Google provides open source library for quantum chemistry

Crystallography for the misfit crystals

Francis Crick, who famously co-discovered the shape of DNA, once said: “If you want to understand function, study structure.” Many decades later, this remains a tenet of biology, chemistry, and materials science. A key breakthrough in the quest for DNA’s structure came from X-ray crystallog ... more

New technique paves the way for perfect perovskites

An exciting new solar material called organic-inorganic halide perovskites could one day help the U.S. achieve its solar ambitions and decarbonize the power grid. One thousand times thinner than silicon, perovskite solar materials can be tuned to respond to different colors of the solar spe ... more

How to make lithium-ion batteries invincible

In our future electrified world, the demand for battery storage is projected to be enormous, reaching to upwards of 2 to 10 terawatt-hours (TWh) of annual battery production by 2030, from less than 0.5 TWh today. However, concerns are growing as to whether key raw materials will be adequate ... more

New mathematics captures intricate fluid interface dynamics

A new mathematical framework developed at Berkeley Lab, published in the June 10 issue of Science Advances, allows researchers to capture fluid dynamics coupled to interface motion at unprecedented detail. The framework, called "interfacial gauge methods", developed by Robert Saye, a Luis W ... more

Novel chemical design makes hard crystals stretchy

Researchers have discovered a new way to make crystals stretchy, a modification that could enable them to act as very effective nanofilters. "Picture a diamond that behaves like a rubber band," says Assistant Professor of Chemistry Chenfeng Ke. His research team has designed a new type of p ... more

New-generation material removes iodine from water

Researchers at Dartmouth College have developed a new material that scrubs iodine from water for the first time. The breakthrough could hold the key to cleaning radioactive waste in nuclear reactors and after nuclear accidents like the 2011 Fukushima disaster. The new-generation microporous ... more

3-D printing turns nanomachines into life-size workers

Using advanced 3-D printing, Dartmouth College researchers have unlocked the key to transforming microscopic nanorings into smart materials that perform work at human-scale. Nanomachines can already deliver medication and serve as computer memories at the tiny nanometer scale. By integratin ... more

Light amplification accelerates chemical reactions in aerosols

Aerosols in the atmosphere react to incident sunlight. This light is amplified in the interior of the aerosol droplets and particles, accelerating reactions. ETH researchers have now been able to demonstrate and quantify this effect and recommend factoring it into future climate models. Liq ... more

Microcavities as a sensor platform

Sensors are a pillar of the Internet of Things, providing the data to control all sorts of objects. Here, precision is essential, and this is where quantum technologies could make a difference. Researchers in Innsbruck and Zurich are now demonstrating how nanoparticles in tiny optical reson ... more

A look into the magnetic future

This view into processes that take place within so-​called artificial spin ice could play an important role in the development of novel high-​performance computers. When water freezes to form ice, the water molecules, with their hydrogen and oxygen atoms, arrange themselves in a complex str ... more

Oxybromination of methane over vanadium phosphate

ETH Zurich scientists have discovered a new catalyst that allows the easy conversion of natural gas constituents into precursors for the production of fuels or complex chemicals, such as polymers or pharmaceuticals. The new catalyst is extremely stable and results in fewer unwanted by-produ ... more

Solving the plastic shortage with a new chemical catalyst

In a year that has already battered manufacturing supply chains, yet another shortage is complicating manufacturers' and consumers' lives: plastics, and the food packaging, automotive components, clothing, medical and lab equipment and countless other items that rely on them. But a new chem ... more

Mapping quantum structures with light to unlock their capabilities

A new tool that uses light to map out the electronic structures of crystals could reveal the capabilities of emerging quantum materials and pave the way for advanced energy technologies and quantum computers, according to researchers at the University of Michigan, the University of Regensbu ... more

Repellent research: Ship coatings to reduce fuel, energy costs

It can repel water, oil, alcohol and even peanut butter. And it might save the U.S. Navy millions of dollars in ship fuel costs, reduce the amount of energy that vessels consume and improve operational efficiency. The Office of Naval Research (ONR) is sponsoring work by Dr. Anish Tuteja, an ... more

