Magnetic Nanoparticles Pull Valuable Elements from Water Sources
Pacific Northwest National LaboratoryEarth-friendly process may help make critical materials sourcing economically feasible in the U.S.
Earth-friendly process may help make critical materials sourcing economically feasible in the U.S.
Scientists from the Faculty of Health and Sports Sciences at the University of Tsukuba used aerodynamics experiments to empirically test the flight properties of a new four-panel soccer ball adopted by the English Premier League this year.
Sergei Kalinin, a scientist and inventor at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been elected a Fellow of the Microscopy Society of America professional society.
It is now well known that carbon dioxide is the biggest contributor to climate change and originates primarily from burning of fossil fuels.
Engineers and scientists from MIT and Georgia Tech are enabling near real-time modeling of wheels, treads, and desert animals traveling at high speeds across sandy terrains. “Dynamic Resistive Force Theory,” or DRFT, provides a path to speedier granular modeling — and help in designing optimal rough terrain vehicles, like Mars and lunar rovers.
Researchers from the University of Liverpool have shown the potential of repurposing an existing and cheap drug into a long-acting injectable therapy that could be used to treat Covid-19.
Engineers have created an environmentally friendly leather alternative made from silk. The material can be printed into different patterns and textures, has similar physical properties to real leather, and can withstand the folding, piercing, and stretching typically used to create leather goods.
Argonne is helping U.S. companies solve pressing manufacturing challenges through an innovative program that provides access to Argonne’s world-class computing resources and technical expertise.
At the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, scientists use artificial intelligence, or AI, to accelerate the discovery and development of materials for energy and information technologies.
Ever look at a flatfish like a flounder or sole, with two eyes on one side of its head, and think, "How did that happen?"
Living materials, which are made by housing biological cells within a non-living matrix, have gained popularity in recent years as scientists recognize that often the most robust materials are those that mimic nature.
In a study published April 16 in ACS Photonics, University of Wisconsin–Madison researchers fabricated graphene into the smallest ribbon structures to date using a method that makes scaling-up simple. In tests with these tiny ribbons, the scientists discovered they were closing in on the properties they needed to move graphene toward usefulness in telecommunications equipment.
ORNL story tips: Stealthy air leak detection, carbon to chemicals and recycling goes large
Through the U.S. Department of Energy’s Technologist in Residence program, Brookhaven Lab and Northrop Grumman scientists will partner on quantum materials research.
Tomorrow’s cutting-edge technology will need electronics that can tolerate extreme conditions. That’s why a group of researchers led by Michigan State University’s Jason Nicholas is building stronger circuits today. Nicholas and his team have developed more heat resilient silver circuitry with an assist from nickel. The team described the work, which was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Program, on April 15 in the journal Scripta Materialia. The types of devices that the MSU team is working to benefit — next-generation fuel cells, high-temperature semiconductors and solid oxide electrolysis cells — could have applications in the auto, energy and aerospace industries.
The SARS-CoV-2 virus is still causing a dramatic loss of human lives worldwide, constituting an unprecedented challenge for society, public health, and economy, to overcome.
Scientists mapped the electronic states in an exotic superconductor. The maps point to the composition range necessary for topological superconductivity, a state that could enable more robust quantum computing.
Scientists have found a way to turn X-ray fluorescence into an ultra-high position-sensitive probe to measure nanostructures in thin films. The fluorescence reveals the evolution of nanostructures in real time with nearly atomic-level resolution, something no other technique has achieved. This allows scientists to watch nanostructures in thin films evolve with unprecedented precision and design thin films for new applications.
Scientists have long sought to invent materials that can respond to the external world in predictable, self-regulating ways.
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory have discovered a new way to generate 2D superconductivity at an interface of an insulating oxide material, at a higher transition temperature than ever seen before for these materials.
Although bone has some capacity to regenerate, large bone defects cannot be healed without major medical procedures. Metallic implants are widely used, but their bioinertness poses a challenge. In Biointerphases, researchers showcase approaches that are alternatives to metallic implants and use natural polymer coatings to improve bone-implant integration, also known as osseointegration. Establishing a strong chemical interaction between a metal and a completely organic and natural polymer is a significant advancement in bone tissue engineering.
Researchers at the University of Delaware’s Center for Plastics Innovation (CPI) have developed a process called hydrocracking to convert single-use plastic waste into ready-to-use molecules for jet fuels, diesel and lubricants. The process requires 50% less energy than other technologies and doesn’t add carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. And it can treat a variety of plastics, even when they are mixed together.
Scientists are making inorganic and organic-inorganic materials with tunable properties for energy, microelectronics, and other applications.
Many biological systems use chemical fuels to power functions such as muscle contraction, something rare in artificial systems. If researchers can enable this behavior in artificial systems, materials could actively control their own functions and heal themselves. This research used difunctional molecular building blocks to construct large rings that can be used to produce materials that can adapt and respond like biological systems.
Plastics are ubiquitous, but they're not practical. Less than 10% are recycled, and the other ~8 billion tons are creating a pollution crisis. A Berkeley Lab team is determined to change that. A new analysis shows producing and recycling their game-changing new plastic could be easy and cheap enough to leave old plastics in the dust.
