Materials Sciences

New coating becomes water repellant when wet; applications include medical diagnostic equipment

Virginia Commonwealth University chemical engineering team has developed a novel material that becomes water repellent when wet, setting the stage for advances in engineering, medicine and diagnostics.

In the April 26, 2005, issue of the journal Langmuir, a publication of the American Chemical Society, Kenneth J. Wynne, Ph.D., a professor in the VCU School of Engineering’

American Journal of Cardiology to publish study on May 2

The American Journal of Cardiology reports in its May 2, 2005, issue that the Transcendental Meditation technique, a non-drug stress-reduction method, reduces death rates by 23% and extends lifespan.

The first-of-its-kind, long-term, randomized trial evaluated 202 men and women, average age 71, who had mildly elevated blood pressure. Subjects in the study participated in the Transcendental Meditation program; beha

The Cidetec Technological Centre continues to invest in nanotechnology development with its participation in the European NAPA (Emerging Nanopatterning Methods) project. The research institution is directing a working subgroup to develop new thermoplastic polymers for applications in nanopatterning and nanolithography.

The main objective of the European NAPA integrated project is to provide low-cost processes and tools that meet the needs of nanoprinting processes and required for

Many potential applications

Picture a flower that opens when facing the sunlight. In work that mimics that sensitivity to light, an MIT engineer and German colleagues have created the first plastics that can be deformed and temporarily fixed in a second, new shape by illumination with light having certain wavelengths. These programmed materials will only switch back to their original shape when exposed to light of specific different wavelengths.

The work, to be reported

Scientists verify critical fabrication properties of gadolinium-nickel alloy

A new alloy developed and patented by researchers at Lehigh University, Sandia National Laboratory and Idaho National Laboratory could help the U.S. dispose more safely of 50,000 tons of spent nuclear energy fuel that are now stored at 125 sites in 39 states.
John DuPont, professor of materials science and engineering at Lehigh and principal investigator on the project, said that a nickel-based

A new dielectric material, developed by researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, could facilitate the use of copper circuitry at the chip level. The thermally stable aromatic polymer has a low dielectric constant of 1.85, good mechanical properties and excellent adhesion.

Replacing aluminum with copper as the multilayer interconnect structure in microelectronic devices could enhance both miniaturization and performance. Copper offers much higher electrical and