Category: Research Highlights

•The new Nion HERMES 200 is an aberration corrected, monochromated scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) equipped with space- and angle-resolved electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS), which is the first at a University Shared Facility. •Due to the broad shape of the Ta-O2,3 edge and its proximity to the Li-K edge, conventional coreloss EELS is unable to…Continue Reading 2023 Shared Facilities: Li distribution in Li0.375Sr0.4375Ta0.75Zr0.25O3 solid electrolyte mapped by vibrational electron energy loss spectroscopy

• Photosensitive resins containing magnetic nanoparticles were successfully synthesized and used to 3D print composite magnets via Digital Light Processing. The 3D printed cubes displayed in the figure (top) clearly exhibit magnetic response (bottom), with magnetic properties that can be tuned by modifying particle chemistry and concentration. • The ability to 3D print magnetic materials…Continue Reading 2023 Seed: DLP printing of tunable magnetic composites

Achievements: • Demonstration of topological phase transitions induced in HfTe5 by uniaxial strain• Demonstration of a new technique to control heterostrain in vdW multilayers via AFM nanomanipulation• Demonstration of photo-induced force microscopy (PiFM) coupled with tunable visible illumination to map and spectroscopically analyze effects of strain on optical properties. Importance: Due to the weak interlayer bonding in…Continue Reading 2023 Seed: Structured Strain and Deformations in Van der Waals Quantum Material Heterostructures

This Work Reports: • The first example of a fully electrically fueled dissipative self-assembly system.• The active systems can be sustained over a long period of time.• The system does not generate any chemical waste.• The active assembly can be spatiotemporally controlled precisely. Impact: • This work overcomes a major challenge in the fueled active…Continue Reading 2023 IRG-2: Fully Electrically Fueled Supramolecular Living System

High-throughput atomistic models were used to study interfacial segregation in a NbMoTaW refractory complex concentrated alloy.  Hundreds of bicrystals and hundreds of thousands of atomic grain boundary sites were tested.  Nb was found to be the dominant segregant, but important deviations from this average response highlighted the unique behavior of complex concentrated alloys.  For example,…Continue Reading 2023 IRG-1: High-throughput simulations demonstrate the importance of local chemistry for interfacial segregation in NbMoTaW

The main achievement of this research is revealing the atomic-scale origin of the low grain-boundary (GB) resistance in Li0.375Sr0.4375Ta0.75Zr0.25O3 (LSTZ0.75) perovskite solid electrolyte and providing insights on overcoming the ubiquitous bottleneck of high GB resistance in other oxide solid electrolytes. Significance of this scientific achievement · Aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy and spectroscopy, along with an active learning…Continue Reading 2023 IRG-1: Atomic-scale origin of the low grain-boundary resistance in perovskite solid electrolyte Li0.375Sr0.4375Ta0.75Zr0.25O3

This paper reports: • The first example of synthetic living material featuring dissipative behaviors directly controlled by the fuel consumption of their constituent cells• A synthetic dissipative system that interfaces biology and shows repeated macroscopic phase transition• Detailed examination of kinetics of fuel consumption by living cells at a molecular level Impact: • This work…Continue Reading 2023 IRG-2: Sugar-fueled Dissipative Living Materials

UCI and UCSD Scientists Unravel an Atomic-scale Origin of the Low Grain-boundary Resistance in Perovskite Solid Electrolyte Lithium-ion batteries are considered promising energy storage solutions as they have already penetrated our daily life, but there still lies the safety concern especially with flammable liquid electrolyte. Despite high anticipation towards all-solid-state battery (ASSB) that uses chemically…Continue Reading Atomic-scale Origin of the Low Grain-boundary Resistance in Perovskite Solid Electrolyte

UC Irvine Researchers Create E. Coli-based Water Monitoring Technology Bacterium used as a live sensor to detect heavy metal contamination People often associate Escherichia coli with contaminated food, but E. coli has long been a workhorse in biotechnology. Scientists at the University of California, Irvine have demonstrated that the bacterium has further value as part of a system to…Continue Reading UC Irvine Researchers Create E. Coli-based Water Monitoring Technology

• The effect of chemical ordering with grain boundaries was investigated in a NbMoTaW refractory complex concentrated alloy (RCCA). • Atomistic simulations were performed at 100 – 2000 K on hexagonal grain models of sizes of 5-20 nm. Interface regions were sliced and partitioned for investigation of near-boundary segregation and structural transitions with the boundaries….Continue Reading 2023 IRG-1 Publication: Chemical order transitions within interfacial segregation zones in NbMoTaW