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

A research team at The City University of New York, in collaboration with The University of Texas at Austin, National University of Singapore, and Monash University in Australia, has used ''twistronics'' concepts (the science of layering and twisting two-dimensional materials to control their electrical properties) to manipulate the flow of light. The findings hold the promise for advances in a variety of light-driven technologies, including nano-imaging devices; high-speed, low-energy optical computers; and biosensors.

A research team at The City University of New York, in collaboration with The University of Texas at Austin, National University of Singapore, and Monash University in Australia, has used ''twistronics'' concepts (the science of layering and twisting two-dimensional materials to control their electrical properties) to manipulate the flow of light. The findings hold the promise for advances in a variety of light-driven technologies, including nano-imaging devices; high-speed, low-energy optical computers; and biosensors.

Place a single sheet of carbon atop another at a slight angle, and remarkable properties emerge, including the resistance-free flow of current known as superconductivity. Now, a team of researchers at Princeton has looked for the origins of this unusual behavior in a material known as magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene and detected signatures of a cascade of energy transitions that could help explain how superconductivity arises in this material. 

Place a single sheet of carbon atop another at a slight angle, and remarkable properties emerge, including the resistance-free flow of current known as superconductivity. Now, a team of researchers at Princeton has looked for the origins of this unusual behavior in a material known as magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene and detected signatures of a cascade of energy transitions that could help explain how superconductivity arises in this material. 

Scientists at Texas A&M University have developed a new class of 2D nanosheets that can adsorb near infrared light and convert it into heat. Near-infrared light can penetrate deep inside human tissue compared to other types of light, including ultraviolet and visible light, and can be used to stimulate natural biological repair mechanisms in deep tissue. Due to their high-surface area, the nanosheets can stick to the outer membrane of a cell and transmit a cellular signal to the nucleus, thereby controlling the cell’s behavior.

Scientists at Texas A&M University have developed a new class of 2D nanosheets that can adsorb near infrared light and convert it into heat. Near-infrared light can penetrate deep inside human tissue compared to other types of light, including ultraviolet and visible light, and can be used to stimulate natural biological repair mechanisms in deep tissue. Due to their high-surface area, the nanosheets can stick to the outer membrane of a cell and transmit a cellular signal to the nucleus, thereby controlling the cell’s behavior.

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.

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.

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. 

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.