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

Soft and flexible materials called halide perovskites could make solar cells more efficient at significantly less cost, but they are too unstable to use. A Purdue University-led research team has found a way to make halide perovskites stable enough by inhibiting the ion movement that makes them rapidly degrade, unlocking their use for solar panels and electronic devices. A perovskite is made up of components that an engineer can individually replace at the nanometer scale to tune the material's properties.

Soft and flexible materials called halide perovskites could make solar cells more efficient at significantly less cost, but they are too unstable to use. A Purdue University-led research team has found a way to make halide perovskites stable enough by inhibiting the ion movement that makes them rapidly degrade, unlocking their use for solar panels and electronic devices. A perovskite is made up of components that an engineer can individually replace at the nanometer scale to tune the material's properties.

A team of researchers from the University of California San Diego, Columbia University, Brookhaven National Laboratory, the University of Calgary, and the University of California, Irvine has developed a portable, more environmentally friendly method to produce hydrogen peroxide. The method is based on a chemical reaction in which one molecule of oxygen combines with two electrons and two protons in an acidic electrolyte solution to produce hydrogen peroxide. The key to making this reaction happen is a special catalyst that the team developed that is made up of carbon nanotubes that have been partially oxidized.

A team of researchers from the University of California San Diego, Columbia University, Brookhaven National Laboratory, the University of Calgary, and the University of California, Irvine has developed a portable, more environmentally friendly method to produce hydrogen peroxide. The method is based on a chemical reaction in which one molecule of oxygen combines with two electrons and two protons in an acidic electrolyte solution to produce hydrogen peroxide. The key to making this reaction happen is a special catalyst that the team developed that is made up of carbon nanotubes that have been partially oxidized.

In regenerative medicine, an ideal treatment for patients whose muscles are damaged from lack of oxygen would be to invigorate them with an injection of their own stem cells. In a new study, researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have demonstrated that "nanostimulators"—nanoparticles seeded with a molecule the body naturally produces to prompt stem cells to heal wounds—can amp up stem cells' regenerative powers in a targeted limb in mice.

People who are affected by Alzheimer's disease have a specific type of plaque, made of self-assembled molecules called beta-amyloid peptides, that build up in the brain over time. Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory, along with collaborators from the Korean Institute of Science and Technology and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, have developed an approach to prevent plaque formation by engineering a nano-sized device that captures beta-amyloid peptides before they can self-assemble.

People who are affected by Alzheimer's disease have a specific type of plaque, made of self-assembled molecules called beta-amyloid peptides, that build up in the brain over time. Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory, along with collaborators from the Korean Institute of Science and Technology and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, have developed an approach to prevent plaque formation by engineering a nano-sized device that captures beta-amyloid peptides before they can self-assemble.

Engineering researchers at North Carolina State University have created an ultrathin, stretchable electronic material that contains silver nanowires and is gas-permeable, allowing the material to "breathe.” The material was designed for use in biomedical or wearable technologies because the gas permeability allows sweat and volatile organic compounds to evaporate away from the skin, making it more comfortable for users – especially for long-term wear.

Engineering researchers at North Carolina State University have created an ultrathin, stretchable electronic material that contains silver nanowires and is gas-permeable, allowing the material to "breathe.” The material was designed for use in biomedical or wearable technologies because the gas permeability allows sweat and volatile organic compounds to evaporate away from the skin, making it more comfortable for users – especially for long-term wear.

A research team at the University of Maryland has developed a new method for mixing metals generally known to be immiscible, or unmixable, at the nanoscale to create a new range of bimetallic materials. This new method exposes copper-based mixes to a thermal shock of approximately 1,300 degrees Celsius for 20 milliseconds and then rapidly cools them to room temperature. The research team was able to prepare a collection of homogeneous copper-based alloys. Typically, copper only mixes with a few other metals, such as zinc and palladium. But by using this new method, the team broadened the miscible range to include copper with nickel, iron, and silver.