Most solid materials we rely on, from steel, to plastics and ceramics, are designed to have specific properties. Whether a material is soft and flexible, or stiff and tough depends on how molecules ...

Crystal polymorphism is critically important in the fields of pharmaceuticals and materials science. For instance, a metastable polymorph of an active pharmaceutical ingredient may benefit from ...

When scientists study how materials behave under extreme conditions, they typically examine what happens under compression. But what occurs when you pull matter apart in all directions simultaneously?

The ability to predict crystal structures is a key part of the design of new materials. New research shows that a mathematical algorithm can guarantee to predict the structure of any material just ...

Defect-filled lead-halide perovskites rival silicon solar cells because domain walls inside the material separate and guide charges. Researchers visualized these charge-transport networks using a ...

A new artificial intelligence model can predict how atoms arrange themselves in crystal structures. A new artificial intelligence model that can predict how atoms arrange themselves in crystal ...

Every crystal's shape is a mirror of the internal arrangement of its molecules, but the molecules in photoswitchable crystals can expand, twist and change properties—from their color to their ...

Most space missions rely on chemical rockets for propulsion. Rockets must carry fuel, which increases spacecraft mass and limits their speed and travel distance. For decades, researchers have explored ...

Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have developed a 4D-STEM workflow that can isolate and solve atomic structures from individual nanocrystals buried inside dense, tangled clusters, ...

The new White Mountains Almanac explains how temperature and humidity determine snow crystal structure, influencing snow quality and winter conditions across western Maine.

Duplicates of crystal structures are flooding databases, implicating repositories hosting organic, inorganic, and computer-generated crystals. The issue raises questions about curation practices at ...