Feature Channels: Materials Science

• share
• favorite_border

A new synthetic protein can pinpoint cancer and other diseases in the body by finding nearby damaged collagen.

• share
• favorite_border

Knowing the position of missing oxygen atoms could be the key to cheaper solid oxide fuel cells with longer lifetimes. New microscopy research from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory is enabling scientists to map these vacancies at an atomic scale.

• share
• favorite_border

A field of young sunflowers will slowly rotate from east to west during the course of a sunny day, each leaf seeking out as much sunlight as possible as the sun moves across the sky through an adaptation called heliotropism. It’s a clever bit of natural engineering that inspired imitation from a UW-Madison electrical and computer engineer, who has found a way to mimic the passive heliotropism seen in sunflowers for use in the next crop of solar power systems.

• share
• favorite_border

Researchers have developed and validated a new technology in which composite nanofibrous scaffolds provide a loose enough structure for cells to colonize without impediment, but still can instruct cells how to lay down new tissue.

• share
• favorite_border

Penn State researchers have designed and computationally tested a type of manmade metamaterial capable for the first time of manipulating a variety of acoustic waves with one simple device.

• share
• favorite_border

Plastic electronics hold the promise of cheap, mass-produced devices. But plastic semiconductors have an important flaw: the electronic current is influenced by “charge traps” in the material. New research reveals a common mechanism underlying these traps and provides a theoretical framework to design trap-free plastic electronics.

• share
• favorite_border

Findings have promising implications for development of terahertz semi-conductors and other applications

• share
• favorite_border

University of Arkansas physicists have found a way to systematically study and control the transition of graphite, the “lead” found in pencils, to graphene, one of the strongest, lightest and most conductive materials known.

• share
• favorite_border

The fabric in a cotton T-shirt was converted into a material that can store electricity. A flexible source of electrical power made from this kind of material might one day be able to charge your cell phone, or any number of other mobile electronic devices.

• share
• favorite_border

Artem R. Oganov, PhD, built on earlier work on theoretical structure of “M-carbon”.

• share
• favorite_border

Cork, known for such low-tech applications as wine bottle stoppers and bulletin boards, now shows promise, in University of Delaware research, as the core material in composites used in high-tech automotive, aircraft and energy applications.

• share
• favorite_border

Sandia National Laboratories’ researchers say Sandia's new aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscope (AC-STEM) is 50 to 100 times better than what came before, both in resolution and the time it takes to analyze a sample.

• share
• favorite_border

Sandia has developed a unique materials approach to multilayered, ceramic-based, 3-D microelectronics circuits, such as those used in cell phones. The approach compensates for how changes due to temperature fluctuations affect something called the temperature coefficient of resonant frequency, a critical property of materials used in radio and microwave frequency applications.

• share
• favorite_border

A new study shows that the availability of hydrogen plays a significant role in determining the chemical and structural makeup of graphene oxide, a material that has potential uses in nano-electronics, nano-electromechanical systems, sensing, composites, optics, catalysis and energy storage.

• share
• favorite_border

Researchers have developed a novel technology that could change how industry designs and casts complex, costly metal parts. This new casting method makes possible faster prototype development times, as well as more efficient and cost-effective manufacturing procedures.

• share
• favorite_border

Krzysztof Szalewicz, professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Delaware, and Rafal Podeszwa of the University of Silesia Institute of Chemistry in Poland have developed and validated a more accurate method for predicting the interaction energy of large molecules, such as biomolecules used to develop new drugs.

• share
• favorite_border

A textured surface mimics a lotus leaf to move drops of liquid in particular directions. The low-cost system could be used in portable medical or environmental tests.

• share
• favorite_border

Using nanotechnology, Zhanping You is paving the way for brand-new asphalt blends to fight off cracks, rutting and potholes.

• share
• favorite_border

Engineers have discovered previously unknown properties of a common computer memory material, paving the way for new memory drives, movie discs and computer systems that absorb data more quickly, last longer and allow far more capacity than current data storage media.

• share
• favorite_border

Engineers at the University of Arkansas have developed a wireless health-monitoring system that gathers critical patient information, regardless of the patient’s location, and communicates that information in real time to a physician, hospital or the patient herself. The system includes a series of nanostructured, textile sensors integrated into a conventional sports bra for women and vest for men.

• share
• favorite_border

Liquid crystals, the state of matter that makes possible the flat screen technology now commonly used in televisions and computers, may have some new technological tricks in store.

• share
• favorite_border

In new findings published in the journal Science, Georgia Tech researchers have introduced what appears to be a universal technique to reduce the work function of a conductor. Their use in printable electronics can pave the way for lower cost and more flexible devices.

• share
• favorite_border

The boundary between electronics and biology is blurring with the first detection of ferroelectric properties in an amino acid called glycine.

• share
• favorite_border

An innovative X-ray technique has given North Carolina State University researchers and their collaborators new insight into how organic polymers can be used in printable electronics such as transistors and solar cells.

• share
• favorite_border

Taking advantage of the force generated by magnetic repulsion, researchers have developed a new technique for measuring the adhesion strength between thin films of materials used in microelectronic devices, photovoltaic cells and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS).

• share
• favorite_border

Pressure-treated wood is great stuff, but the chemicals used to preserve it from decay can leach out, where they can be toxic to bugs, fungi and other hapless creatures. Now, a team of scientists is using nanotechnology to keep the chemicals inside the wood where they belong.

