For over a century, the well-known 18-electron rule has guided the field of organometallic chemistry. Now, researchers at Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) have successfully synthesized a novel organometallic compound that challenges this longstanding principle. They have created a stable 20-electron derivative of ferrocene, an iron-based metal-organic complex, which could lead to exciting possibilities in chemical science.  

A research team at the Institute of Solid State Physics, the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has recently developed advanced aerogel composites that combine high-temperature insulation with mechanical load-bearing capabilities, while also achieving controllable fabrication of large-size samples.

In the production of dimethyl carbonate (DMC), a versatile chemical critical for manufacturing lithium-ion battery electrolytes, pharmaceuticals and high-performance polymers, an ultra-high purity (≥99.95%) is needed to meet stringent industrial standards. Melt crystallization, as a green manufacturing method is highly important for this purpose; however, the widespread adoption of this technology has been hindered by complex heat and mass transfer phenomena, which can lead to uneven crystal growth and suboptimal yields.

A recent theoretical study by an international team, which also involves the National Institute of Optics of the National Research Council (Cnr-Ino), proposes an innovative method to generate entangled photon pairs in the microwave domain. Published in PRX QUANTUM and reported by the Physics Magazine of the American Physical Society, the work opens up new scenarios for quantum technologies.

The control model, devised by a team from the University of Cordoba, makes it possible to reduce the waste of an essential and limited resource and to extend the useful life of pipes

Celestial objects known as dark dwarfs may be hiding at the centre of our galaxy and could offer key clues to uncover the nature of one of the most mysterious and fundamental phenomena in contemporary cosmology: dark matter. A new paper published in the Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics (JCAP) by a team of researchers based in the UK and Hawaii describes these objects for the first time and proposes how to verify their existence using current observational tools such as the James Webb Space Telescope.

 

Researchers have discovered a novel method to generate topological optical textures using a simple periodic photonic crystal slab. This breakthrough, published in Physical Review Letters, leverages Bound States in the Continuum (BICs) to create these textures in free momentum space without the need for precise alignment, offering a robust and scalable platform for next-generation information carriers.