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An international team led by Dr. Tristan Petit and Prof. Yury Gogotsi has investigated MXene with confined water and ions at BESSY II. In the MXene samples, a transition between localised ice clusters to quasi-two-dimensional water films was identified by increasing temperature. The team also discovered that the intercalated water structure drives a reversible transition from metallic to semiconducting behaviour of the MXene film. This could enable the development of novel de

What occurs during the melting process in two-dimensional systems at the microscopic level? Researchers at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) have explored this phenomenon in thin magnetic layers. "By utilizing skyrmions, i.e., miniature magnetic vortices, we were able to directly observe, for the first time, the transition of a two-dimensional ordered lattice structure into a disordered state at the microscopic level in real time," explained Raphael Gruber, who conduc

Researchers at Kumamoto University and Nagoya University have developed a new class of two-dimensional (2D) metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) using triptycene-based molecules, marking a breakthrough in the quest to understand and enhance the physical properties of these promising materials. This innovation opens new possibilities for multifunctional applications in gas/molecular sensors, electrochemical energy storage, and spintronic devices. Two-dimensional (2D) conductive met

What if a complex material could reshape itself in response to a simple chemical signal? A team of physicists from the University of Vienna and the University of Edinburgh has shown that even small changes in pH value and thus in electric charge can shift the spatial arrangement of closed ring-shaped polymers (molecular chains) – by altering the balance between twist and writhe, two distinct modes of spatial deformation. Their findings, published in Physical Review Letters, d

Half a billion years ago nature evolved a remarkable trick: generating vibrant, shimmering colours via intricate, microscopic structures in feathers, wings and shells that reflect light in precise ways. Now, researchers from Trinity have taken a major step forward in harnessing it for advanced materials science. A team, led by Professor Colm Delaney from Trinity’s School of Chemistry and AMBER, the Research Ireland Centre for Advanced Materials and BioEngineering Research, ha

Pure graphene for industrial applications is usually obtained from graphite. Conventional production methods have a very low yield of pure graphene, which has to be separated from waste products at great expense. However, thanks to a previous research project, the Empa researchers have an ace up their sleeve: They developed a process with which high-quality graphene can be “exfoliated” from graphite both cost-effectively and efficiently, and processed into a gel-like printabl