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.
Imagine technology as a race car speeding down a track—it can only go as fast as its engine allows. But just when it seemed like organic solar cells hit a roadblock, along comes 3PNIN, a game-changing molecule shaped like ...
Nanophysics
Feb 27, 2024
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Researchers from RMIT University are using nanodiamonds to create smart textiles that can cool people down faster. Their study, published in the journal Polymers for Advanced Technologies, found fabric made from cotton coated ...
Nanomaterials
Feb 15, 2024
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A new approach has allowed researchers at Aalto University to design a kind of metamaterial that has so far been beyond the reach of existing technologies. Unlike natural materials, metamaterials and metasurfaces can be tailored ...
Condensed Matter
Feb 14, 2024
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304
A coating that can hide objects in plain sight, or an implant that behaves exactly like bone tissue—these extraordinary objects are already made from "metamaterials." Researchers from TU Delft have now developed an AI tool ...
Nanomaterials
Feb 9, 2024
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Researchers led by Cornell have discovered an unusual phenomenon in a metal-insulating material, providing valuable insights for the design of materials with new properties by way of faster switching between states of matter.
Nanophysics
Feb 9, 2024
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A multi-institutional team of optoelectronic and materials engineers in China has developed a type of metamaterial that is nearly invisible across visible light, microwave and infrared spectra. In their paper, published in ...
One of the most important components of satellites that enable telecommunication is the waveguide, which is a metal tube for guiding radio waves. It is also one of the heaviest payloads satellites carry into orbit. As with ...
Nanomaterials
Feb 7, 2024
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199
Combining two twins-tech—electrospinning and electrospraying—to fabricate novel nanomaterials is an urgent area of research for materials scientists and biomedical engineers, according to a new paper by Professor Hu Jinlian ...
Nanomaterials
Feb 1, 2024
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90
The spongelike structure of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) allows these polymers to possibly carry and deliver a range of therapeutic compounds. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Applied Bio Materials have treated a chromium-containing ...
Bio & Medicine
Jan 26, 2024
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124
A KAIST research team has developed an anti-icing and de-icing film coating technology that can apply the photothermal effect of gold nanoparticles to industrial sites without the need for heating wires, periodic spray or ...
Nanomaterials
Jan 16, 2024
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