From Purdue University,  Brian Huchel Purdue University engineers and entomologists are making some sweet discoveries about how honeybees build and structure their honeycombs, which could lead to new fabrication techniques taken from the buzzing builders. Nikhilesh Chawla, the Ransburg Professor of Materials Engineering at Purdue, is one of the first to use four-dimensional (4D) imaging…

Making vehicle structures out of a combination of metals and plastics could make them dramatically lighter, stronger, safer, and more environmentally friendly than the all-steel or all-aluminum approaches that dominate today. But how to join all those materials together quickly and cheaply has been a sticky problem. A University of Michigan lab is developing solutions.…

DuPont announces the launch of a new brand, Micromax, that will encompass the products formerly under the Microcircuit and Component Materials brand. Micromax products are used in a wide variety of electronics applications — from automotive, passive components, and 5G communications to healthcare and consumer goods. “Micromax aims to be the leading brand for electronic…

Dow has introduced DOWSIL Immersion Cooling Technology, a next-generation solution for cooling hyperscale cloud and enterprise data centers with optimized efficiency and sustainability. Award-winning DOWSIL Immersion Cooling Technology offers a revolutionary approach to thermal management and sustainability for fast-growing data centers in a new era of high-speed, high-volume data communications. Winner of R&D 100 Award…

AGC Chemicals Americas introduces FibraLAST non-fluorinated sizing additives that protect paper products from both water and food oils. These patent-pending grades are designed as alternatives to traditional sizing products. This new barrier technology is suitable for molded, formed fiber and cardboard products such as fast-casual bowls, plates, containers and pizza boxes. FibraLAST grades prevent the bleed-through…

By Mark Jones I’ve discovered a new sport, one made possible by Erik Rintamaki. No, he’s not the inventor of pickleball — and the sport I found is not the fastest growing in the U.S. My new sport is a bit more scientific and, for R&Ders, it comes with a useful allegory. The sport I…

From Berkeley National Lab, By Alison Hatt Scientists have designed a new material system to overcome one of the biggest challenges in recycling consumer products: mixed-plastic recycling. Their achievement will help enable a much broader range of fully recyclable plastic products and brings into reach an efficient circular economy for durable goods like automobiles. We…

Dow is once again looking for the most innovative packages in the world. The entry period for the 2022 Packaging Innovation Awards is now open at www.dow.com/packagingawards. First launched over 30 years ago, the Packaging Innovation Awards honor the best, most innovative designs in the packaging industry. Past winners have redefined categories and challenged the…

Nanoparticles are engineered particles of between one and 100 nanometers in diameter, a size known as the nanoscale. To put this into context, a nanometer (nm) is one billionth of a meter, and the distance between individual atoms in a solid is between 0.1 nm and 0.4 nm. Nanoparticles therefore range in size from tens…

From Berkeley Lab,  By Rachel Berkowitz The silicon-based computer chips that power our modern devices require vast amounts of energy to operate. Despite ever-improving computing efficiency, information technology is projected to consume around 25% of all primary energy produced by 2030. Researchers in the microelectronics and materials sciences communities are seeking ways to sustainably manage…

AGC Chemicals Americas will feature Fluon+ mPLASTICS, AFLAS FFKM PM-3500 perfluorinated elastomer, AFLAS 400E or 600X FEPM fluoroelastomer grades and Fluon+ Compounds at the Oil and Gas Polymers Engineering event June 21-22, at the Hilton Houston Post Oak Hotel in Houston. These materials are widely used in equipment components that operate in severe oil and…

Taiwan Textile Research Institute (TTRI) has developed the world’s first Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) yarn, which makes it full of applicative possibilities. RFID Yarn passes five major durability tests: anti-laundry, anti-acid, anti-alkali, anti-high temperature and anti-roller pressure. TTRI initiated RFID Yarn Technology Industry Alliance, to set up testing standards for newcomers. To achieve RFID Yarn, the…

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…