Material Science

Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Autonomous self-healing sealants self-repair microcracks and cuts, recover mechanical properties and adhere well to dusty surfaces. They are formulated by mixing a low-cost additive into commercial sealants according to a process developed at ORNL. The treatment increases sealant lifetime and energy savings by lowering air and water leaks in buildings. Even…

By Mark Jones In a normal world, vodka, nickel, palladium, and neon would have nothing in common. In our current world, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, they do. All are currently experiencing supply chain disruptions due either directly to the fighting or to sanctions. Nickel and palladium come from mines. Russian mines produced about 10%…

From Brookhaven National Laboratory: From designing new biomaterials to novel photonic devices, new materials built through a process called bottom-up nanofabrication, or self-assembly, are opening up pathways to new technologies with properties tuned at the nanoscale. However, to fully unlock the potential of these new materials, researchers need to “see” into their tiny creations so…

Nano and Advanced Materials Institute (NAMI) has invented a toxin-free, anti-biofouling silicone for its biosafety and long-lasting germ-repellent efficacy with a permanent PEGylated repelling surface to impede bacterial growth. In contrast to conventional leachable germ-killing biocides, this novel material neither causes antimicrobial resistance nor disturbs microbiome balance by killing beneficial microorganisms. Sustained, toxin-free, anti-biofouling silicone…

The AgriTraxx AirCore, Superior Tire & Rubber Corp., is a high-performance polyurethane gauge wheel tire intended for No-till agriculture applications. No-till is a more efficient and sustainable farming method saving thousands of gallons of diesel fuel per farm, per year while producing greater crop yields over conventional till methods. The tire uses an innovative design…

By Mark Jones Last month, I got caught up in the Olympic mixed doubles curling. At the start of the competition, I think it is safe to say no one guessed a team would go undefeated on the way to a gold medal. The gold-medal winning Italians were young and from a country with very…

By Milad Abolhasani, NCSU and Matt Shipman, NCSU Researchers from North Carolina State University and the University at Buffalo have developed and demonstrated a ‘self-driving lab’ that uses artificial intelligence (AI) and fluidic systems to advance our understanding of metal halide perovskite (MHP) nanocrystals. This self-driving lab can also be used to investigate a broad…

From Sandia National Laboratories Scientists from Sandia National Laboratories have announced a tiny, electronic device that can shunt excess electricity within a few billionths of a second while operating at a record-breaking 6,400 volts — a significant step towards protecting the nation’s electric grid from an electromagnetic pulse. The team published the fabrication and testing…

Fiber arrays are used for constructing optical phased-array lasers, which are used in high-power industrial applications and beam steering for lidar. MIT has developed and built an all-glass, monolithic fiber array that is smaller and more robust than standard arrays. Fiber arrays are used for constructing optical phased-array lasers that can enable power scaling and…

The $30 billion-plus global Li-ion battery market is expected to double in the next five years. Improved cathode materials will enable Li-ion batteries to operate reliably at high capacity and high voltage over repeated cycles without sacrificing performance, safety or cost. However, existing options are hindered by material and performance degradation at high voltage, limiting…

By Karyn Hede, PNNL A research team probing the properties of a semiconductor combined with a novel thin oxide film have observed a surprising new source of conductivity from oxygen atoms trapped inside. Scott Chambers, a materials scientist at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, reported the team’s discovery at the Spring 2022…

Ultraconductive Cu-CNT composite, from Oak Ridge National Laboratory, is a new class of high-performance conductors in which carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are incorporated into a copper (Cu) matrix, demonstrate improved electrical conductivity, higher current-carrying capacity, and improved mechanical properties compared to pure Cu. Growing demand for electrical energy and increasing need for more energy-efficient power delivery…

Holographyx has recently been granted a U.S. patent for its Holo-Blister product along with a European Patent for the development of this cost-effective method to apply holograms to the back of blister packs using conventional heat-seal blister packaging equipment. Holo-Blister holograms have been designed so that they will only be visible behind each pill/capsule cavity…

From Sandia National Laboratories A machine-learning algorithm developed at Sandia National Laboratories could provide auto manufacturing, aerospace and other industries a faster and more cost-efficient way to test bulk materials. The technique was published recently in the scientific journal Materials Science and Engineering: A. Production stoppages are costly. So, manufacturers screen materials like sheet metal…

We have all seen crystals, whether a simple grain of salt or sugar, or an elaborate and beautiful amethyst. These crystals are made of atoms or molecules repeating in a symmetrical three-dimensional pattern called a lattice, in which atoms occupy specific points in space. By forming a periodic lattice, carbon atoms in a diamond, for…

Nano and Advanced Materials Institute (NAMI) and Severin Asia have developed amorphous metal coating (AMC) on stainless steel, the industry’s first application, for coffee grinding, which drastically increases the hardness and toughness of the blade, resulting in four times lifetime improvement and leading to 50% finer grounds for silkier and more intense, robust coffee. In…

Multi-functional Sorbent Technology (MUST), from Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), Somerset International and The Dow Chemical Company, is a game-changing suite of sorbents that remove cationic (positively charged) and oxygen-containing anionic (negatively charged) heavy metals from aqueous and nonaqueous sources. Such versatility and low cost make MUST highly effective to clean contaminated…

Infinitum Electric’s Air-Core Motors use lightweight materials and modular design to generate the same power in half the size and weight, at a fraction of the carbon footprint of conventional motors. Infinitum Electric motors offer a fully integrated system: motor, variable frequency drive (VFD) and embedded IoT in a single compact package. Infinitum Electric developed…

Elkem’s AMSil series is a new technology to make functional parts based on silicone elastomer by additive manufacturing (AD) and 3D printing (3DP). Thus, it is now possible to combine the performance, durability and biocompatibility of silicones with the unique possibilities offered by additive manufacturing. New opportunities arise in the design and manufacturing of soft…

Sensors to detect viruses, explosives or drugs often use a technique called surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) in which light wavelengths from a chemical or biological species adsorbed on metal nanostructures are detected and mapped to the identity of the species. In SERS, detection efficiency depends on the surface morphology of the nanostructure. Now, scientists have…

by Georgia Institute of Technology For electric vehicles (EVs) to become mainstream, they need cost-effective, safer, longer-lasting batteries that won’t explode during use or harm the environment. Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology may have found a promising alternative to conventional lithium-ion batteries made from a common material: rubber. Elastomers, or synthetic rubbers, are…

ELCRES HTV150 film, from SABIC and Shin-Etsu Polymer Co., is the first engineering thermoplastic high-voltage, high-temperature film for DC link power capacitors capable of high energy densities over long periods of time without significant current leakage or charge loss. The film exhibits stable performance and offers excellent handling through metallization and capacitor building processes. ELCRES…

Because of their excessive size, weight, power, cost and environmental sensitivity, continuous wave deep ultraviolet lasers have long been exclusively laboratory devices. The Model 261, from UVC Photonics, is an entirely new approach to deep ultraviolet lasers. Several years of development has resulted in a rugged, compact and low-cost module suitable for integration into fixed,…

By Markus Buehler, McAfee Professor of Engineering at MIT When we talk about advances in materials science, the focus is typically on the materials themselves: how strong we can make this fabric, how light we can make the construction materials, how cheap we can manufacture better products than we have now. But the benefits of…

PPG has pioneered dielectric powder for electric vehicles to enhance their safety. ENVIROCRON Extreme Protection Thermally Conductive Dielectric Powder Coating is engineered to provide thermal conductivity in a dielectric material to enhance safety and performance. Used instead of film and/or tape solutions, this product supports high throughput and automated application. ENVIROCRON enables electric vehicle manufacturers…