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 Birmingham researcher has developed a new high-throughput device that produces libraries of nanomaterials using sustainable mechanochemical approaches.
Nanomaterials
May 6, 2024
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94
Engineered protein filaments originally produced by bacteria have been modified by scientists to conduct electricity. In a study published recently in the journal Small, researchers revealed that protein nanowires—which were ...
Bio & Medicine
Apr 29, 2024
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163
Transparent solar cells will transform the look of infrastructure by enabling many more surfaces to become solar panels. Now, materials called non-fullerene acceptors that can intrinsically generate charges when exposed to ...
Condensed Matter
Apr 24, 2024
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162
In a significant leap towards sustainable environmental management and antimicrobial strategies, a team of international researchers has successfully synthesized a fluorescent carbon dot (CD) and reduced graphene oxide (RGO) ...
Bio & Medicine
Apr 23, 2024
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335
SUNY Polytechnic Institute (SUNY Poly) Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology Dr. Iulian Gherasoiu and peers have published research in the Journal of Applied Electrochemistry titled "MoVN-coated ...
Nanomaterials
Apr 19, 2024
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122
Ferroelectric binary oxides thin films are garnering attention for their superior compatibility over traditional perovskite-based ferroelectric materials. Its compatibility and scalability within the CMOS framework make it ...
Nanophysics
Apr 16, 2024
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69
Researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have developed a programmable metafluid with tunable springiness, optical properties, viscosity and even the ability to transition ...
Optics & Photonics
Apr 3, 2024
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210
A research group led by Prof. Li Xiangyang from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has theoretically predicted a series of multiferroic materials that can be applied in room-temperature ...
Nanomaterials
Mar 28, 2024
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104
Researchers at Leipzig University and Ulm University have developed a new method to isolate HIV from samples more easily, potentially making it easier to detect infection with the virus. They focus on peptide nanofibrils ...
Bio & Medicine
Mar 28, 2024
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82
Dr. Cheol-Woo Ahn, leading a research team at the Department of Functional Ceramics within the Ceramic Materials Division at the Korea Institute of Materials Science (KIMS), has developed the world's first heat dissipation ...
Nanomaterials
Mar 28, 2024
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110
