May 08, 2026 A coating made from paper-mill waste lignin and liquid metal nanoparticles absorbs 96% of sunlight, powering flat-panel thermoelectric generators while cutting carbon emissions below zero. (Nanowerk Spotlight) Industries routinely destroy materials they later discover were valuable. Coal tar was once a nuisance byproduct of nineteenth-century gas works,...
Blog
Solar system’s largest hydraulic jump drives massive cloud waves across Venus
May 08, 2026 A kitchen-sink effect scaled to planetary proportions explains the 6,000 km wave front sweeping Venus, created when shifting airflow launches sulfuric acid vapor into clouds. (Nanowerk News) The mysterious origin of an impressive cloud disturbance on Venus has now been revealed by a team including the University...
Five-metal nanocrystal approach unlocks more efficient hydrogen production
May 08, 2026 A new five-metal alloy nanocrystal acts as a powerful catalyst for breaking down ammonia, offering a cleaner path to hydrogen fuel production. (Nanowerk News) A nanocrystal is an extraordinarily tiny piece of material – composed of anywhere from a few to a few thousand atoms – in...
3D-printed bioluminescent algae produce sustained light without electricity
May 07, 2026 Researchers created 3D-printed materials with living bioluminescent algae that glow for up to 25 minutes when exposed to simple chemical solutions, no electricity needed. (Nanowerk News) Imagine a sea of glowing blue lights pulsing to the beat of the music. But instead of glow sticks filled with...
Simple protein redesign produces the most active designed enzyme ever
May 07, 2026 X-ray fragment screening combined with directed evolution turned a simple designed protein into two new proteins, including the most active designed enzyme to date. (Nanowerk News) Using bright X-rays from the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), researchers pioneered...
Laser-written baking paper circuits could replace silicon in disposable electronics
May 07, 2026 A carbon dioxide laser writes electronic circuits onto ordinary baking parchment by selectively exposing cellulose fibers that guide conductive inks with record precision. (Nanowerk News) What if the next generation of disposable electronics — the sensors in your food packaging, the diagnostic strips in a medical clinic,...
Hourglass nanographenes unlock strong, robust multi-spin entanglement
May 07, 2026 Hourglass-shaped nanographene molecules with four interacting spins offer enhanced magnetic resilience, advancing carbon-based molecular qubits and spintronics. (Nanowerk News) Researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) and collaborators have developed a predictive design strategy for creating graphene-like molecules with multiple interacting spins and enhanced resilience to...
Biggest black holes built up in busy star clusters after series of violent merging events
May 07, 2026 Most massive black holes detected via spacetime ripples likely grew from repeated violent collisions in dense star clusters, not direct star collapse. (Nanowerk News) The most massive black holes in the Universe detected by the ripples they make in space time were not born directly from collapsing...
Bottled water nanoplastics are not simple bottle fragments
May 07, 2026 Single-particle infrared imaging reveals bottled-water nanoplastics differ in source, shape, and molecular structure beyond what particle counts can show. (Nanowerk Spotlight) A bottle of water can look clean while carrying particles that differ in size, shape, source, and molecular structure. A count can show that contamination exists,...
Researchers steer electron spin ballistically in graphene
May 07, 2026 Researchers have shown that electrons in ultra-clean graphene can be steered with high precision while keeping their spin information intact, a key requirement for future low power electronics and quantum devices. (Nanowerk News) In a new study published in Physical Review X ("Ballistic Spin Valve in Graphene...