The Shape of Melting in Two Dimensions

A movie depicting the hexatic phase transition of a two-dimensional hard particle system of hexagons under external pressure. On the left, red and green particle pairs indicate the structure of defects in the system. On the right, blue and yellow particles show how defects migrate within th ... more

From Liquid To Gel: A New Test for Lead in Paint

A new molecular gel recipe developed at the University of Michigan by Anne McNeil, Arthur F Thurnau Professor of Macromolecular Science, and is at the core of a prototype for a more accurate lead paint test.The new test is more clear and accurate than its counterparts. It consists of a vial ... more

Icephobic Coating

University of Michigan researchers demonstrate a durable ice-repellent coating that could help keep everything from airplanes to ships, power lines and windshields ice-free. more

Harvard researchers use dyes to store data

In the digital age, every byte of data needs to go somewhere — and preferably stay there a long time. That last part is a major problem when it comes to data-storage systems, which typically last less than 20 years. A group of Harvard chemists is trying to solve the issue with an innovation ... more

Groundbreaking method to map the interaction between atomically thin layers

When two atomically thin layers of a material are stacked and twisted slightly on top of one another, they can develop radically different properties. They may become superconducting or even develop magnetic or electronic properties due to the interaction of their two layers. The challenge ... more

Ultracold mystery solved

In a famous parable, three blind men encounter an elephant for the first time. Each touches a part--the trunk, ear, or side--and concludes the creature is a thick snake, fan, or wall. This elephant, said Kang-Kuen Ni, is like the quantum world. Scientists can only explore a cell of this vas ... more

A diamond radio receiver

Researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences have made the world’s smallest radio receiver – built out of an assembly of atomic-scale defects in pink diamonds. This tiny radio — whose building blocks are the size of two atoms — can withstand extrem ... more

A 3-D Material that Folds, Bends and Shrinks on its Own

Harvard researchers have designed a new type of foldable material that is versatile, tunable and self actuated. It can change size, volume and shape; it can fold flat to withstand the weight of an elephant without breaking, and pop right back up to prepare for the next task. more

New Polymers for Solar Power

As part of the 2015–2016 Fellows’ Presentation Series at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Scott T. Milner RI ’16 discusses current trends in solar power, how solar cells work, and how polymer-based materials may offer an attractive alternative to silicon. more

Researchers find a way to check that quantum computers return accurate answers

Quantum computers become ever more powerful, but how can we be sure that the answers they return are accurate? A team of physicists from Vienna, Innsbruck, Oxford, and Singapore solves this problem by letting quantum computers check each other. Quantum computers are advancing at a rapid pac ... more

New kind of interaction discovered in hydrogen-producing enzymes

In hydrogenase enzymes, the transports of protons and electrons have been considered to be separate events until now. However, coupling is the key to success here. Hydrogenases can convert hydrogen just as efficiently as expensive platinum catalysts. In order to make them usable for biotech ... more

New material for splitting water

Solar energy is clean and abundant. But when the sun isn't shining, you must store the energy in batteries or through a process called photocatalysis -- in which solar energy is used to make fuels. In photocatalytic water splitting, sunlight separates water into hydrogen and oxygen. The hyd ... more

Could the blueprint for life have been generated in asteroids?

Using new analyses, scientists have just found the last two of the five informational units of DNA and RNA that had yet to be discovered in samples from meteorites. While it is unlikely that DNA could be formed in a meteorite, this discovery demonstrates that these genetic parts are availab ... more

How do hydrogen droplets behave when hydrogen-oxygen aerosol mixtures burn?

Modern rockets and their launch vehicles commonly rely on hydrogen-oxygen mixtures as propellant, but this combination is highly explosive. The Challenger space shuttle catastrophe of 1986 is associated with self-ignition of such mixtures. Risks of explosion are mitigated by the evaporation ... more

3-D printing for building densely populated electronic assemblies investigated

As detector assemblies get smaller and denser -- packed with electronic components that all must be electrically connected to sense and read out signals -- it's becoming increasingly more challenging to design and manufacture these all-important instrument devices. A team of NASA technologi ... more