When that fog rolls in, the Namib Desert beetle is ready with a moisture-collection system exquisitely adapted to its desert habitat. Inspired by this…
Karen L. Wooley, Ph.D., Washington University James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor in Arts & Sciences, has taken the same materials that she…
The invited talk by Eliot Fang was delivered to members of the Materials Research Society at its recent semiannual general meeting. Sandia is a National…
New nanofabrication technique
Researchers have developed a new technique that could provide detailed information about the growth of carbon nanotubes and other nanometer-scale structures as they are being produced. The technique offers a way for researchers to rapidly and systematically map how changes in growth conditions affect the fabrication of nanometer-scale structures.
Instead of a large furnace that is normally used to grow nanotubes as part of the chemical vapor dep
UC Berkeley researchers borrow principles of resonance to develop a new material that captures a sound wave’s fine details
Using the same principles that help create a guitar’s complex tones, researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have developed a new material that holds promise for revolutionizing the field of ultrasound imaging.
The substance, dubbed an “ultrasonic metamaterial,” responds differently to sound waves than any substance found i
’Science’ paper details potential as nanoscale extruders, cylinders, and jigs
Bombarding a carbon nanotube with electrons causes it to collapse with such incredible force that it can squeeze out even the hardest of materials, much like a tube of toothpaste, according to an international team of scientists. Reporting in the May 26 issue of the journal Science, the researchers suggest that carbon nanotubes can act as minuscule metalworking tools, offering the ability to process ma
Micronized silica for paint industry produced via fine grinding jet mill
In order to produce paint of the highest possible quality, the raw materials must be tightly controlled. This includes the mineral fillers that make up to 50% of the paint. Filler materials like calcium carbonate, talc, kaolin and silica largely govern paint properties like UV resistance, weatherability, abrasion resistance and sheen. Modern exterior latex paints typically use silica as a filler material, ho
Homogeneity in sintering of fine Ni-20Cr powder by PECS process
Pulsed Electric Current Sintering (PECS), also known as spark plasma sintering (SPS) or plasma activation sintering (PAS) is technique used for densifying power compacts or materials such as metals and ceramics and combination thereof. The attractive features of the process are that it allows compaction and sintering in a single stage and the process itself is quite rapid.
PECS also shows promise in being ab
Mechanical behaviour of hybrid SiO2-PMMA coatings measured by nanoindentation
Increasing the surface hardness of many materials opens them up for use in a wide variety of new applications. These new hybrid materials could be used in areas like anticorrosion coatings for metals, scratch and abrasion resistant coatings for plastics, antistatic films plus colour decorative coatings for glasses and plastics.
The sol-gel method of materials preparation is a suitable techniqu
Effect of base type on properties of NiO synthesised by Sol-Gel method
Nickel oxide is a very important chemical in modern industrial processes. It is commonly used as a catalyst within the petrochemical industry in areas like the synthesis of olefin gas and the reforming reaction of methane. The performance of the catalyst is closely related to particle properties of synthesised nickel oxide. Particle sizes, shapes and porosities are largely determined by various synthesis te
Bridging the gap between nanoscience and nanotechnology
A team of chemists from France, Italy, Spain, the UK, and the US are working together to bridge the gap between nanoscience and nanotechnology. They have now devised a method that could allow them to organize tiny molecular machines on a surface and so build devices that pack in thousands of times as many switching units, for instance, than is possible with a conventional silicon chip.
Chemist Fraser Stoddart, no
A DTU research team report in the May 11 2006 issue of the scientific journal Nature on strained silicon as a new electro-optic material.
DTU reseachers report that a significant linear electro-optic effect can be induced in silicon by breaking the crystal symmetry. The symmetry is broken by depositing a straining layer on top of a silicon waveguide that induces a non-linear coefficient. This makes it possible to change the phase of light by applying an electric field across the
Grain orientation and thermal conductivity in tape cast β-Si3N4
â-Si3N4 ceramics with highly oriented grains, show high thermal conductivity along the tape-casting direction. In order to clearly understand the relationship between microstructure and thermal conductivity in ceramics, it is important to understand degrees of orientation for each grain and the grain boundary.
In this study Japanese researchers, Hiromi Nakano, Hiroshi Nakano and Koji Watari, from Ryuk
By stacking layers of ceramic cloth with interlocking nanotubes in between, a team of researchers has created new composites with significantly improved properties compared to traditional materials. The “nanotube sandwiches,” which are described in the May 7 online edition of the journal Nature Materials, could find use in a wide array of structural applications.
“Nanotubes are a very versatile material with absolutely fascinating physical properties, all the way from ballistic conduc
Proposed alloy could ’open the door’ in the search for promising electric superconductors
After an exhaustive data search for new compounds, researchers at Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering have discovered a theoretical “metal sandwich” that is expected to be a good superconductor. Superconductive materials have no resistance to the flow of electric current.
The new lithium monoboride (LiB) compound is a “binary alloy” consisting of two laye
Engineers have created carpets made of tiny cylinders called carbon nanotubes to enhance the flow of heat at a critical point where computer chips connect to cooling devices called heat sinks, promising to help keep future chips from overheating.
Researchers are trying to develop new types of “thermal interface materials” that conduct heat more efficiently than conventional materials, improving overall performance and helping to meet cooling needs of future chips that will produce m
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