Technical Briefs, Design Engineering News

Keyword: Coatings, colorants and finishes

Articles: Aerospace

ARTEMIS III: Return to the Surface

The third flight of SLS and Orion will carry the first woman and first person of color to the Moon.

Briefs: Materials

Color-Changing Dyes Visualize Stress in Plastics

Directly visualizing external stresses of plastics is useful in development of materials with improved mechanical properties.

Articles: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

ARTEMIS: Back to the Moon

With the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft, NASA will return humans to the lunar surface.

Articles: Robotics, Automation & Control

2021 Create the Future Design Contest: Manufacturing/Robotics/Automation Category Winner — Electronics-Free Soft Walking Robot

Av four-legged soft robot walks, without requiring any electronics.

Articles: Energy

2021 Create the Future Design Contest: Sustainable Technologies/Future Energy Category Winner — Multifunctional Bionanocomposite Fruit Coatings

The invention could capture the potential of the edible packaging market.

Articles: Aerospace

Products of Tomorrow

Nanotube fibers that turn heat to power; a NASA antenna system; and an antimicrobial coating.

Briefs: Photonics/Optics

Optical Coating Exhibits the Same Color in Reflection and Transmission

Fano Resonance Optical Coatings (FROCs) can both transmit and reflect the same color simultaneously.

NASA Spinoff: Materials

Metallic Glass Gears Up for Cobots, Coatings, and More

A bulk metallic glass could slash prices of collaborative robots and lead to advanced 3D-printed metals.

Briefs: Materials

Material Increases Efficiency of LED Devices

The approach achieves near 100% light emission efficiency at all brightness levels.

Briefs: Electronics & Computers

Coating Protects Fragile Quantum Electronics

The protective coating works like body armor for the atomically thin materials.

Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Microbe Turns Waste into Industrial Chemical

The method could be applied to carbon waste streams.

Articles: Photonics/Optics

Spectroscopy Using an Optical Microscope

With an optical microscope, spectra can be acquired from a sample area smaller than a micron.

Application Briefs: Materials

The Hidden Effects of Optical Coating Stress

For applications requiring high-energy material deposition coatings, you'll need to understand how stress can impact surface figure and system performance.

Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Universal Tactile Sensing with Electromechanically Coupled Conductors

These tactile imaging sensors can measure pressure distribution without using pressure-sensitive materials.

Briefs: Materials

New Spraying Method for Producing Ceramic Coatings

High-quality coated components can be integrated into complex systems in a sustainable way.

Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Coatings Could Improve Traction on Slick Surfaces

Material for shoe bottoms could help prevent falls in icy or slippery conditions.

Briefs: Electronics & Computers

Lighter Radiation Shielding for Electronics

This new technique shields electronics from ionizing radiation in applications such as military and space exploration.

Briefs: Materials

Ultrahigh-Energy-Density Capacitor

By introducing defects to a common material, a highly efficient capacitor offers dramatically increased energy density.

Articles: Imaging

Products of Tomorrow

A new COVID test, a "ChromoUpdate," and NASA's brake rotor.

Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Generation of Polystyrene Latex Spheres with Incorporated Fluorescent Dyes

Microspheres are used in wind tunnel experiments to monitor airflow, to stain biological samples, and in time-delayed drug release.

Briefs: Materials

Liquid Metal Lattice

The new metal lattice material can be used to create models that regain shape after being crushed.

Briefs: Materials

Copolyimide Surface-Modifying Coating

The coating repels insects on aircraft wing surfaces and motor vehicles and reduces surface imperfections on other low-friction or non-stick surfaces.