PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Bake, melt or ignite: How synthesis methods have a profound impact on disordered materials

A new study reveals how different synthesis methods can profoundly impact the structure and function of high entropy oxides, a class of materials with applications in everyday electronic devices

Bake, melt or ignite: How synthesis methods have a profound impact on disordered materials
2024-09-12
(Press-News.org) A new study has revealed for the first time how different synthesis methods can profoundly impact the structural and functional properties of high entropy oxides, a class of materials with applications in everyday electronic devices. The study was published this week in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

 

“The specific material that we’ve studied here is a high entropy oxide with a spinel crystal structure, which is a mixture of five different transition metal oxides. A lot of the excitement that we see around this class of materials is in terms of their electrochemical properties,” said Dr. Alannah Hallas, a materials scientist with the University of British Columbia’s Blusson Quantum Matter Institute and Department of Physics and Astronomy.

 

“The reason these high entropy systems are so promising from that point of view is because they have  enormous chemical flexibility. While synthesizing these materials, we have many different knobs that we can turn, so there is kind of a limitless possibility in the ways we can construct them.”

 

The researchers prepared the identical samples using five different synthesis methods: solid state, high pressure, hydrothermal, molten salt, and combustion syntheses. The methods involve different ways of heating the material, different speeds at which the material is cooled back down to room temperature, and different chemical conditions under which the heating can occur.

 

“Our results confirm that the synthesis method matters a great deal. We found that while the average structure is unaltered, the samples vary significantly in their local structures and their microstructures with the combustion synthesis resulting in the most homogeneous samples.”

 

The key difference between the synthesis methods is the driving mechanism that forms the material, said the lead author of the study Mario Ulises González-Rivas, who has mastered the art of preparing the samples using the different synthesis methods during his time as a PhD researcher in Hallas’s group.

 

In the solid-state method, metal oxides are mixed and then heated, similar to baking a cake. The high-pressure method adds external pressure during heating, which can influence how the material forms. The hydrothermal method mimics mineral formation in Earth's core by heating metal salts in water inside a pressurized vessel, creating a flow that helps crystals grow. The molten salt method uses melted metal salts, which form a thick liquid that, as it cools, allows crystals to precipitate. Lastly, the combustion method involves dissolving metal salts in water, forming a gel that ignites, rapidly producing the desired material through a quick combustion reaction.

 

“Some of these materials have great potential for use in addressing energy challenges. The technological implementation of these materials for energy systems is deeply affected by the kind of structural variations that we observe in this study,” González-Rivas said. “Our results effectively provide a new optimization axis to be considered when implementing these materials in an applied setting.”

 

The study is the result of a collaboration between Hallas’ team at UBC Blusson QMI, Dr. Robert Green, a UBC Blusson QMI Affiliate Investigator from the University of Saskatchewan, and Dr. Hidenori Takagi from the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research.

 

 

END

[Attachments] See images for this press release:
Bake, melt or ignite: How synthesis methods have a profound impact on disordered materials Bake, melt or ignite: How synthesis methods have a profound impact on disordered materials 2 Bake, melt or ignite: How synthesis methods have a profound impact on disordered materials 3

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

A majority of Americans can’t recall most First Amendment rights

A majority of Americans can’t recall most First Amendment rights
2024-09-12
Less than half of Americans can name most of the rights protected under the First Amendment and under two-thirds can name the three branches of government, according to the Annenberg Constitution Day Civics Survey, released annually since 2014. The Annenberg Public Policy Center’s nationally representative survey, conducted in May 2024 with about 1,600 U.S. adults, finds levels of public knowledge largely unchanged from 2023. As was true last year, most Americans could name only a single right guaranteed by the First Amendment: freedom of speech, provided by nearly 3 in 4 respondents. The survey also found strong public support for ...

