Boron nitride nanotube fibers get real
Rice scientists create the first boron nitride nanotube fibers using the custom wet-spinning process they developed to make carbon nanotube fibers.
Bumps could smooth quantum investigations
Rice University materials theorists model a contoured surface overlaid with 2D materials and find it possible to control their electronic and magnetic properties. The discovery could simplify research into many-body effects, including quantum systems.
Grain boundaries go with the flow
Rice engineers mimic atom-scale grain boundaries with magnetic particles to see how shear stress influences their movement.
Cars could get a ‘flashy’ upgrade
Rice University chemists, working with the Ford Motor Company, processes waste plastic from end-of-life trucks into graphene for composite materials in new vehicles.
Rice ‘metalens’ could disrupt vacuum UV market
Rice photonics researchers have created a potentially disruptive technology for the ultraviolet optics market.
Rice scientists have developed an acid-based solvent that simplifies carbon nanotube processing.
Lithium’s narrow paths limit batteries
Study suggests that lithium batteries would benefit from more porous electrodes with better-aligned particles that don’t limit lithium distribution.
Rice lab improves recipe for valuable chemical
Rice University theorists show why salt gives a significant speed boost to valuable 2D molybdenum disulfide, an effect they say may work for other 2D materials as well.
Treated plastic waste good at grabbing carbon dioxide
Rice University chemists treat waste plastic to absorb carbon dioxide from flue gas streams more efficiently than current processes.
Graphene gets enhanced by flashing
Rice University scientists who developed the flash Joule heating process to make graphene have found a way to produce doped graphene to customize it for applications.
Don’t underestimate undulating graphene
A theory by Rice University scientists suggests putting graphene on an undulating surface stresses it enough to create a minute electromagnetic field. The phenomenon could be useful for creating 2D electron optics or valleytronics devices.
Models for molecules show unexpected physics
Rice engineers discover unusual properties in magnetized colloids that surprisingly adhere to the physics described by Kelvin’s equation, which models the thermodynamics of molecular systems.
People, papers and presentations for Feb. 28, 2022
Rice materials scientist Pulickel Ajayan is co-lead author of a forward-thinking perspective of quantum materials manufacturing in Advanced Materials, and Will Rice College senior Eduardo Gonzalez Villarreal was named the Texas Chapter of the American College of Sports Medicine’s 2022 Undergraduate Major of the Year for Rice University.
Inaugural class of Rice Innovation Fellows announced
The Provost’s Office and the Liu Idea Lab for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (Lilie) have announced the inaugural class of Rice Innovation Fellows, a program that will provide educational and financial support to the next generation of scientist- and engineer-led spinout ventures.
Strong magnets put new twist on phonons
Phonons, quasiparticles in a crystal lattice that are usually hard to control by external fields, can be manipulated by a magnetic field -- but it takes a very strong magnet.