News from the NNI Community - Research Advances Funded by Agencies Participating in the NNI

Researchers from Penn State, the University of Virginia, and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, in collaboration with industry partners Solvay and Oshkosh, have found a way to strengthen carbon fibers, which are widely used in the airline industry but are typically very expensive. Using a mix of computer simulations and laboratory experiments, the team found that adding small amounts of graphene to the production process not only strengthens the fibers, but also reduces their production cost, which may one day pave the way for higher-strength, cost-effective car materials.

By using powerful X-rays at the Advanced Photon Source (APS), a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science user facility at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory, a team of researchers from Singapore and Ireland looked at the wing casings of two fossilized weevils (a species of small beetle) from the late Pleistocene era. They found that the photonic nanostructures of crystal-like material that scatter or diffract light on the weevils’ wings were perfectly preserved, indicating that the blue and green structural colors of these weevils has not changed in 13,000 years.

By using powerful X-rays at the Advanced Photon Source (APS), a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science user facility at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory, a team of researchers from Singapore and Ireland looked at the wing casings of two fossilized weevils (a species of small beetle) from the late Pleistocene era. They found that the photonic nanostructures of crystal-like material that scatter or diffract light on the weevils’ wings were perfectly preserved, indicating that the blue and green structural colors of these weevils has not changed in 13,000 years.

Scientists at Rice University have shown that a two-dimensional Janus compound could be an effective and universal platform for improving the detection of biomolecules via surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). Using glucose to test the material proved its ability to boost its Raman enhancement factor by more than 100,000 times, which the researchers say is comparable to the highest-reported enhancement factor for 2D substrates. SERS is an established technique that enables the detection and identification of small concentrations of molecules that get close to or adsorbed by metallic surfaces, including nanoparticles.

Scientists at Rice University have shown that a two-dimensional Janus compound could be an effective and universal platform for improving the detection of biomolecules via surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). Using glucose to test the material proved its ability to boost its Raman enhancement factor by more than 100,000 times, which the researchers say is comparable to the highest-reported enhancement factor for 2D substrates. SERS is an established technique that enables the detection and identification of small concentrations of molecules that get close to or adsorbed by metallic surfaces, including nanoparticles.

A team of researchers co-led by the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has observed long-lived plasmons in a new class of conducting transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) called quasi 2D crystals. The researchers developed sophisticated new algorithms to compute the material's electronic properties, including plasmon oscillations with long wavelengths. To the researchers' surprise, the results from their calculations revealed that plasmons in quasi 2D crystals are more stable – for as long as approximately 2 trillionths of a second – than previously thought.

A team of researchers co-led by the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has observed long-lived plasmons in a new class of conducting transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) called quasi 2D crystals. The researchers developed sophisticated new algorithms to compute the material's electronic properties, including plasmon oscillations with long wavelengths. To the researchers' surprise, the results from their calculations revealed that plasmons in quasi 2D crystals are more stable – for as long as approximately 2 trillionths of a second – than previously thought.

Scientists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have developed bioelectronic ammonia gas sensors that are among the most sensitive ever made. The sensors use electric-charge-conducting protein nanowires derived from the bacterium Geobacter, which grows hair-like protein filaments that work as nanoscale "wires" to transfer charges for their nourishment and to communicate with other bacteria.

Scientists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have developed bioelectronic ammonia gas sensors that are among the most sensitive ever made. The sensors use electric-charge-conducting protein nanowires derived from the bacterium Geobacter, which grows hair-like protein filaments that work as nanoscale "wires" to transfer charges for their nourishment and to communicate with other bacteria.

Plastics are a popular 3-D printing material, but printed parts are mechanically weak—a flaw caused by the imperfect bonding between the individual printed layers that make up the 3-D part. Now, researchers at Texas A&M University, in collaboration with scientists in the company Essentium, Inc. have developed a technology that overcomes this flaw. By integrating plasma science and carbon nanotube technology into standard 3-D printing, the researchers welded adjacent printed layers more effectively, increasing the overall reliability of the final part.