Researchers report that they have developed a new composite material designed to change behaviors depending on temperature in order to perform specific tasks. These materials are poised to be part of the next generation of autonomous robotics that will interact with the environment. The new study conducted by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign civil and environmental engineering professor Shelly Zhang and graduate student Weichen Li, in collaboration with professor Tian Chen and graduate student Yue Wang from the University of Houston, uses computer…
Physicists at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) and Central South University in China have demonstrated that, combining specific materials, heat in technical devices can be used in computing. Their discovery is based on extensive calculations and simulations. The new approach demonstrates how heat signals can be steered and amplified for use in energy-efficient data processing. The team’s research findings have been published in the journal “Advanced Electronic Materials”. Electric current flow heats up electronic device. The generated heat is dissipated…
Microprocessor-scale transistors detect and respond to biological states and the environment. Your phone may have more than 15 billion tiny transistors packed into its microprocessor chips. The transistors are made of silicon, metals like gold and copper, and insulators that together take an electric current and convert it to 1s and 0s to communicate information and store it. The transistor materials are inorganic, basically derived from rock and metal. But what if you could make these fundamental electronic components part…
Glass – whether used to insulate our homes or as the screens in our computers and smartphones – is a fundamental material. Yet, despite its long usage throughout human history, the disordered structure of its atomic configuration still baffles scientists, making understanding and controlling its structural nature challenging. It also makes it difficult to design efficient functional materials made from glass. To uncover more about the structural regularity hidden in glassy materials, a research group has focused on ring shapes…
Zinc — cheap, abundant, environmentally friendly — may be the answer to better batteries, but there’s a major problem: Aqueous zinc ion batteries (AZIBs) cannot match lithium-ion batteries in terms of power output. To test what electrode material composition might be able to bring AZIBs up to par, a research team based in China developed two organic frameworks with the same constituents but arranged in different ways. When put to the test, the framework with appropriate density of active sites…
A novel surgical implant developed by Washington State University researchers was able to kill 87% of the bacteria that cause staph infections in laboratory tests, while remaining strong and compatible with surrounding tissue like current implants. The work, reported in the International Journal of Extreme Manufacturing, could someday lead to better infection control in many common surgeries, such as hip and knee replacements, that are performed daily around the world. Bacterial colonization of the implants is one of the leading…
The technique could speed up the development of acoustic lenses, impact-resistant films, and other futuristic materials. Metamaterials are products of engineering wizardry. They are made from everyday polymers, ceramics, and metals. And when constructed precisely at the microscale, in intricate architectures, these ordinary materials can take on extraordinary properties. With the help of computer simulations, engineers can play with any combination of microstructures to see how certain materials can transform, for instance, into sound-focusing acoustic lenses or lightweight, bulletproof films….
Nature Electronics publishes research from University of Linz, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna di Pisa and University of Trento. Technological advancement meets environmental sustainability. Actuators, which convert electrical energy into motion or force, play a pivotal role in daily life, albeit often going unnoticed. Soft material-based actuators, in particular, have gained scientific attention in recent years due to their lightweight, quiet operation, and biodegradability. A straightforward approach to creating soft actuators involves employing multi-material structures, such as “pockets” made of flexible plastic…
Conventional microscopes irradiate a sample, usually with light or electrons. Any reflected or scattered radiation can be used to build a detailed image and obtain characteristic information about a material’s surface. This is called an active measurement, but it isn’t the only technique that can be used. Researchers from Japan have been developing a new form of microscopy that can probe details in an object’s surface, like the distribution of a material’s lattice and electron temperatures, with nanoscale precision. Evanescent…
A broken bone failing to heal represents an enormous burden for patients. Fraunhofer researchers have worked alongside partners to develop a composite material to be used in the treatment of such non-union cases. The resulting implant is designed to significantly improve treatment success rates and speed up the healing process. The material is made up of a combination of a biodegradable polymer and bioactive glass and can serve as a main and supporting structure. Its aim is to inhibit the…
Molybdenum disulphide (MoS₂) is a highly versatile material that can function, for example, as a gas sensor or as a photocatalyst in green hydrogen production. Although the understanding of a material usually starts from investigating its bulk crystalline form, for MoS₂ much more studies have been devoted to mono and few layer nanosheets. The few studies conducted thus far show diverse and irreproducible results for the electronic properties of cleaved bulk MoS₂ surfaces, highlighting the need for a more systematic…
The low-cost FibeRobo, which is compatible with existing textile manufacturing techniques, could be used in adaptive performance wear or compression garments. Instead of needing a coat for each season, imagine having a jacket that would dynamically change shape so it becomes more insulating to keep you warm as the temperature drops. A programmable, actuating fiber developed by an interdisciplinary team of MIT researchers could someday make this vision a reality. Known as FibeRobo, the fiber contracts in response to an increase…
… might be used as a sustainable source of nitrogen. KIT researchers present new system for activation and catalytic transfer of ammonia – catalysis is based on main group elements. The ammonia molecule (NH3), a compound of nitrogen and hydrogen, is one of the most frequently produced chemicals worldwide and it is also used for the production of many other nitrogen-containing compounds. If amines could be produced by the simple addition of ammonia to unsaturated hydrocarbons, this would be a…
With all the cameras, sensors and other devices designed for driver comfort and safety, today’s cars house more than 2000 electrical connectors. And these connectors need to provide uninterrupted electrical contact no matter how cold, wet or bumpy the ride. Materials scientist Frank Mücklich has developed a laser surface texturing procedure that makes the surfaces of the electrical contacts more stable and more efficient. In recognition of this work, the Saarbrücken professor has now been awarded the Albert Keil Prize…
A team of researchers led by the University of California San Diego has developed soft yet durable materials that glow in response to mechanical stress, such as compression, stretching or twisting. The materials derive their luminescence from single-celled algae known as dinoflagellates. The work, inspired by the bioluminescent waves observed during red tide events at San Diego’s beaches, was published Oct. 20 in Science Advances. “An exciting feature of these materials is their inherent simplicity—they need no electronics, no external…
Researchers have discovered a way to make ceramics tougher and more resistant to cracking. By building these materials using a blend of metal atoms possessing more electrons in their outer shell, a team led by engineers at the University of California San Diego has unlocked the potential to enable ceramics to handle higher levels of force and stress than before. Ceramics offer many advantages due to their remarkable properties, including their ability to withstand extremely high temperatures, resist corrosion and…
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