Bumpy surfaces with graphene between would help dissipate heat in next-gen microelectronic devices, according to Rice University scientists. Their theoretical studies show that enhancing the interface between gallium nitride semiconductors and diamond heat sinks would allow phonons – quasiparticles of sound that also carry heat – to disperse more efficiently. Heat sinks are used to carry heat away from electronic devices.

Gerhardt and Rice colleagues have created the first low-cost, easy-to-use optogenetics hardware platform that biologists who have little or no training in engineering or software design can use to incorporate optogenetics testing in their labs. Rice's Light Plate Apparatus (LPA) is described in a paper available for free online this week in the open-access journal Scientific Reports. The LPA, which was created in the lab of Jeffrey Tabor, as...

Rice University computer scientists have created a system for mobile users to quickly determine their location indoors without communicating with the cloud, networks or other devices. The battery-saving scheme uses image recognition and "hashing," a method that reduces key details in a photo to short strings of numbers called hashes. To determine a location, the system hashes a photo from the user's camera and compares it against a pre-downloaded...

The Rice lab of theoretical physicist Boris Yakobson and experimental collaborators observed examples of naturally undulating, metallic borophene, an atom-thick layer of boron, and suggested that transferring it onto an elastic surface would preserve the material's stretchability along with its useful electronic properties. Highly conductive graphene has promise for flexible electronics, Yakobson said, but it is too stiff for devices that al...

The combination of graphene nanoribbons made with a process developed at Rice University and a common polymer could someday be of critical importance to healing damaged spinal cords in people, according to Rice chemist James Tour. The Tour lab has spent a decade working with graphene nanoribbons, starting with the discovery of a chemical process to "unzip" them from multiwalled carbon nanotubes, as revealed in a Nature paper in 2009.

Rice University researchers have added a clever spin—a rotating grating that removes out-of-focus light—to a cutting-edge, minimally invasive fibre-optic microscope that lets oncologists and surgeons zoom in on cancer tumors prior to surgery. The research is published online in the Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Superman can famously make a diamond by crushing a chunk of coal in his hand, but Rice University scientists are employing a different tactic. Rice materials scientists are making nanodiamonds and other forms of carbon by smashing nanotubes against a target at high speeds. Nanodiamonds won't make anyone rich, but the process of making them will enrich the knowledge of engineers who design structures that resist damage from high-speed impacts...

Flakes of graphene welded together into solid materials may be suitable for bone implants, according to a study led by Rice University scientists. The Rice lab of materials scientist Pulickel Ajayan and colleagues in Texas, Brazil and India used spark plasma sintering to weld flakes of graphene oxide into porous solids that compare favorably with the mechanical properties and biocompatibility of titanium, a standard bone-replacement material...

Rice physicists are closing in on a way to create a condensed matter state in which all the electrons in a material act as one by manipulating them with light and a magnetic field. The effect made possible by a custom-built, finely tuned cavity for THz radiation shows one of the strongest light-matter coupling phenomena ever observed. The work by Rice physicist Junichiro Kono and his colleagues is described in Nature Physics.

Graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) bend and twist easily in solution, making them adaptable for biological uses like DNA analysis, drug delivery and biomimetic applications, according to scientists at Rice University. Knowing the details of how GNRs behave in a solution will help make them suitable for wide use in biomimetics, according to Rice physicist Ching-Hwa Kiang, whose lab employed its unique capabilities to probe nanoscale materials like c...

The latest discoveries about spider silk could inspire novel materials to manipulate sound and heat in the same way semiconducting circuits manipulate electrons, according to scientists at Rice University, in Europe and in Singapore. A paper in Nature Materials looks at the microscopic structure of spider silk and reveals unique characteristics in the way it transmits phonons, quasiparticles of sound.

The old rules don't necessarily apply when building electronic components out of two-dimensional materials, according to scientists at Rice University. The Rice lab of theoretical physicist Boris Yakobson analysed hybrids that put 2D materials like graphene and boron nitride side by side to see what happens at the border. They found that the electronic characteristics of such "co-planar" hybrids differ from bulkier components.

Titanium is the leading material for artificial knee and hip joints because it's strong, wear-resistant and nontoxic, but an unexpected discovery by Rice University physicists shows that the gold standard for artificial joints can be improved with the addition of some actual gold. "It is about 3-4 times harder than most steels," said Emilia Morosan, the lead scientist on a study in Science Advances that describes the properties of a 3-to-1 mixtur...

Researchers at Rice University's Laboratory for Nanophotonics have unveiled a method for uniting light-capturing photonic nanomaterials and high-efficiency metal catalysts. Each year, chemical producers spend billions of dollars on metal catalysts, materials that spur or speed up chemical reactions. Catalysts are used to produce trillions of dollars worth of chemical products. Unfortunately, most catalysts only work at high temperatures or h...

Rice University researchers have just the thing for the age of information overload: an app that sees all and remembers only what it should. RedEye, a new technology from Rice’s Efficient Computing Group that was unveiled at the International Symposium on Computer Architecture (ISCA 2016) conference in Seoul, South Korea, could provide computers with continuous vision — a first step toward allowing the devices to see wh...

Nanoscale "rivets" give graphene qualities that may speed the wonder material's adoption in products like flexible, transparent electronics, according to researchers at Rice University. The Rice lab of chemist James Tour reported the creation of "rivet graphene," 2D carbon that incorporates carbon nanotubes for strength and carbon spheres that encase iron nanoparticles, which enhance both the material's portability and its electronic properties.

Rice University researchers who developed the first nanocars and colleagues at North Carolina State University found in recent tests that driving their vehicles in ambient conditions – exposed to open air, rather than a vacuum – got dicey after a time because the hydrophobic single-molecule cars stuck to the "road" and created what amounted to large speed bumps. The findings were reported in the American Chemical Society's Journa...

Rice University scientists have advanced their graphene-based de-icer to serve a dual purpose. The new material still melts ice from wings and wires when conditions get too cold. But if the air is above 7ºF, ice won't form at all. The Rice lab of chemist James Tour gave its de-icer superhydrophobic (water-repelling) capabilities that passively prevent water from freezing above 7 degrees.

Rice University students developed force-testing device for 3D printed prosthetic hands to help ensure that children get the most out of the devices. The Rice team calling itself 'Carpal Diem' has developed a testing suite to validate how well 3D printed hands transfer force from the wearer, typically a child born without a fully formed hand, to the prosthetic intended to help pick up and manipulate small objects.

  Rice University materials scientists have introduced a combined electrolyte and separator for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that supplies energy at usable voltages and in high temperatures. An essential part of the nonflammable, toothpaste-like composite is hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), the atom-thin compound often called "white graphene."