A team of researchers from Jilin University, NYU Abu Dhabi’s Smart Materials Lab, and the Center for Smart Engineering Materials, led by Professor of Chemistry Pance Naumov, has developed a new crystalline material that can harvest water from fog without any energy input. The design of the novel type of smart crystals, which the researchers named Janus crystals, is inspired by desert plants and animals, which can survive in arid conditions. Desert

Researchers delved deep into the regulation of cobalt active sites to enhance the selectivity of propylene to improve scalability and affordability of the production of this important chemical.

A new method to increase fusion-fuel efficiency would involve aligning the quantum spin of deuterium and tritium and changing the mix of the two fuels. The approach could boost tritium-burn efficiency by up to 10 times, reducing tritium needs and lowering fusion system costs. The technique could lead to safer, more compact fusion systems, making fusion energy more practical and affordable.

Researchers at University of Limerick in Ireland have developed a new method of growing organic crystals that can be used for energy-harvesting applications.

In a review published in SCIENCE CHINA Chemistry, the phase and phase transition regulation of bismuth-based semiconductors (BBSs) were systematically presented based on the classification of BBSs. Notably, the critical factors for phase transition of BBSs, and intrinsic driving forces endowed by phases of BBSs for enhanced photocatalytic performances of organic contaminants removal were also elucidated.

A speed record has been broken using nanoscience, which could lead to a host of new advances, including improved battery charging, biosensing, soft robotics and neuromorphic computing. Scientists have discovered a way to make ions move more than ten times faster in mixed organic ion-electronic conductors. These conductors combine the advantages of the ion signaling used by many biological systems, including the human body, with the electron signaling used by computers. The new development speeds up ion movement in these conductors by using molecules that attract and concentrate ions into a separate nanochannel creating a type of tiny “ion superhighway.”

A new theory, that explains how light and matter interact at the quantum level has enabled researchers to define for the first time the precise shape of a single photon.