When liquid meets gas, a unique zone forms. Variable by nature, molecules can cross from one state to another, combining in unique ways to either desirable or unwanted ends. From heat escaping a mug of coffee to increasing molecular concentrations in chemical solutions, gas-liquid interfaces are ubiquitous across nature and engineering. But a lack of tools capable of precisely controlling such gas-liquid interfaces limit their applications — until now. Researchers based at Osaka Prefecture University have developed the first controllable…

Rice engineers develop flexible, self-healing material to protect steel from the elements. An insulator of sulfur and selenium made with flexible devices in mind may have found its true destiny: As an anticorrosive coating for steel. The compound developed by the Rice University lab of materials scientist Pulickel Ajayan proved itself more dielectric (insulating) than most flexible materials and more flexible than most dielectrics, making it a good candidate for components in electronics like bendable cellphones. At the same time, the material…

UCLA-led research could revise a 70-year-old model of how the fundamental building blocks of substances are assembled. Many substances around us, from table salt and sugar to most metals, are arranged into crystals. Because their molecules are laid out in an orderly, repetitive pattern, much is understood about their structure. However, a far greater number of substances — including rubber, glass and most liquids — lack that fundamental order throughout, making it difficult to determine their molecular structure. To date,…

As a robotics engineer, Yasemin Ozkan-Aydin, assistant professor of electrical engineering at the University of Notre Dame, gets her inspiration from biological systems. The collective behaviors of ants, honeybees and birds to solve problems and overcome obstacles is something researchers have developed in aerial and underwater robotics. Developing small-scale swarm robots with the capability to traverse complex terrain, however, comes with a unique set of challenges. In research published in Science Robotics, Ozkan-Aydin presents how she was able to build multi-legged robots capable of…

Landshut University of Applied Sciences develops a contactless, fast temperature measuring device for the steel industry that is designed to reduce energy and production costs and improve product quality. Steel is needed to make machines or tools. The steel is machined, formed and pressed at high temperatures. The temperature must also be kept constant and closely monitored during many processing steps. If this is not the case, it can lead to defective components and high costs for reworking. To prevent…

New measurements show that fast flows in a tokamak plasma help remove and prevent impurities. The Science Impurities in the plasmas in fusion tokamaks can reduce performance. These impurities are created by interactions between the hot plasma and the metal tokamak walls. These walls are often armored with tungsten. This material resists heat, but degrades over time, releasing impurities into the plasma. Simulations predict how these impurities behave, but they are difficult to measure directly because many impurities only emit weak levels of radiation. The…

New research demonstrates great promise of all-inorganic perovskite solar cells for improving the efficiencies of solar cells. Hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites have already demonstrated very high photovoltaic efficiencies of greater than 25%. The prevailing wisdom in the field is that the organic (carbon- and hydrogen-containing) molecules in the material are crucial to achieving this impressive performance because they are believed to suppress defect-assisted carrier recombination. New research in the UC Santa Barbara materials department has shown not only that this assumption…

A method that combines screen-printable composite and metallic inks could make foldable electronics easier and cheaper to manufacture at industrial scales. These devices, developed at KAUST, can be mounted on various supports, including nonplanar surfaces, and could enable many Internet of Things applications. Next-generation technology such as automotive radars for self-driving cars, smart buildings and wearable sensors will depend more heavily on the high-frequency millimeter-wave band, including 5G. To date, large-scale manufacturing approaches to make foldable electronics have focused on…

TU Freiberg analyses the microstructure of hard material layers in drill tips. Researchers of TU Bergakademie Freiberg cooperate with the Dresden Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems (IKTS) and the Czech branch of the Dormer Pramet Company on the development of novel hard coatings for sustainable use in cutting tools. By working on the nanoscale, they modify the interfaces between individual thin layers in the coatings in order to improve their adhesion. When the drill tips are covered with…

The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) and the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft are funding five trilateral projects for the transfer of knowledge from DFG-funded research to industry. The alliance between universities, Fraunhofer institutes and companies is being supported with a total of around 4.5 million euros for the duration of three years. One of the projects is the “MEMS-based parametric amplifier for range optimization of wireless sensor networks”, in which the Technical University of Hamburg together with the Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic…

”Prometheus” and “Chephren”: Fraunhofer IWS works on machines that barely lose energy in the form of waste heat. Nearly frictionless motors and gearboxes shall ensure electric bicycles with greater range on a single battery charge as well as industrial machines with significantly lower power consumption in form of friction and waste heat. The Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS Dresden is collaborating with industry and research partners in the joint projects “Prometheus” and “Chephren”. The researchers want to…

Fifty-five percent of the final energy consumption in Germany are expended for heating and air conditioning. Vacuum technologies developed by the Fraunhofer Institute for Organic Electronics, Electron Beam and Plasma Technology FEP are used to deposit layers and layer systems serving the exploitation of solar energy and the storage of heat on an industrial scale, contributing to the increased use of this important energy source. The radiant energy that the earth receives from the sun within 90 minutes is roughly…

Method could support semiconductor industry and facilitate development of next-gen devices. Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and collaborators have devised and tested a new, highly sensitive method of detecting and counting defects in transistors — a matter of urgent concern to the semiconductor industry as it develops new materials for next-generation devices. These defects limit transistor and circuit performance and can affect product reliability. A typical transistor is, for most uses, basically a switch. When…

Discovery could advance production of high-performance next generation adhesives and plastics. Blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) spend their days being buffeted by crashing waves. They manage to stay tethered to the rocks or their fellow mussels thanks to a highly effective underwater glue they produce.  Because achieving adhesion in the presence of water is so challenging, scientists who are interested in producing effective adhesives for use in wet environments (e.g., for surgical or dental treatments) have turned to mussels for inspiration….

Recycled concrete and CO2 from the air are made into a new building material. A new kind of concrete could reduce emissions from the construction industry. Calcium carbonate concrete is made from waste concrete and carbon dioxide from the air or industrial exhaust gases. It shows promise as a future construction material, especially in places where natural resources are limited. The modern world is built from concrete. Every tall building in every city on Earth uses the durable and versatile…

Progress in applied research at Argonne National Laboratory raises hopes that solid-state batteries will replace conventional lithium-ion batteries sooner rather than later. Recharging the batteries in electronic devices — as large as electric vehicles or as small as cell phones — has become as everyday an activity as loading the dishwasher. The lithium-ion batteries that primarily power these devices are lightweight and cost-effective to produce. However, they are by nature inflammable, which raises concerns about their safety and reliability as power and…