High-pressure studies of size dependent yield strength in rhenium diboride nanocrystals.

The superhard ReB system is the hardest pure phase diboride synthesized to date. Previously, we have demonstrated the synthesis of nano-ReB and the use of this nanostructured material for texture analysis using high-pressure radial diffraction. Here, we investigate the size dependence of hardness in the nano-ReB system using nanocrystalline ReB with a range of grain sizes (20-60 nm).

Understanding How the Suppression of Insertion-Induced Phase Transitions Leads to Fast Charging in Nanoscale LiMoO.

Fast-charging Li-ion batteries are technologically important for the electrification of transportation and the implementation of grid-scale storage, and additional fundamental understanding of high-rate insertion reactions is necessary to overcome current rate limitations. In particular, phase transformations during ion insertion have been hypothesized to slow charging. Nanoscale materials with modified transformation behavior often show much faster kinetics, but the mechanism for these changes and their specific contribution to fast-charging remain poorly understood.

Measurement of Magnetoelectric Coupling and Strain Transfer in Multiferroic Nanocomposites of CoFeO and HfZrO with Residual Porosity.

With increasing applications for voltage-controlled magnetism, the need to more fully understand magnetoelectric coupling and strain transfer in nanostructured multiferroic composites has also increased. Here, multiferroic nanocomposites were synthesized using block copolymer templating to create mesoporous cobalt ferrite (CFO), followed by partly filling the pores with ferroelectric zirconium-substituted hafnia (HZO) using atomic layer deposition (ALD) to produce a porous multiferroic composite with enhanced mechanical flexibility. Upon electrical poling of the nanocomposite, we observed large changes in the magnetization.

A direct and clean route to MXenes.

New, scalable methods synthesize two-dimensional carbide and nitride materials.