New depths in infrared nanospectroscopy

Subsurface chemical nanoidentification by nano-FTIR spectroscopy

31-Jul-2020 - Researchers from the Nanooptics Group at CIC nanoGUNE (San Sebastian) demonstrate that nanoscale infrared imaging - which is established as a surface-sensitive technique - can be employed for chemical nanoidentification of materials that are located up to 100 nm below the surface. The results ...

Unraveling the magnetism of a graphene triangular flake

13-May-2020 - Graphene is a diamagnetic material, this is, unable of becoming magnetic. However, a triangular piece of graphene is predicted to be magnetic. This apparent contradiction is a consequence of "magic" shapes in the structure of graphene flakes, which force electrons to "spin" easier in one ...

Increased the performance and lifetime of lithium batteries in renewable energy facilities

20-Sep-2018 - "The installing of renewable energy sources is becoming increasingly important across the world, and this trend is expected to continue over the coming years," explained Alberto Berrueta-Irigoyen, researcher at the NUP/UPNA's Institute of Smart Cities (ISC). "Renewable technology has in recent ...

Contacting the molecular world through graphene nanoribbons

20-Feb-2018 - A single molecule can behave as the smallest electronic component of an electronic system. With this premise in mind, researchers in the field of molecular electronics have endeavoured in the last years to develop new approaches that bring closer the long-awaited objective of using molecules as ...

A hybrid material to spot organic contaminants in the atmosphere

31-Jul-2017 - The development of hybrid materials is an emerging field in materials science. As the researcher explained, the interest in these materials stems from "the success in combining that stability of inorganic components with the versatility of organic components. Blending them causes the properties ...

A new invisibility cloak to conceal objects in diffusive atmospheres is devised

24-Jan-2017 - As Carlos García-Meca of the UPV's Centre for Nanophotonic Technology explained, diffusive environments are those in which the light is not propagated in a straight line, but bounces around. "To provide some cases closer to us, a diffusive environment would be what we find on a foggy day, in ...

New step towards clean energy production from enzymes

05-Sep-2016 - Oxygen inhibits hydrogenases, a group of enzymes that are able to produce and split hydrogen. This degradation is fatal for possible biotechnological applications of these enzymes for the production of clean energy. Understanding the mechanisms of this process is hence essential. An international ...

The use of nanoparticles and bioremediation to decontaminate polluted soils

14-Jun-2016 - The Basque Institute of Agricultural Research and Development Neiker-Tecnalia is currently exploring a strategy to remedy soils contaminated by organic compounds containing chlorine (organochlorine compounds). The innovative process consists of combining the application of zero-iron nanoparticles ...

A new magnetoresistance effect occurring in materials with strong spin-orbit coupling

28-Jan-2016 - These materials, which include metals such as platinum or tantalum, are characterized for being capable of generating a spin current from an electrical current (and viceversa) by means of the so-called spin Hall effect. For this reason, these materials are of outmost importance in the field of ...

Tracking slow nanolight in natural hyperbolic metamaterial slabs

17-Sep-2015 - Researchers at CIC nanoGUNE (Basque Country) in collaboration with colleagues at ICFO - The Institute of Photonic Sciences (Catalunya) have imaged how light moves inside an exotic class of matter known as hyperbolic materials. They observed, for the first time, ultraslow pulse propagation and ...