Feature Channels: Materials Science

• share
• favorite_border

Rare earth metals are a collection of chemically similar metallic elements that tend to occur at low concentrations in nature and can be difficult to separate from one another. They are valuable for their use in electric car motors, computer hard drives, solar panels and wind turbines. Transition metals are a class of metals that are excellent conductors of heat and electricity, often with high melting points and unique structural properties, making them essential for producing common alloys like steel and copper, as well as lithium-ion battery cathodes. Currently, most of the components carrying these metals are simply disposed of. INL’s new method to extract these valuable metals involves dimethyl ether, a gaseous compound that served as one of the first commercial refrigerants. It drives fractional crystallization — a process that divides chemical substances based on their solubility — to separate rare earth elements and transition metals from magnet wastes.

• share
• favorite_border

New lens design allows for atomic-resolution imaging as well as chemical analysis of critical materials

• share
• favorite_border

Based at Sandia National Laboratories, a team of scientists believes the key to preventing large-scale, catastrophic failures in bridges, airplanes and power plants is to look — very closely — at damage as it first appears at the atomic and nanoscale levels.

• share
• favorite_border

An interdisciplinary team of University of Minnesota Twin Cities researchers has developed a new, plant-inspired extrusion process that enables synthetic material growth, and the creation of a soft robot that builds its own solid body from liquid to navigate hard-to-reach places and complicated terrain.

• share
• favorite_border

• share
• favorite_border

• share
• favorite_border

• share
• favorite_border

One day in the not-too-distant future, the plastics in our satellites, cars and electronics may all be living their second, 25th or 250th lives.

• share
• favorite_border

Case Western Reserve University has received a $14.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to launch a “Center of Excellence” focused on applying innovative approaches to enhancing manufacturing of materials with greater strength and longer lifecycles.

• share
• favorite_border

New center will focus on enabling high-performance molecular dynamics simulations via oneAPI—an open, standards-based, cross-architecture programming model for CPUs and accelerators for faster application performance, more productivity and greater innovation.

• share
• favorite_border

New research from PNNL sheds light on how crystals form using atomic force microscopy.

• share
• favorite_border

Scientists developed a method to make silk-based materials that refuse to stick to water, or almost anything else containing water. Molded into forms like plastic, or coated onto surfaces as a film, the silk material has nonstick properties that surpass those of commercially available nonstick surfaces.

• share
• favorite_border

Two panel discussions overviewed the importance of the new $52-billion CHIPS and Science Act as a catalyst for improving American research, manufacturing, workforce development and national security related to semiconductors. The event was hosted by Arizona State University and the Washington Business Journal on Sept. 22 in Washington, D.C.

• share
• favorite_border

Researchers from Trinity College Dublin have shed new light on the formation of increasingly precious rare earth elements (REEs) by creating synthetic rocks and testing their responses to varying environmental conditions.

• share
• favorite_border

Seeking solutions to counteract a rapid rise in plastic trash, scientists at UC San Diego have developed biodegradable material that is designed to replace conventionally used plastic. In a new study, an interdisciplinary team of researchers has shown that the material biodegrades in seawater.

• share
• favorite_border

An international research team led by drone expert Mirko Kovac of Empa and Imperial College London has taken bees as a model to develop a swarm of cooperative, 3D-printing drones. Under human control, these flying robots work as a team to print 3D materials for building or repairing structures while flying, as the scientists report in the cover story of the latest issue of Nature.

• share
• favorite_border

Chirality is the property that the structure is not superposable on its mirrored image.

• share
• favorite_border

RUDN University professor with colleagues from Iran, Malaysia, and Pakistan conducted computer simulations and was able to predict the service life of the steering knuckle - an important part of the automotive suspension. It takes on the main load when turning and hitting the wheels, so the reliability of the car largely depends on its strength.

• share
• favorite_border

UC San Diego researchers developed soft devices containing algae that glow in the dark when experiencing mechanical stress, such as being squished, stretched, twisted or bent. The devices do not need electronics to produce light, making them ideal for building soft robots for exploring the deep sea and other dark environments.

• share
• favorite_border

Research into the synthesis of new materials could lead to more sustainable and environmentally friendly items such as solar panels and light emitting diodes (LEDs). Scientists from Ames National Laboratory and Iowa State University developed a colloidal synthesis method for alkaline earth chalcogenides. This method allows them to control the size of the nanocrystals in the material and study the surface chemistry.

