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

Date Published
(Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the Office of Naval Research and the National Science Foundation)

Researchers have made a strange and startling discovery: Nanoparticles that are engineered with DNA in colloidal crystals behave just like electrons. Not only has this finding upended the current, accepted notion of matter, it also opens the door for new possibilities in materials design.

(Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the Office of Naval Research and the National Science Foundation)

Researchers have made a strange and startling discovery: Nanoparticles that are engineered with DNA in colloidal crystals behave just like electrons. Not only has this finding upended the current, accepted notion of matter, it also opens the door for new possibilities in materials design.

(Funded by the National Science Foundation)

Physicists shed light on a novel Mott state observed in twisted graphene bilayers at the “magic angle.” The novel Mott state favors ferromagnetic alignment of the electron spins, meaning that the spins of pairs of electrons are aligned parallel to each other, even though these electrons strongly repel each other – a phenomenon unheard of in conventional Mott insulators, in which the spins of two electrons sitting next to each other are anti-parallel.

(Funded by the National Science Foundation)

Physicists shed light on a novel Mott state observed in twisted graphene bilayers at the “magic angle.” The novel Mott state favors ferromagnetic alignment of the electron spins, meaning that the spins of pairs of electrons are aligned parallel to each other, even though these electrons strongly repel each other – a phenomenon unheard of in conventional Mott insulators, in which the spins of two electrons sitting next to each other are anti-parallel.

(Funded by the National Science Foundation)

Solar panels and light-emitting diodes (LEDs) require a cover material that repels water, dirt, and oil while still letting plenty of light through. Researchers have created a flexible optical plastic that has all of those properties, finding inspiration in a surprising place: the shape of Enoki mushrooms.

(Funded by the National Science Foundation)

Solar panels and light-emitting diodes (LEDs) require a cover material that repels water, dirt, and oil while still letting plenty of light through. Researchers have created a flexible optical plastic that has all of those properties, finding inspiration in a surprising place: the shape of Enoki mushrooms.

(Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy)

Researchers have demonstrated an advanced manufacturing process that produces, in a single step, nanostructured rods and tubes directly from high-performance aluminum alloy powder while also achieving a significant increase in product ductility (how far a material can stretch before it breaks). This is good news for sectors such as the automotive industry, where the high cost of manufacturing has historically limited the use of high-strength aluminum alloys made from powders.

(Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy)

Researchers have demonstrated an advanced manufacturing process that produces, in a single step, nanostructured rods and tubes directly from high-performance aluminum alloy powder while also achieving a significant increase in product ductility (how far a material can stretch before it breaks). This is good news for sectors such as the automotive industry, where the high cost of manufacturing has historically limited the use of high-strength aluminum alloys made from powders.

(Funded by the National Institutes of Health)

Scientists have used a gene editing method to generate mice that mimic a fatal respiratory disorder in newborn infants that turns their lips and skin blue. The new laboratory animal model allowed researchers to pinpoint the ailment's cause and develop a potential nanoparticle-based treatment.

(Funded by the National Institutes of Health)

Scientists have used a gene editing method to generate mice that mimic a fatal respiratory disorder in newborn infants that turns their lips and skin blue. The new laboratory animal model allowed researchers to pinpoint the ailment's cause and develop a potential nanoparticle-based treatment.