Materials science, chemistry and energy research.
Researchers created closely alternating nickel and nickel molybdate domains less than a nanometer across. The catalyst reached 2 A per square centimetre at 1.62 volts and operated stably for more than 2,200 hours under the reported testing conditions.
A study finds that large language models can recognize patterns in material categories but consistently struggle to use coordinate information, even as the models and datasets grow. For properties shaped mainly by crystal structure, specialized models that represent geometry performed better.
Researchers made water-repelling, oil-attracting copper oxide powders and a copper oxide-coated metal mesh without using organic surface modifiers. The mesh separated a chloroform–water mixture with about 98% efficiency, while the powder selectively adsorbed oil from water.
Researchers have found direct spectroscopic evidence that a four-bismuth-atom ring has magnetically induced ring currents, a feature associated with aromatic systems. Comparisons with closely related reference compounds helped separate the ring’s response from effects caused by individual heavy atoms and surrounding ligands.
Researchers developed a portable hydrogel sensor that changes color when PFAS interfere with a peroxide-driven chemical reaction. The sensor distinguished PFAS groups by their chemical endings and quantified PFOA at a reported detection limit of 0.12 micrograms per milliliter.
A study of dual-fuel diesel and liquefied petroleum gas engines found that replacing 20–30% of diesel energy with gas maintained brake power while improving exergy efficiency and reducing smoke. A fleet model estimated that retrofitting 30% of vehicles could cut tank-to-wheel carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions by about 6–9%, although the well-to-wheel result depends on the gas supply chain.
Researchers developed a magnesium-cobalt catalyst that changes its electronic structure as it purifies water. In tests, the system broke down persistent organic pollutants efficiently and remained effective through more than 30 regeneration cycles while resisting cobalt leaching.
Nanosecond-scale simulations of the solid acids CsH2PO4 and CsHSO4 identify a “proton slingshot” mechanism for fast proton conduction. A rotating phosphate or sulfate group first carries a proton, while reorientation of the proton’s bond to oxygen extends its movement and enables longer jumps.
Sublethal silver nanoparticle exposure changed the balance between Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus in laboratory cultures. The shift depended on an E. coli pathway that released acetate and ammonium, which helped S. aureus survive.
Researchers screened 8,872 entries from two computational materials databases and identified 4,073 materials with topological or obstructed electronic structures. Their results include more than 1,900 predicted two-dimensional topological or related materials, whose properties are available in a new public database.
Researchers developed a food-packaging aerogel containing Rosa canina fruit extract and magnesium oxide-doped carbon dots. It changed color from light khaki to dark violet while monitoring refrigerated raw beef for five days, suggesting a visible way to track freshness.
Researchers used an AI-assisted experimental workflow to design white circularly polarized luminescent materials. The materials combined a color-rendering index above 90 with a dissymmetry factor above 1.5 from 410 to 680 nanometers, and were used to make organic light-emitting devices.
Residues from Amazonian copper mining were used to make a magnesium-and-iron material for removing Congo red dye from water. In laboratory tests, the material had a calculated maximum adsorption capacity of 435.19 milligrams per gram at 313.15 K.
Researchers have introduced a method that uses microsecond-long heat pulses to measure the heat capacity of nanoscale materials. It can characterize subnanogram samples in areas as small as 30 × 30 micrometres and detected a sharp transition in ultrathin cobalt oxide films.
Sediments and recent water samples show that Lago Verde underwent a major ecological shift during peak deforestation and erosion in the 1970s and 1980s. As forest cover partly recovered, disturbance-tolerant diatoms declined and some earlier planktonic species increased, but the lake has not fully returned to its former state.
