Structural properties as a research area focuses on the characterization, quantification, and modeling of how the arrangement and connectivity of components within a system determine its behavior and performance. This includes investigating geometric, topological, and symmetry-related attributes in materials, molecules, biological assemblies, or engineered structures, and relating these features to mechanical, electronic, optical, or functional responses. Research typically integrates experimental probing (e.g., diffraction, microscopy, spectroscopy) with theoretical and computational methods (e.g., continuum mechanics, graph theory, atomistic simulations) to establish structure–property relationships that enable prediction, optimization, and rational design of systems with targeted structural performance.
Quasicrystals (QCs) are fascinating solid materials that exhibit an intriguing atomic arrangement. Unlike regular crystals, in which atomic arrangements have an ordered repeating pattern, QCs display long-range atomic order ...
Condensed Matter
Apr 11, 2025
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102
Anyone who's ever tried tiling a floor, a backsplash or even an arts-and-crafts project probably knows the emotional frustration of working with pieces whose shapes don't perfectly complement each other. It turns out, though, ...
General Physics
Apr 8, 2025
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121
The concept of constructing a self-supporting structure made of rods—without the use of nails, ropes, or glue—dates back to Leonardo da Vinci. In the Codex Atlanticus, da Vinci illustrated a design for a self-supporting bridge ...
General Physics
Apr 8, 2025
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60
For centuries, humans have made use of glass in their art, tools, and technology. Despite the ubiquity of this material, however, many of its microscopic properties are not well understood, and it continues to defy conventional ...
Condensed Matter
Apr 7, 2025
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88
Metamaterials are artificially-structured materials with extraordinary properties not easily found in nature. With engineered three-dimensional (3D) geometries at the micro- and nanoscale, these architected materials achieve ...
Nanomaterials
Mar 27, 2025
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91
Researchers from Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) and the University of Montpellier have successfully synthesized wafer-scale hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) exhibiting an AA-stacking configuration, a crystal ...
Nanophysics
Mar 20, 2025
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51
Unsubstituted π-electronic systems with expanded π-planes are highly desirable for improving charge-carrier transport in organic semiconductors. However, their poor solubility and high crystallinity pose major challenges ...
Nanophysics
Mar 18, 2025
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97
Researchers at Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, have shed light on the structure of supercritical water. In this state, which exists at extreme temperatures and pressures, water has the properties of both a liquid and a gas ...
Soft Matter
Mar 17, 2025
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90
Defects in two-dimensional materials (such as an atom-thick sheet of graphene) can dramatically alter the way that the surface ripples, even stopping the sheet in place like a freeze frame.
Nanophysics
Mar 3, 2025
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95
In a significant advancement for boosting renewable energy generation development, the School of Engineering of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has taken the lead in breaking through studies of ...
Nanophysics
Feb 26, 2025
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60
