/ en-us Â鶹ŇůÔş internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Â鶹ŇůÔşics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Researchers at Kumamoto University and Nagoya University have developed a new class of two-dimensional (2D) metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) using triptycene-based molecules, marking a breakthrough in the quest to understand and enhance the physical properties of these promising materials. The work is published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. /news/2025-08-high-quality-crystals-enable-insights.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Fri, 01 Aug 2025 09:41:04 EDT news673260062 Despite natural evidence indicating sulfur's importance and efficiency as a catalyst for critical redox reactions, including hydrogenation (addition of hydrogen to molecule) and dehydrogenation (its opposite), chemists have struggled to manage the enzyme's complexity and fragility at scale. /news/2025-07-sulfur-nanostructures-boosts-catalytic-efficiency.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Thu, 24 Jul 2025 14:20:07 EDT news672585060 Every year, thousands of new materials are created, yet many never reach their full potential because their applications aren't immediately obvious—a challenge University of Toronto researchers aim to address using artificial intelligence. /news/2025-07-ai-applications-newly-materials.html Materials Science Thu, 24 Jul 2025 08:26:13 EDT news672564367 University of Utah researchers have developed a material that addresses an urgent environmental challenge: the real-time detection and efficient removal of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a toxic and persistent member of the PFAS "forever chemicals" family, from contaminated water. /news/2025-07-material-efficiently-chemicals.html Materials Science Wed, 23 Jul 2025 09:10:07 EDT news672480416 A research team led by Linda Zhang at Tohoku University has developed a novel metal-organic framework (MOF) that enables record-breaking separation of hydrogen isotopes, achieving a D2/H2 selectivity of 32.5 at 60 K. /news/2025-07-hydrogen-isotope-isotopologue-driven-dynamics.html Materials Science Wed, 23 Jul 2025 08:59:12 EDT news672479946 A new study reveals an alarming number of mechanisms throughout the life-cycle of plastic that could enhance or spread antimicrobial resistance. /news/2025-07-plastic-pollution-antimicrobial-resistance.html Environment Tue, 22 Jul 2025 13:12:04 EDT news672408714 In a breakthrough for regenerative medicine, a new study from IMDEA Materials Institute researchers has demonstrated the potential of 3D-printed carbon microlattices as structurally tunable scaffolds for bone tissue engineering. /news/2025-07-3d-carbon-scaffolds-potential-bone.html Bio & Medicine Nanomaterials Tue, 22 Jul 2025 11:00:09 EDT news672399718 Rare earth elements sustain the Information Age, and securing a supply of these metals has become a matter of national and economic security. They're ubiquitous in our smart technologies, high-performance materials and industrial catalysts. Yet reclaiming them is complex, dangerous and expensive. /news/2025-07-simple-filter-method-boosts-rare.html Materials Science Tue, 22 Jul 2025 08:10:04 EDT news672386270 After two weeks of negotiations, the International Seabed Authority (ISA) is still far from finalizing rules for extracting coveted metals on the high seas despite heightened pressure triggered by US efforts to fast-track the controversial practice. /news/2025-07-deep-sea-lack-consensus-pressure.html Environment Fri, 18 Jul 2025 04:40:03 EDT news672031819 Researchers are creating new moirĂ© materials at the nanometer scale using advanced DNA nanotechnology. DNA moirĂ© superlattices form when two periodic DNA lattices are overlaid with a slight rotational twist or positional offset. This creates a new, larger interference pattern with completely different physical properties. /news/2025-07-programmable-dna-moir-superlattices-material.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Thu, 17 Jul 2025 11:52:25 EDT news671971940 Recently, a research team successfully developed a series of CoNi-metal-organic framework (MOF) nanozymes with laccase-like activity using a gas-liquid interface dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) low-temperature plasma (LTP) technique. /news/2025-07-temperature-plasma-technique-boosts-nanozyme.html Bio & Medicine Nanophysics Mon, 07 Jul 2025 16:39:36 EDT news671125172 Water is essential at all stages of food production, from irrigation to food processing to washing fruit and vegetables before we eat them. Crops and livestock need it to grow, but water can also be contaminated by pathogens (any organism that causes disease), heavy metals, and chemicals. /news/2025-07-decades-south-african-reveal-key.html Ecology Agriculture Tue, 01 Jul 2025 11:54:05 EDT news670589641 In order to help prevent the climate crisis, actively reducing already-emitted COâ‚‚ is essential. Accordingly, direct air capture (DAC)—a technology that directly extracts only COâ‚‚ from the air—is gaining attention. However, effectively capturing pure COâ‚‚ is not easy due to water vapor (Hâ‚‚O) present in the air. /news/2025-06-ai-materials-capture-air.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Mon, 30 Jun 2025 12:33:39 EDT news670505612 The origin of life is one of the most fundamental and enduring questions of mankind and one of the three greatest Origin Questions in the natural sciences. Recently, China officially launched its Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission, Tianwen-3, marking a significant step forward in planetary exploration. The mission aims to bring Martian samples back to Earth, where advanced laboratory instruments will be employed to conduct comprehensive analyses, seeking to determine whether life ever existed—or may still exist—on Mars. /news/2025-06-life-mars-china-sample-mission.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Thu, 26 Jun 2025 09:18:05 EDT news670148280 Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are characterized by high porosity and structural versatility. They have enormous potential, for example, for applications in electronics. However, their low electrical conductivity has so far greatly restricted their adoption. /news/2025-06-metal-frameworks-metallic-pave-paths.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Tue, 24 Jun 2025 15:49:04 EDT news669998942 Photocatalysts are powerful materials that use light as a source of energy for operation, becoming indispensable materials in many fields, from the food and biomedical industry to energy production. They are mainly composed of metal-based compounds like oxides, sulfides, etc., but despite their high effectiveness, with time they will become waste. /news/2025-06-defect-carbon-nitride-ability-degrade.