New Twist on old tech could bring living color at low power

By marrying state-of-the-art nanometer-scale gratings with a Space Age-era thin-film polymer, researchers have developed a new technology for building power-sipping full-color video displays, switches and routers for optical signals, as well as smart windows and coatings.

Graphene is strong, but is it tough?

Scientists find that polycrystalline graphene is not very resistant to fracture.

Lithium battery catalyst nanoparticles found to harm key soil microorganism

The material at the heart of the lithium ion batteries that power electric vehicles, laptop computers and smartphones has been shown to impair a key soil bacterium.

Scientists guide gold nanoparticles to form 'diamond' superlattices

DNA scaffolds cage and coax nanoparticles into position to form crystalline arrangements that mimic the atomic structure of diamond.

Researchers seek efficient means of splitting water with nanorods

Researchers studied water-splitting activity on the surface of nanorods of the semiconductor titanium dioxide, finding that variations in the structure of the surface determine where and how the reaction takes place.

Scientists take key step toward custom-made nanoscale chemical factories

Scientists have for the first time reengineered a building block of a geometric nanocompartment that occurs naturally in bacteria to give it a new function.

Scientists bridge different materials by design

Researchers have shown that it is possible to design and construct interfaces between materials with different structures by making a bridge between them.