(Funded by the National Science Foundation)
Researchers at Rice University have found a new way to improve a key element of thermophotovoltaic systems, which convert heat into electricity via light. Using an unconventional approach inspired by quantum physics, the researchers designed a thermal emitter that can deliver high efficiencies within practical design parameters. The emitter is composed of a tungsten metal sheet, a thin layer of a spacer material and a network of silicon nanocylinders. The research could inform the development of thermal-energy electrical storage, which holds promise as an affordable, grid-scale alternative to batteries.

(Funded by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the U.S. Department of Defense)
Researchers from the University of Mississippi have shown that using glycopolymers – polymers made with natural sugars like glucose – to coat nanoparticles that deliver cancer-fighting medication directly to tumors reduces the body’s immune response to cancer treatment. The researchers tested glycopolymer-coated nanoparticle treatments in mice with breast cancer and found that more nanoparticles reached the tumors in the glycopolymer treatment compared to more conventional treatment that uses polyethylene glycol-based nanoparticles. “Our findings highlight that the nanoparticles we’re using significantly reduce unwanted immune responses while dramatically enhancing drug delivery, both in cell and animal models,” said Kenneth Hulugalla, one of the scientists involved in this study.

(Funded by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy)
Scientists from Washington State University and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have discovered a way to make ions move more than ten times faster in mixed organic ion-electronic conductors. These conductors combine the advantages of the ion signaling used by many biological systems with the electron signaling used by computers. The new development speeds up ion movement in these conductors by using molecules that attract and concentrate ions into a separate nanochannel creating a type of tiny “ion superhighway.” These types of conductors hold a lot of potential because they allow movement of both ions and electrons at once, which is critical for battery charging and energy storage.

(Funded by the National Science Foundation)
Researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have discovered a new type of nanoparticle, palladium hydride, which contains palladium and hydrogen. Palladium hydride nanoparticles are typically structured symmetrically, looking like a cube with palladium atoms posted at each corner and centered on all six cubic faces. In contrast, the new nanoparticle’s structure is presumably the least symmetrical of all crystal systems. To create this unusual nanoparticle, the researchers added electrons to a solution containing palladium ions and water, and the electrons’ negative charge pulled positive hydrogen ions from the water molecules, allowing the hydrogen ions to bond with the palladium ions.

(Funded by the National Science Foundation)
Physicists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have taken a key step toward solving the puzzle of what leads electrons to split into fractions of themselves. The new work is an effort to make sense of a discovery that was reported earlier this year by other physicists at MIT, who found that electrons appear to exhibit “fractional charge” in pentalayer graphene – a configuration of five graphene layers that are stacked atop a similarly structured sheet of boron nitride. Through calculations of quantum mechanical interactions, the scientists showed that the electrons form a sort of crystal structure, the properties of which are ideal for fractions of electrons to emerge. “This crystal has a whole set of unusual properties that are different from ordinary crystals, and leads to many fascinating questions for future research,” said Senthil Todadri, the scientist who led the new study.