2024 Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists announced

2024 Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists announced
2024-09-12
NEW YORK, September 12, 2024  – For the second time, the Blavatnik Family Foundation and The New York Academy of Sciences named three women scientists as Laureates of the Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists. Each will receive $250,000, the largest unrestricted scientific prize offered to America’s most promising, faculty-level scientific researchers under 42. Three independent juries – one each for life sciences, chemical sciences, and physical sciences & engineering – composed of some of America’s most distinguished scientists selected the three winning Laureates. An additional 15 Finalists will each receive ...

TTUHSC’s Jerry H. Hodge School of Pharmacy establishes Brain Drug Discovery Center

TTUHSC’s Jerry H. Hodge School of Pharmacy establishes Brain Drug Discovery Center
2024-09-12
After more than a decade of research growth and recruiting efforts to build strong, collaborative research programs, the Jerry H. Hodge School of Pharmacy in Amarillo has developed the Brain Drug Discovery Center, the newest Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) research center. Created from two existing pharmacy school centers — the Center for Blood-Brain Barrier Research and the Cancer Biology Research Center — the Brain Drug Discovery Center will focus on ...

Collaborative three-campus QB3 research team awarded $12 million CIRM grant to study origins of autism in diverse population

2024-09-12
A QB3-led team uniting researchers from the University of California campuses at Berkeley, San Francisco, and Santa Cruz was awarded a $12 million grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) to investigate the origins of autism using sophisticated cellular models called “neural organoids.” This grant is the first funding brought in by QB3’s Collaborative Research initiative, which was recently created to address major challenges in human health by leveraging research talent and resources across the UC campuses served by QB3.  "We are grateful for the support provided by the CIRM team to craft a highly successful application ...

Cannabis and older adults: Poll shows current use patterns, beliefs and risks

Cannabis and older adults: Poll shows current use patterns, beliefs and risks
2024-09-12
Whether they’re using it for recreational or medical reasons, a sizable percentage of people in their 50s and older have smoked, eaten, drunk or applied to their skin at least one form of cannabis in the past year, a new poll shows. In all, 21% of people age 50 and older said they used a form of cannabis that contains the psychoactive compound THC at least once in the past year, according to new findings from the University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging. The poll report focuses on use of cannabis ...

Dr. Baptiste Lacoste, of the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and uOttawa Brain and Mind Research Institute, receives a SynGAP Research Fund (SRF) Grant for Groundbreaking Research on Vascular and M

Dr. Baptiste Lacoste, of the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and uOttawa Brain and Mind Research Institute, receives a SynGAP Research Fund (SRF) Grant for Groundbreaking Research on Vascular and M
2024-09-12
Mill Valley, CA – September 12, 2024 – The SynGAP Research Fund 501(c)(3) announces a $128,888 grant to Dr. Baptiste Lacoste at the uOttawa Brain and Mind Research Institute (uOBMRI) and Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI). This grant supports Dr. Lacoste's pioneering research project aimed at exploring the role of vascular and metabolic dysfunction in SYNGAP1-Related Non-Syndromic Intellectual Disability (SYNGAP1-NSID), also known as SYNGAP1-Related Disorders (SRD). With elevated energy demands and a limited capacity to store ...

$75,000 prize inspired by 18th century Scots economist attracts global entries

$75,000 prize inspired by 18th century Scots economist attracts global entries
2024-09-12
A Scottish $75,000 prize for “radical innovation” has shortlisted four academics from around the world. Named after Panmure House, the former Edinburgh home of 18th century Scots economist and philosopher Adam Smith, the Panmure House Prize rewards groundbreaking research that contributes to advancing long-term thinking and innovation. After a record number of entries for the 2024 prize, its fourth year, the judges have drawn up a shortlist of four submissions from the United States, Spain ...

SOPHiA GENETICS announces poster presentations at ESMO 2024

SOPHiA GENETICS announces poster presentations at ESMO 2024
2024-09-12
Boston, MA and Rolle, Switzerland, September 12, 2024 – SOPHiA GENETICS (Nasdaq: SOPH), a cloud-native healthcare technology company and a global leader in data-driven medicine, will be presenting multiple posters at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2024 being held in Barcelona, Spain September 13-17, 2024. The ESMO Congress is a globally influential oncology platform for clinicians, researchers, patient advocates, journalists and healthcare industry representatives from all over the world. The details of the presentations are as follows: Title: ...