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Mon, 23 Jun 2025 14:41:25 EDT news669908479 Polymeric membranes are widely used in separation technologies due to their low cost and easily scalable fabrication. However, unlike inorganic nanoporous materials such as metal-organic frameworks and covalent organic frameworks, which feature periodic and ordered channels, polymeric membranes produced through traditional methods—such as phase separation—typically have irregular and disordered pore structures. /news/2025-06-ultra-thin-polymer-membranes-enable.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Fri, 20 Jun 2025 05:00:04 EDT news669557317 Researchers led by a team at the University of Waterloo have developed a way to create tiny droplets of one liquid inside another liquid without mixing the two together. /news/2025-06-liquid-programmable-droplets-potential-carbon.html Nanomaterials Wed, 18 Jun 2025 13:33:32 EDT news669472409 Even the best products won't meet expectations if they are packed poorly—packaging matters. The same goes for drug delivery. Osaka Metropolitan University researchers have uncovered the critical role played by solvents in how effectively drugs can be loaded into metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), a promising class of drug carriers. /news/2025-06-optimal-solvents-boost-mof-carrier.html Bio & Medicine Nanomaterials Fri, 13 Jun 2025 10:16:03 EDT news669028561 To reduce greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change, the world urgently needs clean and renewable energy sources. Hydrogen is one such clean energy source that has zero carbon content and stores much more energy by weight than gasoline. /news/2025-06-tunable-nanosheet-catalyst-cheaper-green.html Nanomaterials Thu, 12 Jun 2025 15:02:18 EDT news668959331 Breathalyzers are a frequently used tool to measure the amount of ethanol in someone's breath, which relates to their blood alcohol content. However, alcoholic beverages contaminated by methanol (sometimes called wood alcohol) are hard to identify and toxic if ingested. /news/2025-06-methanol-poisoning-easily-breathalyzer-sensor.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Wed, 11 Jun 2025 08:00:04 EDT news668748040 As the population grows and urbanization and agro-industrial activity increase, the demand for freshwater is expected to rise by 55% by 2050. Experts project that this increase in demand will strongly impact a scenario already characterized by scarce and unequally distributed water resources, the privatization of an essential public asset, and deteriorating water quality, especially in developing countries. /news/2025-06-emerging-pollutants-aggravating-crisis-countries.html Environment Mon, 09 Jun 2025 16:02:04 EDT news668703721 Quantum materials exhibit remarkable emergent properties when they are excited by external sources. Functional applications of these properties rely heavily on their tunability in real time. However, these excited states decay rapidly once the excitation is removed, limiting their practical applications. /news/2025-06-quantum-state-lifetimes-laser-triggered.html Optics & Photonics Quantum Â鶹ŇůÔşics Thu, 05 Jun 2025 13:08:01 EDT news668347675 One of Earth's most common nanomaterials is facilitating breakthroughs in tackling climate change: clay. In a new study, researchers at Purdue University, in collaboration with experts from Sandia National Laboratories, have potentially uncovered a game-changing method for using clay to capture carbon dioxide (CO2) directly from the air to help mitigate climate change. /news/2025-06-clay-based-nanomaterials-solution-capture.html Nanomaterials Wed, 04 Jun 2025 14:06:04 EDT news668264761 A research team has developed a unified theoretical framework to better predict the performance of single-atom catalysts (SACs) for electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction (COâ‚‚RR). Their model incorporates both pH and interfacial electric field effects—two critical factors that have often been overlooked or oversimplified in conventional catalyst studies. /news/2025-05-driven-approach-conversion-catalysts.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Wed, 21 May 2025 16:53:03 EDT news667065181 The clean energy transition requires new means to transport energy that are less reliant on burning fossil fuels. This requires new materials to catalyze reactions to store and extract energy from chemical energy carriers without combustion. /news/2025-05-tool-stable-metal-frameworks-energy.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Wed, 21 May 2025 14:54:04 EDT news667058042 As core components for generating coherent tunable radiation sources in all-solid-state lasers, second-order nonlinear optical (NLO) crystals have demonstrated significant technical advantages in many fields. Metal chalcogenides with tetrahedral cluster (Tn) as the structural unit are regarded as candidate systems for NLO materials of the mid- and far-infrared bands due to their potential strong second-harmonic-generation (SHG) response and wide infrared transmission range. /news/2025-05-inorganic-polycations-widening-infrared-transparency.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Wed, 21 May 2025 14:37:03 EDT news667057022 Propane dehydrogenation is a key industrial route to producing propylene without relying on oil. However, its current production processes rely heavily on precious-metal catalysts such as Pt-based materials. Developing efficient alternatives using Earth-abundant metals has remained a challenge. /news/2025-05-cobalt-catalyst-rivals-platinum-key.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Tue, 20 May 2025 15:29:03 EDT news666973742 Determining how strong your drink is doesn't need to be either guesswork or lab work. New research has made it as simple as checking your messages—and more colorful, too. The study is published in the journal Small Science. /news/2025-05-sensor-alcohol-smartphone-snap.html Bio & Medicine Nanomaterials Tue, 20 May 2025 10:53:04 EDT news666957182 Artificial light, once a luxury, has become central to modern life, with its evolution spanning from fire to LEDs. Now, researchers have developed a new class of efficient light-emitting materials as promising candidates to be applied to lighten the darkness. They demonstrated easily accessible aluminum-based organometallic complexes that have the potential to be applied in optoelectronic devices. /news/2025-05-subtle-ligand-modifications-aluminum-complexes.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Fri, 16 May 2025 13:55:04 EDT news666622501