Researchers in ACS’ Nano Letters report a proof-of-concept wearable X-ray detector prepared from nontoxic metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) layered between flexible plastic and gold electrodes for high-sensitivity sensing and imaging.
The discovery of new types of defects in 2D materials may lead to the creation of new ultra-compact electronic devices.
The technology of stabilizing concrete structures with carbon fiber-reinforced polymers, thus helping them to last longer, was developed decades ago; among others at Empa. Today, researchers in Dübendorf are working on a new variant with prestressed lamellas – with good prospects for practical application.
Using DNA-based assembly, the Center for Functional Nanomaterials postdoc has assembled functional proteins into ordered lattices and coated nanostructures for drug delivery.
Twelve distinguished speakers will be covering critical topics impacting energy storage and conversion at the upcoming AIP Publishing Horizons Virtual Conference on Aug. 4-6. The three-day event is organized by the journal Applied Physics Reviews and brings together leaders in the field of energy science to present their latest research in six sessions
Medical devices made of bioactive glasses and metals that dissolve at the end of their operational lifespan could replace other types of implants and eliminate the need for invasive removal once they have served their purpose, say researchers at Missouri S&T.The Missouri S&T researchers recently received a patent for their implant.
In the biomaterials industry, electrospinning is a ubiquitous fabrication method used to produce nano- to microscale fibrous meshes that closely resemble native tissue architecture. Alas, the process has traditionally used solvents that not only are environmentally hazardous but also a significant barrier to industrial scale-up, clinical translation, and widespread use. But now, Columbia Engineering researchers report that they have developed a "green electrospinning" process that addresses those challenges, from managing environmental risks of volatile solvent storage and disposal at large volumes to meeting health and safety standards during both fabrication and implementation.
Computer simulations can help us understand interactions in materials for solar energy harvesting, but they can be extremely complex. Researchers at Argonne have simplified these modeling tasks using machine learning to speed up materials development.
Ten materials scientists and engineers named as AIME-TMS Anniversary Keynote Speakers. Talks made freely available online.
A novel method of characterizing the structural and chemical evolution of silicon and a thin layer that governs battery stability may enable better, cheaper batteries.
Data and signals can be transmitted quickly and reliably with glass fibers – as long as the fiber does not break. Strong bending or tensile stress can quickly destroy it. An Empa team has now developed a fiber with a liquid glycerol core that is much more robust and can transmit data just as reliably. And such fibers can even be used to build microhydraulic components and light sensors.
Scientists at Brookhaven and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories have been developing an automated experimental setup of data collection, analysis, and decision making.
Over the past 100 years, plastics and polymers have changed the way the world operates, from airplanes and automobiles to computers and cell phones — nearly all of which are composed of fossil fuel-based compounds. A Florida State University research team’s discovery of a new plastic derived from pine sap has the potential to be a gamechanger for new sustainable materials.
Supported by his Early Career Research Program Award, University of Wisconsin – Madison professor Michael S. Arnold found new ways to make graphene nanostructures with smooth edges. This technology will enable next-generation energy and electronics applications.
Thermal-imaging sensors that detect and capture images of the heat signatures of human bodies and other objects have recently sprung into use in thermostats to check facial temperatures in a contactless attempt to screen for COVID-19 at several building entrances.
Researchers have demonstrated a low-cost technique for retrieving nanowires from electronic devices that have reached the end of their utility and then using those nanowires in new devices. The work is a step toward more sustainable electronics.
A team of Argonne scientists has leveraged artificial intelligence to train computers to keep up with the massive amounts of X-ray data taken at the Advanced Photon Source.
University of Georgia researchers have developed a new material with properties ideal for medical products such as masks and bandages. It’s also better for the environment than the materials in current use.
APL researchers set out to better understand the influence of different defects on the mechanical performance of additively manufactured materials. In a recent journal article, they provide data to help understand the effects of defects and enable decision-making.
On July 15, 2021, the Aerogel Architecture Award was presented for the first time at Empa, recognizing successful energy renovations using aerogel insulating materials. The winners were two projects from Germany and one from Switzerland. The renovated listed buildings date from the 17th, 19th and second half of the 20th centuries.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $73 million in funding to advance quantum information science (QIS) research to help scientists better understand the physical world and harness nature to benefit people and society.
Researchers at Duke University and Michigan State University used neutrons at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to gain new fundamental insights into two magnesium-based materials. Investigations at the atomic scale revealed the origin and mechanism behind the materials’ ability to convert thermal energy at room temperature into electricity and provides possible new pathways for improving thermoelectric applications such as those in the Perseverance rover and myriad other devices and energy-generation technologies.
An adhesive tape patented by Staffordshire University researchers to recover trace evidence from crimes scenes is being adopted to analyse microplastics more efficiently.
In what some industry insiders are calling "the most exciting news in the HVAC world in decades," Molecule USA, Inc. announced today that their new desiccant material, Regeneration Optimized Sorbent, (a.k.a. ROS) outperformed silica rotors by up to 350% in benchmark testing.