Scientists at Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley have designed an enzyme-activated compostable plastic that could diminish microplastics pollution. Household tap water or soil composts break the hybrid plastic material down to reusable small molecules, called monomers, in just a few days or weeks.
NUS researchers have taken a waste product from construction sites in Singapore and upcycled it into a raw material for ultra-high-performance concrete. Their method could help reduce the carbon footprint of concrete and also cut the cost of production. This is the first time low-grade waste clay has been used as fillers in concrete.
Ellen Cerreta, the Los Alamos National Laboratory’s division leader for Materials Science and Technology, has been named president of The Minerals, Metals, & Materials Society (TMS), a professional society for scientists and engineers in those fields.
Researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology and the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) have uncovered a new approach to structural topology optimization is outlined that unifies both design and manufacturing to create novel microstructures. Potential applications range from improved facial implants for cranial reconstruction to better ways to get materials into space for planetary exploration.
Working with the S.D. DOT, researchers are evaluating a cost-effective method of determining quality of the base layer in the field.
Researchers from the National University of Singapore have developed a green technique to upcycle metal waste into multi-purpose aerogels. These metal-based aerogels have high thermal and mechanical stability and could potentially be used as light-weight building materials and for growing cells for biomedical purposes.
Computational chemist Samantha Johnson, who is searching for combinations to bolster energy future, is among the PNNL scientists preparing to move into the Energy Sciences Center. The new $90 million, 140,000-square-foot facility, is under construction on the PNNL campus and will accelerate innovation in energy research using chemistry, materials science, and quantum information sciences to support the nation’s climate and clean energy research agenda.
APL created an additive to turn commercial glue into a rapidly curing underwater adhesive that is effective on a range of surfaces, including aluminum, stainless steel, glass and plastic. The adhesive performed best on untreated aluminum surfaces with a high bonding strength of approximately 400 pounds in 60 seconds.
Florida State University researchers have discovered a novel way to improve the performance of electrical wires used as high-temperature superconductors (HTS). Researchers used high-resolution scanning electron microscopy to understand how processing methods influence grains in bismuth-based superconducting wires (known as Bi-2212).
Fouling is a natural phenomenon that describes the tendency of proteins in water to adhere to nearby surfaces. It’s what causes unwanted deposits of protein to form during some food production or on biomedical implants, causing them to fail. Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute are harnessing this process, which is typically considered a persistent challenge, to develop a versatile and accessible approach for modifying solid surfaces.
Twelve exceptional public servants representing a diverse array of federal agencies will be honored at the 72nd annual Arthur S. Flemming Awards. The winners are recognized for performing outstanding service in the fields of applied science and engineering, basic science, leadership and management, legal achievement, and social science.
Scientists at the Institute for Cooperative Upcycling of Plastics (iCOUP) have discovered a chemical process that provides biodegradable chemicals, which are used as surfactants and detergents in a range of applications, from discarded plastics.
David C. Martin, the Karl W. and Renate Böer Chaired Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, has been named a 2021 Fellow of the Materials Research Society (MRS) “for the design, synthesis, and characterization of conjugated polymers for interfacing electronic biomedical devices with living tissue; and for service to the MRS and broader materials community.”
Some snake species slither across the ground, while others climb trees, dive through sand or glide across water. Today, scientists report that the surface chemistry of snake scales varies among species that negotiate these different terrains. They will present their results at ACS Spring 2021.
At NEST, the research and innovation platform of Empa and Eawag, the new Sprint unit is currently under construction – an office unit built largely from recycled materials. Sprint aims to set new standards for circular construction. However, the office unit is also a reaction to the current COVID-19 situation, which made it clear that we need to adapt our buildings more flexibly and quickly to changing needs.
The Penn State and materials research communities are mourning the loss of Della M. Roy, emeritus professor of materials science and a founding member of the Penn State Materials Research Laboratory (MRL), now the Materials Research Institute (MRI). Della died on March 27 at age 94. Della was known as an international leader in the field of cement and concrete research and for being a groundbreaker for women in science.
In a new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Florida State University researchers managed to visualize the vortex tubes in a quantum fluid, findings that could help researchers better understand turbulence in quantum fluids and beyond.
A new study uncovers insight into a promising type of material for splitting water, perovskite oxides.
Penn Medicine researchers showed that a new hyaluronic acid hydrogel system can reinforce and seal areas of injured cartilage in animal studies
A research team co-led by Berkeley Lab has created and observed quasiparticles called 3D hopfions at the nanoscale (billionths of a meter) in a magnetic system. The discovery could advance high-density, high-speed, low-power, yet ultrastable magnetic memory “spintronics” devices.
Research results on the N95 filter media, recently published in ACS Applied Polymer Materials, outline the science behind what led to ORNL’s successful production of material on the CFTF’s precursor production line.
Scientists from Argonne National Laboratory, Northwestern University and the University of Florida report a breakthrough involving a material called borophane, a sheet of boron and hydrogen a mere two atoms in thickness.
ORNL story tips: Mighty Mo material, fueling retooling, goods on the move, doubling concrete and batteries passport