Materials Science
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Mar 19 | New To Market
At the AudiologyNOW! 2010 show in San Diego next month, UK-based coatings company P2i will display their relatively new Aridion liquid-repellant nano-coating. Designed for exposure to humidity or sweat, the polymer layer is applied by a pulsed ion gas process that lower’s the hearing aid’s surface energy, coaxing water away from delicate components.
Mar 19 | News
A carbon-nanotube-infused ink for ink-jet printers first developed in the Rice Univ. lab of James Tour has been used to make thin-film transistors in radio-frequency identification tags that can be printed on paper or plastic. The transmitter can be invisibly embedded in packaging, instantly sharing far more information than a bar code.
Mar 19 | News
Scientists already know that some types of bacteria can alter uranium (VI)—a radioactive, toxic, and water-soluble relic of the Cold War era—into uranium (IV)—insoluble, stationary, and less harmful. Argonne Lab studies are beginning to unlock this pathway, but because bacteria interact with so many other elements, harnessing their abilities will prove difficult.
Mar 17 | News
Karl A. Gschneidner Jr., a senior metallurgist at Ames Lab, spoke before a House Subcommittee this week, cautioning them that rare-earth R&D in America is “virtually zero”. He went on to say that expertise in rare-earth alloying is crucial to economic performance and that the U.S. has given up much ground to other countries in this area.
Mar 17 | News
With inspiration from a semi-tropical frog that makes its own long-lived foam, engineers from the University of Cincinnati have blended plant, bacterial, frog and fungal enzymes to create foam that captures energy, converts to sugar, and removes excess carbon dioxide from the air.
Mar 16 | News
Metallic glasses are emerging as potentially useful materials at the frontier of materials science research. They combine the advantages and avoid many of the problems of normal metals and glasses, two classes of materials with a very wide range of applications.
Mar 15 | RDBlog
The recent review of the past 10 years of the National Nanotechnology Initiative--as presented by the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology--suggested the rise of nanomanufacturing as the near future of nanotechnology. But the actual proposed funding reflects a cautious approach, even about nanotech in general.
Mar 15 | News
Lithium-ion battery anodes are made from graphite. Silicon anodes would offer a ten-fold improvement, but ion travel quickly destroys the material. A new experimental silicon-carbon nanocomposite, built through self-assembly, solves the degradation problem.
Mar 15 | News
Silks are among the toughest materials known, stronger and less brittle, pound for pound, than steel. Now scientists at MIT have unraveled some of their deepest secrets in research that could lead the way to the creation of synthetic materials that duplicate, or even exceed, the extraordinary properties of natural silk.
Mar 15 | News
Scientists from IBM and Stanford University have recent detailed polymer discoveries that could lead to the development of new types of biodegradable, biocompatible plastics. The result of a multi-year research effort, the breakthrough is based on organocatalysis, specifically oxide-based catalysts that show activities rivaling the most active metal-based catalysts. Harnessing this activity could enable us to significantly increase the ability to recycle and reuse PET.