Folded or Cut, This Lithium-Sulfur Battery Keeps Going

To address stability and safety issues, researchers have designed a lithium-sulfur battery that features an improved iron sulfide cathode. One prototype remains highly stable over 300 charge-discharge cycles, and another provides power even after being folded or cut. Read on to learn more.

Iron Could Be Key to Less Expensive, Greener Lithium-Ion Batteries

Researchers are hoping to spark a green battery revolution by showing that iron instead of cobalt and nickel can be used as a cathode material in lithium-ion batteries. Read on to learn more.

An All-Liquid Iron Flow Battery for Better Energy Storage

Flow batteries can serve as backup generators for the electric grid. Flow batteries are one of the key pillars of a decarbonization strategy to store energy from renewable energy resources. Their advantage is that they can be built at any scale, from the lab-bench scale, as in this PNNL study, to the size of a city block.

NASA’s Invention Puts a New Spin on Automotive Brake Rotors

NASA’s invention inspired an innovative design for a better automobile disc brake that’s much lighter and drastically improves the braking performance.

Making Conductive, Biodegradable Wires from Designed Proteins

The miniscule wires — the size of transistors on silicon chips or one thousandth of the breadth of the finest human hair — are made completely of natural amino acids and heme molecules, found in proteins such as hemoglobin, which transports oxygen in red blood cells.

Using Lasers to ‘Heat and Beat’ 3D-Printed Steel to Help Reduce Costs

A new method for metal 3D printing aims to make more efficient use of resources by allowing structural modifications to be “programmed” into metal alloys during 3D printing, fine-tuning their properties without the “heating and beating” process that’s been in use for thousands of years.

How Simple Component Improvements Can Revolutionize Plant Processes

Since its introduction, dozens of steel mills — ranging from hot to cold and bar to sheet — have recognized the benefits of incorporating INSTAclamp Lock Rings into their operations. Despite a redesign with a new material, the product is not restricted by which mill types it can operate within.

Using 3D Printing to Strengthen Jet Engines

Skoltech engineers have used a 3D printer to fabricate — and investigate the mechanical characteristics of — samples of bronze-steel alloys previously unknown to materials science.

Self-Cleaning Germicidal Door Handle

To overcome the limitations of using cleaning agents, sprays, or bulky high-cost sterilizing systems, NASA developed the Ultraviolet Germicidal Door Handle.

Anticorrosion Compound Protects Steel from the Elements

The flexible, self-healing coating protects buildings, bridges, and anything above or below the water made of steel.

Eddy Current Displacement Sensors for Industry

Eddy current displacement sensors can make measurements in harsh Industrial environments, even where pressure, dirt, or temperature fluctuations occur.

Rechargeable Cement-Based Batteries

An entire 20-story concrete building could store energy like a giant battery.

High-Performance, Lightweight, Easy-to-Fabricate Heat Exchanger

This can be used in energy-recovery systems in industrial, space, automotive, and military applications.

Custom Gimbal for JHU-APL Shows Promise for Others

See how Blue Joule developed and delivered the Mini Mount (MM) Gimbal to Johns Hopkins University.

Fabrication of Multilayer Ferritin Arrays

This method creates a thin-film electrode for a bio-nanobattery.

Powder Particles for Corrosion Prevention in Rebar

The coating protects parking decks, bridges, concrete piers, offshore platforms, buildings, and cooling towers.

Fiber Lasers for Powertrain Welding Applications

Altering the traditional intensity distribution of fiber lasers improves weld quality.

Process Synthesizes Carbon Nanotubes Using Carbon Dioxide

This process turns carbon dioxide into carbon nanotubes with small diameters.

Hardening Lightweight Metal Foams with Nanocoating

Load-bearing structures in cars and airplanes could be manufactured from the metal foam.

Pearl-Like Coating Enhances Lightweight Armor

By mimicking the outer coating of pearls (nacre or mother of pearl), researchers created a lightweight plastic that is 14 times stronger and eight times lighter (less dense) than steel. It could be...

Simultaneous Imaging and Friction Measurement with an In-Situ Tribometer

Different instruments are needed to study the interaction of contact surfaces at different length scales. Tribometers measure the coefficient of friction but they cannot...

Nickel Titanium Alloy Ball Bearings

Innovators at NASA's Glenn Research Center have developed a new method for making small-diameter, high-grade ball bearings that are less than 0.25” in diameter thanks to the development of a new alloy made...

Advances in Laser Welding Technology

There have been many changes in laser technology over the past 30 years. With each advancement comes new challenges and opportunities. The CO2 laser with 10-micron wavelength was king for many of those years...

Nickel with Nanoscale Pores Has the Strength of Titanium and Density of Water

Titanium is as strong as steel but about twice as light. These properties depend on the way a metal’s atoms are stacked but random defects that arise in the...

“Metallic Wood” Has the Strength of Titanium and the Density of Water

Titanium is as strong as steel but about twice as light. These properties depend on the way a metal's atoms are stacked, but random defects that arise in the...

Microscopy Technique Works at Extreme Heat

A stainless steel alloy — alloy 709 — has potential for elevated-temperature applications such as nuclear reactor structures. It is exceptionally strong and resistant to damage when exposed to high...

Contaminant-Free Steel

For many highly stressed engineering applications like bearings and gears, contaminated steel parts can lead to devastating outcomes such as an emergency shutdown or the end of a mission. Ensuring that these critical...