable and comparable characterization of new fluorescent substances and their measurement techniques. The University of Freiburg has developed an injection molded glass process that can be used to mass-produce complex glass structures and glass devices to replace previous plastic products. The Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics has developed a demineration process that completely separates industrial carbon black from the mineral ash of vehicle tires.
Ukraine
Ukraine
Nanocrystals have properties
Science is cleverly used to cure diseases
In recent decades, the scientific community has become increasingly interested in the use of nanotechnology and the opportunities it offers in the fields of science, engineering and biomedicine. Nanocrystals have unique physical properties compared to their bulk counterparts, and due to their small size, they can easily enter living cells or even single organelles. This allows nanocrystals to be successfully used as carriers of drugs, which greatly facilitates their targeted delivery to individual cells and has great potential, especially in chemotherapy for cancer.
Infographic. Image source: Visual China
Even more interesting are nanocrystals, which can not only act as passive agents for targeted drug delivery, but also actively participate in biological processes within living cells. In October 2021, the Institute of Scintillation Materials of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine released the news that the Institute's Nanostructured Materials Room has conducted research on a new type of biologically active nanocrystals (nanoenzymes) in the field of nanobial materials, which have enzyme-like properties and have the function of controlling the rate of biochemical processes in cells. They found that the properties of these nanocrystals depended mainly on their extremely strong antioxidant activity.
It is well known that the so-called reactive oxygen species are constantly formed in living cells, and due to their extremely high oxidation capacity, various components of living cells can be destroyed, which has a negative impact on the body. As we age, these lesions accumulate, and many scientists believe that the accumulation of this change in human body structure is one of the key causes of aging. That is to say, effectively regulating the level of reactive oxygen species in living cells can become one of the factors that prevent a variety of diseases and even delay aging. Enzyme molecules can control the level of reactive oxygen species in living cells, and one of the most studied types of nanocrystals with enzymatic antioxidant activity is cerium oxide nanocrystals. Scientists at the institute have confirmed that nanocrystals can slow down the aging process in mice, and in the process of research, scientists have also established specific mechanisms for nanocrystals to promote oxidation activity in environments with different acid levels.
Source: Science and Technology Daily (Reporters Dong Yingbi, Liu Xia, Li Hongce, Chen Chao, Li Shan, Tai Ju, Zhang Hao, Hu Dingkun, Intern reporter Zhang Jiaxin)
Editor: Wang Yu
Review: Julie
Final Judge: Liu Haiying