News from the NNI Community - Research Advances Funded by Agencies Participating in the NNI

Date Published
(Funded by the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Institute of Standards and Technology)

Researchers at North Dakota State University have developed a new method of creating quantum dots made of silicon. While traditional methods for creating silicon quantum dots require dangerous materials, such as silicon tetrahydride gas or hydrofluoric acid, the team’s research uses a liquid form of silicon to make the tiny particles at room temperature using relatively benign components.

(Funded by the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Institute of Standards and Technology)

Researchers at North Dakota State University have developed a new method of creating quantum dots made of silicon. While traditional methods for creating silicon quantum dots require dangerous materials, such as silicon tetrahydride gas or hydrofluoric acid, the team’s research uses a liquid form of silicon to make the tiny particles at room temperature using relatively benign components.

(Funded by the National Science Foundation)

Computational catalysis, a field that simulates and accelerates the discovery of catalysts for the production of chemicals, has largely been limited to simulations of idealized catalyst structures that do not necessarily represent structures under realistic reaction conditions. Now, researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and Politecnico di Milano in Milan, Italy, are paving the way for the simulation of realistic catalysts under reaction conditions. In particular, the researchers studied how metal nanoparticles that are used as catalysts can change morphology in a reactive environment and how this morphology change can affect their catalytic behavior. 

(Funded by the National Science Foundation)

Computational catalysis, a field that simulates and accelerates the discovery of catalysts for the production of chemicals, has largely been limited to simulations of idealized catalyst structures that do not necessarily represent structures under realistic reaction conditions. Now, researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and Politecnico di Milano in Milan, Italy, are paving the way for the simulation of realistic catalysts under reaction conditions. In particular, the researchers studied how metal nanoparticles that are used as catalysts can change morphology in a reactive environment and how this morphology change can affect their catalytic behavior. 

(Funded by the Army Research Office and the National Science Foundation)

Scientists at Rice University have developed an easy and affordable tool to count and characterize nanoparticles. The scientists created an open-source program to acquire data about nanoparticles from scanning electron microscope images that are otherwise difficult, if not impossible, to analyze.

(Funded by the Army Research Office and the National Science Foundation)

Scientists at Rice University have developed an easy and affordable tool to count and characterize nanoparticles. The scientists created an open-source program to acquire data about nanoparticles from scanning electron microscope images that are otherwise difficult, if not impossible, to analyze.

(Funded by the Office of Naval Research, the Army Research Office and the National Science Foundation)

In recent years, researchers have found that when certain materials are twisted at specific angles, they can bring out some remarkable properties. Now, a team of researchers has found that when two layers of graphene are twisted at an angle of less than 2 degrees, they have a very strong, and tunable, photoresponse in mid-infrared wavelength range. Compared with regular bilayer graphene that hasn’t been twisted, the photoresponse is more than 20 times stronger.

(Funded by the Office of Naval Research, the Army Research Office and the National Science Foundation)

In recent years, researchers have found that when certain materials are twisted at specific angles, they can bring out some remarkable properties. Now, a team of researchers has found that when two layers of graphene are twisted at an angle of less than 2 degrees, they have a very strong, and tunable, photoresponse in mid-infrared wavelength range. Compared with regular bilayer graphene that hasn’t been twisted, the photoresponse is more than 20 times stronger.

(Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy)

A team of researchers led by the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory has synthesized a tiny structure with high surface area and discovered how its unique architecture drives ions across interfaces to transport energy or information. The structure, called a nanobrush, contains bristles made of alternating crystal sheets with vertically aligned interfaces and many pores. The nanoscale bristles were made with a novel precision synthesis approach that controls atom diffusion and aggregation during the growth of thin-film materials.

(Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy)

A team of researchers led by the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory has synthesized a tiny structure with high surface area and discovered how its unique architecture drives ions across interfaces to transport energy or information. The structure, called a nanobrush, contains bristles made of alternating crystal sheets with vertically aligned interfaces and many pores. The nanoscale bristles were made with a novel precision synthesis approach that controls atom diffusion and aggregation during the growth of thin-film materials.