 New fossil fish species scales up evidence of Earth’s evolutionary march

 New fossil fish species scales up evidence of Earth’s evolutionary march
2024-09-12
Access VIDEO, photos and captions here                      Climate change and asteroids are linked with animal origin and extinction – and plate tectonics also seems to play a key evolutionary role, ‘groundbreaking’ new fossil research reveals. The discovery of an exceptionally well preserved ancient primitive Devonian coelacanth fish in remote Western Australia has been linked to a period of heightened tectonic activity, or movement in the Earth’s crust, according ...

Personal carbon footprint of the rich is vastly underestimated by rich and poor alike, study finds

2024-09-12
The personal carbon footprint of the richest people in society is grossly underestimated, both by the rich themselves and by those on middle and lower incomes, no matter which country they come from. At the same time, both the rich and the poor drastically overestimate the carbon footprint of the poorest people. An international group of researchers, led by the Copenhagen Business School, the University of Basel and the University of Cambridge, surveyed 4,000 people from Denmark, India, Nigeria and the United States about inequality in personal carbon footprints – the total amount of greenhouse gases ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Osteoporosis treatment benefits people older than 80

Consuming more protein may protect patients taking anti-obesity drug from muscle loss

Thyroid treatment may improve gut health in people with hypothyroidism

Combination of obesity medication tirzepatide and menopause hormone therapy fuels weight loss

High blood sugar may have a negative impact on men’s sexual health

Emotional health of parents tied to well-being of children with growth hormone deficiency

Oxytocin may reduce mood changes in women with disrupted sleep

Mouse study finds tirzepatide slowed obesity-associated breast cancer growth

CMD-OPT model enables the discovery of a potent and selective RIPK2 inhibitor as preclinical candidate for the treatment of acute liver injury

Melatonin receptor 1a alleviates sleep fragmentation-aggravated testicular injury in T2DM by suppression of TAB1/TAK1 complex through FGFR1

Single-cell RNA sequencing reveals Shen-Bai-Jie-Du decoction retards colorectal tumorigenesis by regulating the TMEM131–TNF signaling pathway-mediated differentiation of immunosuppressive dendritic ce

Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B Volume 15, Issue 7 Publishes

New research expands laser technology

Targeted radiation offers promise in patients with metastasized small cell lung cancer to the brain

A high clinically translatable strategy to anti-aging using hyaluronic acid and silk fibroin co-crosslinked hydrogels as dermal regenerative fillers

Mount Sinai researchers uncover differences in how males and females change their mind when reflecting on past mistakes

CTE and normal aging are difficult to distinguish, new study finds

Molecular arms race: How the genome defends itself against internal enemies

Tiny chip speeds up antibody mapping for faster vaccine design

KTU experts reveal why cultural heritage is important for community unity

More misfolded proteins than previously known may contribute to Alzheimer’s and dementia

“Too much going on”: Autistic adults overwhelmed by non-verbal social cues

What’s driving America’s deep freezes in a warming world?

A key role of brain protein in learning and memory is deciphered by scientists

Heart attacks don’t follow a Hollywood script

Erin M. Schuman wins 2026 Nakasone Award for discovery on neural synapse function and change during formation of memories

Global ocean analysis could replace costly in-situ sound speed profiles in seafloor positioning, study finds

Power in numbers: Small group professional coaching reduces rates of physician burnout by nearly 30%

Carbon capture, utilization, and storage: A comprehensive review of CCUS-EOR

New high-temperature stable dispersed particle gel for enhanced profile control in CCUS applications

[Press-News.org] Bake, melt or ignite: How synthesis methods have a profound impact on disordered materials
A new study reveals how different synthesis methods can profoundly impact the structure and function of high entropy oxides, a class of materials with applications in everyday electronic devices