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 pioneering liquid metal combination is shaping up as a potential secret weapon in the global fight against antimicrobial resistance, and promises to outlast existing implant materials.
Bio & Medicine
Oct 8, 2025
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50
Researchers have designed and demonstrated stretchable waveguides that maintain efficient, stable signal transmission of surface plasmon polaritons even when bent, twisted or stretched. These plasmonic waveguides could make ...
Condensed Matter
Oct 6, 2025
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80
A new Danish research breakthrough could make buildings far more energy-efficient in the future. Researchers from Aarhus University's Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center (iNANO) have developed a light-responsive hybrid material ...
Nanomaterials
Oct 2, 2025
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61
Researchers from the Skoltech Engineering Center's Hierarchically Structured Materials Laboratory, in collaboration with colleagues from MISIS University and the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, have for the first time ...
Nanophysics
Oct 1, 2025
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31
Polymer-based conductive nanocomposites, particularly those incorporating carbon nanotubes, are highly promising for the development of flexible electronics, soft robotics and wearable devices. However, CNTs are difficult ...
Bio & Medicine
Sep 26, 2025
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198
A research team led by the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA, or CNSI, demonstrated a new type of light-emitting material expected to be suitable for photonics—devices based on light in the same way that today's electronics ...
Nanophysics
Sep 26, 2025
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79
A research team led by Professor Eijiro Miyako from the Materials Chemistry Frontiers Research Area at Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST) has successfully developed multifunctional nanocomposites by ...
Bio & Medicine
Sep 25, 2025
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33
Nanocellulose is a renewable nanomaterial made from plant fibers, with unique properties including lightness, very high strength and large surface area. The doctoral dissertation of Mohammad Karzarjeddi from the University ...
Nanomaterials
Sep 23, 2025
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69
The artificial intelligence models that turn text into images are also useful for generating new materials. Over the last few years, generative materials models from companies like Google, Microsoft, and Meta have drawn on ...
Condensed Matter
Sep 22, 2025
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73
Antibiotic-resistant bacteria and emerging viruses are a rapidly increasing threat to the global health care system. About 5 million deaths each year are linked to antibiotic-resistant germs, and more than 20 million people ...
Biotechnology
Sep 18, 2025
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