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.
Some of the thinnest materials known to mankind may provide solutions to scientists in their quest to curb the effects of global warming.
Nanomaterials
Oct 4, 2023
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Industry has long relied upon energy-intensive processes, such as distillation and crystallization, to separate molecules that ultimately serve as ingredients in medicine, chemicals and other products.
Nanomaterials
Sep 30, 2023
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380
In a multi-year project, researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden have developed plasmonic plastic—a type of composite material with unique optical properties that can be 3D-printed. This research has now ...
Nanomaterials
Sep 28, 2023
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200
A research team led by the University of Tsukuba has successfully developed a new method that can prevent the crossover of large fuel molecules and suppress the degradation of electrodes in advanced fuel cell technology using ...
Nanomaterials
Sep 22, 2023
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143
As summer turns to fall, many people will be turning off the air conditioning and firing up heaters instead. But traditional heating and cooling systems are energy-intensive, and because they typically run on fossil fuels, ...
Nanomaterials
Sep 20, 2023
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Case Western Reserve University researchers are leading the development of a "smart packaging" system to monitor temperature fluctuations, moisture changes and pathogens in perishable food products during transportation.
Nanomaterials
Aug 21, 2023
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Using the Steady-State High Magnetic Field Experimental Facility, researchers led by Prof. Wang Hui from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with researchers from ...
Bio & Medicine
Aug 17, 2023
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Hafnium oxide-based ferroelectric materials are promising candidates for next-generation nanoscale devices due to their integration into silicon electronics.
Nanomaterials
Aug 17, 2023
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University of Sydney researchers have observed oil molecules retaining their 'liquid-like' properties when they are chemically attached as an extremely thin layer to solid surfaces, opening new possibilities for designing ...
Nanomaterials
Aug 17, 2023
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Newly developed atomic engineering techniques have opened exciting opportunities for enabling ferroelectric behavior in high-k dielectrics, materials that have a high dielectric constant (i.e., kappa or k) compared to silicon. ...