• share
• favorite_border

Two years after the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory provided a model of every building in America, commercial partners are using the tool for tasks ranging from designing energy-efficient buildings and cities to relating energy efficiency to real estate value and risk. International companies like Google and SmithGroup are sharing the benefits by making the resulting data publicly available.

• share
• favorite_border

The Center of Excellence on Petrochemical and Materials Technology together with Chulalongkorn University’s Department of Chemical Technology (Faculty of Science), the Petroleum and Petrochemical College, and Research Association for Feedstock Recycling of Plastics (FSRJ) (Japan) cordially invite all interested to join the “11th International Symposium on Feedstock Recycling of Polymeric Materials (ISFR)” on November 29 – December 2, 2022 at Nongnooch Garden Pattaya, Chonburi, Thailand. The event will be one of the first carbon-neutral events to be held in Thailand.

• share
• favorite_border

The Materials Research Society (MRS) is pleased to announce the Vice President/President Elect, Secretary and new Board Members for 2023, elected by the Society's global membership of over 12,000.

• share
• favorite_border

Materials scientist Pietro Papa Lopes was named a 2022 “Rising Star” by the American Chemical Society.

• share
• favorite_border

This summer, five undergraduates conducted Q-NEXT research as part of the Open Quantum Initiative Undergraduate Fellowship program. In this Q&A, they share their research experiences and aspirations.

• share
• favorite_border

Researchers are digitally recreating “ghost neighborhoods” in Columbus that were destroyed to build interstate highways, so that people can see, and researchers can study, what was lost.

• share
• favorite_border

A research team has conducted a review of recent advances in perovskite photovoltaic modules.

• share
• favorite_border

In the FOXIP project, researchers form Empa, EPFL and the Paul Scherrer Institute attempted to print thin-film transistors with metal oxides onto heat-sensitive materials such as paper or PET. The goal was ultimately not achieved, but those involved consider the project a success – because of a new printing ink an a transistor with "memory effect".

• share
• favorite_border

• share
• favorite_border

• share
• favorite_border

• share
• favorite_border

A University of Houston mechanical engineer has developed a sprayable ice-shedding material that is 100 times stronger than any others.

• share
• favorite_border

Researchers at Queen’s University Belfast have developed a ground-breaking plastic film that can kill viruses that land on its surface with room light.

• share
• favorite_border

An academic/enterprise partnership that includes Penn State researchers is developing a new dielectric material to enable magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines with shorter scan times and higher image resolutions, good news for cutting the cost of MRI scans for the hospitals and for patients who struggle with MRI-related anxiety.

• share
• favorite_border

A team of researchers have observed and reported for the first time the unique microstructure of a novel ferroelectric material, enabling the development of lead-free piezoelectric materials for electronics, sensors, and energy storage that are safer for human use.

• share
• favorite_border

A household microwave oven modified by a Cornell engineering professor is helping to cook up the next generation of cellphones, computers and other electronics after the invention was shown to overcome a major challenge faced by the semiconductor industry.

• share
• favorite_border

New method for preparing cathode materials eliminates stumbling block to better lithium-ion batteries. New structure for cathode particles could lead to new generation of longer-lasting and safer batteries able to power vehicles for longer driving ranges.

• share
• favorite_border

Argonne National Laboratory supported a study that used an unconventional approach to make a high-performance material for battery electrodes. The compound, niobium pentoxide, shows promise for fast charging while providing excellent storage capacity.

• share
• favorite_border

Highly-resolved microscopy technique helps show temperature-dependent phase transitions at tiny and fast scales.

• share
• favorite_border

• share
• favorite_border

Report includes recommendations for academic, industry, and government collaboration on system-level approaches to reduce “time to talent” and achieve Industry 4.0 business outcomes

• share
• favorite_border

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists and engineers have garnered three awards among the top 100 industrial inventions worldwide.

• share
• favorite_border

A little Martian dust appears to go a long way. A small amount of simulated crushed Martian rock mixed with a titanium alloy made a stronger, high-performance material in a 3D-printing process that could one day be used on Mars to make tools or rocket parts.