Chula’s Faculty of Engineering joins hands with PTT to develop a 2 in1 face mask, an innovation that protects against PM2.5 dust particles and COVID-19 virus that can be reused more than 15 times, helps reduce waste, is pollution-free, and will be available for sale soon.
Interstellar clouds are the birthplaces of new stars, but they also play an important role in the origins of life in the Universe through regions of dust and gas in which chemical compounds form.
A new fiber, made by genetically engineered bacteria in the lab of Fuzhong Zhang, is stronger than steel and tougher than Kevlar.
Using a D-Wave quantum-annealing computer as a testbed, scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory have shown that it is possible to isolate so-called emergent magnetic monopoles, a class of quasiparticles, creating a new approach to developing “materials by design.”
Scientist demonstrated a new way of observing atoms as they move in a tiny quantum electronic switch as it operates. Along the way, they discovered a new material state that could pave the way for faster, more energy-efficient computing.
Florida State University researchers are helping to write the “cookbook” describing the properties of vitrimers, a promising material that combines the benefits of different types of polymers.
Insulation webs are essential in aluminum window profiles and facades for good thermal insulation. Empa researchers and their partners have been working for some time on a novel "sandwich" product with an environmentally friendly filling: recycled material from PET bottles. Now the market launch is approaching – with good prospects of success.
A Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientist and collaborators have demonstrated the first ever “defect microscope” that can track how populations of defects deep inside macroscopic materials move collectively.
With the support of a prestigious $542,813 National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) grant, physicist Trevor David Rhone is turning to artificial intelligence to help determine which combination of elements might form new materials with interesting properties for advancing both scientific understanding and technological applications, such as data storage, spintronics, and quantum computing.
The first nanoscale images ever taken inside intact, lithium-metal coin batteries (also called button cells or watch batteries) challenge prevailing theories and could help make future high-performance batteries, such as for electric vehicles, safer, more powerful and longer lasting.
A breakthrough imaging technique has enabled Cornell University researchers to gain new insights into how tiny ligands bind to the surface of nanoparticles and change a particle’s shape.
A new wearable device turns the touch of a finger into a source of power for small electronics and sensors. Engineers at the University of California San Diego developed a thin, flexible strip that can be worn on a fingertip and generate small amounts of electricity when a person’s finger sweats or presses on it. What’s special about this sweat-fueled device is that it generates power even while the wearer is asleep or sitting still.
Imagine sitting out in the sun, reading a digital screen as thin as paper, but seeing the same image quality as if you were indoors.
Jason Kahn, a staff scientist at the Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN), is conducting research in DNA-based assembly and building a one-of-a-kind automated platform to explore self-assembly processes.
Are new nickelate superconductors close kin to the original high-temperature superconductors, the cuprates? The first study of their magnetic properties says the answer is yes. Scientists from SLAC, Stanford and Diamond Light Source found important similarities but also subtle differences between the two.
Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, have found a way to simultaneously increase the strength and ductility of an alloy by introducing tiny precipitates into its matrix and tuning their size and spacing.
ORNL story tips: Powered by nature, get on the bus, accelerating methane, helping JET soar, charged up planning and building a better thermostat
Researchers know that electricity can help speed up bone healing, but “zapping” fractures has never really caught on, since it requires surgically implanting and removing electrodes powered by an external source. Xudong Wang’s latest invention may make electrostimulation a much more convenient option to speed up bone healing.
In a new issue of Science, devoted to the plastics problem, University of Delaware researchers LaShanda Korley and Thomas Epps, III, join collaborators in calling for new approaches to plastics design, production and use, with the goal of keeping plastics out of landfills and waterways, reusing the valuable resources they represent indefinitely in a “circular” plastics economy.
Modern, decentralized energy systems are a highly complex matter. Planning them in an optimal and cost-efficient way is a major challenge for energy planners. Sympheny, an Empa spin-off, offers a software that helps planners to find the most suitable energy concept for a building, neighborhood or even an entire city, and thus to meet their sustainability and energy efficiency goals.
A new project called Friendship Cabins, designed by researchers at the Center for Architecture Science and Ecology (CASE) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, offer restaurants in NYC safer dining experiences for their customers and servers while built with environmentally friendly bottles.
Just as modeling is a close estimate of real-world processes, so too are verbal explanations of such nuanced arithmetic. Trisha Sain from Michigan Tech explores multiscale physics by thinking about the Lego bricks in her living room, the windows of skyscrapers and cooking a feast.
Researchers have increased the lifetime of a promising electric vehicle battery to a record level.
Paras Prasad, executive director of the Institute for Lasers, Photonics and Biophotonics at the University at Buffalo, is the recipient of the 2021 IEEE Photonics Society William Streifer Scientific Achievement Award.
A new, two-dimensional material from the lab of Rohan Mishra is the first such material to be synthesized and purposefully used.
Scientists at Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley have developed a nanoparticle composite that grows into 3D crystals. The new 3D-grown material could speed up production and eliminate errors in the mass manufacturing of nanoscale photonics for smart buildings or actuators for robotics.
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