• share
• favorite_border

Eighty-five years after the RMS Titanic struck an iceberg and sank in the Atlantic Ocean, a faculty member at Missouri University of Science and Technology answered one of maritime sleuths’ burning questions about the disaster: Was the steel used to build the ship at fault?

• share
• favorite_border

Common material such as polyethylene used in plastic bags could be turned into something far more valuable through a process being developed at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

• share
• favorite_border

Inspired by nature’s way of shaping a petal, and building on simple techniques from photolithography and printing, researchers have developed a new photo-patterning tool for making three-dimensional shapes easily and cheaply. It should aid advances in biomedicine, robotics and tunable micro-optics.

• share
• favorite_border

Researchers have developed the first functional oxide thin films that can be used efficiently in electronics, making new high-power devices and sensors possible. This is the first time researchers have been able to produce positively-charged and negatively-charged conduction in a single oxide material, launching a new era in oxide electronics.

• share
• favorite_border

University of California, San Diego bioengineers have developed a self-healing hydrogel that binds in seconds, as easily as Velcro, and forms a bond strong enough to withstand repeated stretching.

• share
• favorite_border

Every great invention has a story. Boise State University’s Dr. Peter Müllner can offer perspective on the evolution of invention and discovery.

• share
• favorite_border

Xinwei Wang, an Iowa State associate professor of mechanical engineering, is leading a study that found spider silk is very good at transferring heat. Spider silk, in fact, conducts heat as well or better than most metals.

• share
• favorite_border

Fazel Yavari has developed a new sensor to detect extremely small quantities of hazardous gases. Made from a 3-D foam of the world’s thinnest material, graphene, this sensor is durable, inexpensive to make, and opens the door to a new generation of gas detectors for use by bomb squads, defense and law enforcement officials, as well as applications in industrial settings.

• share
• favorite_border

Following a $1 million agreement with Shima Seiki USA, Drexel will now have a state-of-the-art lab to conduct research for the development of new smart textiles or wearable technologies.

• share
• favorite_border

Biologists have long been amazed by gecko feet, which allow 5-ounce lizards to produce an adhesive force equivalent to carrying 9 lbs. up a wall without slipping. Now, a team of polymer scientists and a biologist have invented “Geckskin,” an adhesive device that can hold 700 pounds on a smooth wall.

• share
• favorite_border

We live in a materials world. Everyday objects are made of materials designed to have specific properties and perform in certain ways. Boise State University professor Amy Moll is an expert on the science behind stuff, and is available to share the secrets of how, for example, materials science and engineering have made your smart phone possible.

• share
• favorite_border

Recent earthquake damage has exposed the vulnerability of existing structures to strong ground movement. At Georgia Tech, researchers are analyzing shape-memory alloys for their potential use in constructing seismic-resistant structures.

• share
• favorite_border

Taking inspiration from the yellow fattail scorpion, which uses a bionic shield to protect itself against scratches from desert sandstorms, scientists have developed a new way to protect the moving parts of machinery from wear and tear.

• share
• favorite_border

A University of Arkansas physicist and his colleagues have examined the challenges facing scientists building the next generation of materials and innovative electronic devices and identified opportunities for taking the rational material design in new directions.

• share
• favorite_border

Graphene is the thinnest material known to science. The nanomaterial is so thin, in fact, water often doesn’t even know it’s there.

• share
• favorite_border

A team of polymer scientists and engineers has discovered how to make nano-scale repairs to a damaged surface equivalent to spot-filling a scratched car fender rather than re-surfacing the entire part. Their discovery is reported this week in the current issue of Nature Nanotechnology.

• share
• favorite_border

Engineering researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a new method for creating advanced nanomaterials that could lead to highly efficient refrigerators and cooling systems requiring no refrigerants and no moving parts. The key ingredients for this innovation are a dash of nanoscale sulfur and a normal, everyday microwave oven.

• share
• favorite_border

To improve the quality of unpaved roads, a Kansas State University graduate student is working with lignin, a sustainable material found in all plants. Lignin’s adhesive properties make it good for binding soil particles together and protecting unpaved roads from erosion.

• share
• favorite_border

Engineers at UT Dallas have discovered that the new material graphene conducts heat about 20 times faster than silicon, making it an option as a semiconductor material that could produce quieter and longer-lasting computers, cellphones and other devices.

• share
• favorite_border

The prospect of electronics at the nanoscale may be even more promising with the first observation of metallic conductance in ferroelectric nanodomains by researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

• share
• favorite_border

Researchers from Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, and the University of Duisburg-Essen Germany found that graphitic carbon is a key element in a lubricating layer that forms on metal-on-metal hip implants. The lubricant is more similar to the lubrication of a combustion engine than that of a natural joint.

• share
• favorite_border

New silk-based microneedles can painlessly deliver precise doses of drugs over time and without refrigeration. Made under normal temperature and pressure using water, the microneedles can be loaded with sensitive biochemicals and maintain their activity. The biocompatible, biodegradable system could be applied to other biological storage needs.

• share
• favorite_border

Imagine jeans, sweats or socks that clean and de-odorize themselves when hung on a clothesline in the sun or draped on a balcony railing. Scientists are reporting development of a new cotton fabric that does clean itself of stains and bacteria when exposed to ordinary sunlight.

• share
• favorite_border

A man-made package filled with nature’s bone-building ingredients delivers the goods over time and space to heal serious bone injuries faster than products currently available, Cleveland researchers have found.