Functional materials are physical systems engineered so that their intrinsic properties—such as electrical conductivity, magnetization, optical response, ionic mobility, or mechanical deformation—can be deliberately modulated by external stimuli (e.g., electric or magnetic fields, light, temperature, stress, or chemical environment) to perform specific tasks. They encompass classes such as ferroelectrics, piezoelectrics, magnetoresistive and thermoelectric materials, shape-memory alloys, solid electrolytes, and stimuli-responsive polymers. In research and device design, functional materials serve as active components enabling sensing, actuation, energy conversion, information storage, and signal processing, with performance governed by their structure–property relationships across atomic, mesoscale, and macroscopic length scales.
A research team discovered a method to transform materials with three-dimensional atomic structures into nearly two-dimensional structures—a promising advancement in controlling their properties for chemical, quantum, and ...
Nanomaterials
Sep 13, 2024
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106
In conjunction with research staff from the Charles University of Prague and the CFM (CSIC-UPV/EHU) center in San Sebastian, CIC nanoGUNE's Nanodevices group has designed a new complex material with emerging properties in ...
Condensed Matter
Sep 10, 2024
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144
Researchers from the Institute of Process Engineering (IPE) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have developed a sustainable, biodegradable, biorecyclable material: high-entropy non-covalent cyclic peptide (HECP) glass. This ...
Nanomaterials
Aug 26, 2024
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111
University of California, Irvine scientists have discovered a one-dimensional nanoscale material whose color changes as temperature changes. The team's results appear in Advanced Materials.
Nanomaterials
Aug 14, 2024
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162
Have you ever considered how nanotechnology could transform our approach to clean energy? In recent research, we've been exploring nanoscale covalent organic frameworks (nano-COFs) that show exceptional potential for enhancing ...
Imagine a thin film, just nanometers thick, that could store gigabytes of data—enough for movies, video games, and videos. This is the exciting potential of ferroelectric materials for memory storage. These materials have ...
Nanophysics
Jul 22, 2024
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141
Researchers at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and several collaborating institutions have successfully demonstrated an innovative approach to find breakthrough materials for ...
Condensed Matter
Jul 17, 2024
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163
For decades, scientists have been studying a group of unusual materials called multiferroics that could be useful for a range of applications including computer memory, chemical sensors and quantum computers.
Condensed Matter
Jul 17, 2024
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204
Nanoparticles have a wide variety of applications, from drug delivery to electronics to air purification. Their small size and tunable properties make them particularly valuable for technological advancements and scientific ...
Nanomaterials
Jul 12, 2024
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Researchers at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, led by Prof. Dr. Nicola Pinna, have made an advancement in nanotechnology, successfully extending the well-known Stöber method to synthesize amorphous metal-organic frameworks ...
Nanomaterials
Jul 11, 2024
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