Products of Tomorrow

See the products of tomorrow, including a practical way to make hydrocarbons powered solely by the sun; an air traffic control system for drones that can effectively and accurately track anything in an identified low-altitude airspace; and a robotic system whose primary structural platform, or “orb,” can be injected into a pipe network and perform reconnaissance of piping infrastructure and other interior volumes.

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.

Micromotor Winding Technology Uses AI to Improve Motor Performance

Achievable coils increase the capabilities of the micromotors.

Copper Catalyst Converts Carbon Dioxide into Liquid Fuels

A research team has gained new insight by capturing real-time movies of copper nanoparticles as they convert CO2 and water into renewable fuels and chemicals: ethylene, ethanol, and propanol, among others.

Liquid Metal Coating Creates Effective Antiviral, Antimicrobial Fabric

The coatings eradicated human influenza and coronavirus in five minutes.

Heated Facemask Filters and Inactivates Coronaviruses

The reusable mask would include a heated copper mesh powered by a battery and surrounded by insulating neoprene.

Catalyst Efficiently Turns Carbon Dioxide into Useful Fuels and Chemicals

By converting CO2 into complex hydrocarbon products, a new catalyst could aid in large-scale efforts to recycle excess carbon dioxide.

New Approach Makes Lighter, Safer Lithium-Ion Batteries

Adding polymers and fireproofing to a battery’s current collectors makes it lighter, safer, and about 20% more efficient.

Composite Material Increases Electrical Current Capacity of Copper Wires

The material can be scaled for use in ultra-efficient, power-dense, electric vehicle traction motors.

Laser Treatment Turns Metal Surfaces into Bacteria Killers

The technique could easily be translated into existing medical device manufacturing processes for use in orthopedic implants.

Copper Strengthens 3D-Printed Titanium

Titanium-copper alloys for 3D printing could create high-performance alloys for medical device and aerospace applications.

Superconductivity in a Nickel Oxide Material

Made with “Jenga chemistry,” the material could help in understanding how high-temperature superconductors work.

Industrial Blue Lasers

What Does It Takes to Change the Game? Industrial lasers are integrated into manufacturing and fabrication facilities around the world. Every moment, there is an industrial laser somewhere that is cutting, etching, or...

Ancient Pigment Can Boost Energy Efficiency

Egyptian blue, derived from calcium copper silicate, was routinely used on ancient depictions of gods and royalty. Previous studies have shown that when Egyptian blue absorbs visible light, it then...

Printable Metal Tags Turn Objects into Smart, Connected Devices

Printable metal tags have been developed that could be attached to everyday objects to turn them into “smart” Internet of Things (IoT) devices. The tags are made from patterns...

One-Dimensional Material with High Current Density

Current density is the amount of electrical current per cross-sectional area at a given point. As transistors in integrated circuits become smaller and smaller, they need higher and higher...

Molten Target Sputtering (MTS) Deposition

The sputtering process has emerged as one of the major deposition techniques for thin film coating practices in research and industrial production. The process is limited by low deposition rates and low...

Piezomagnetic Material Changes Magnetic Properties When Stretched

Piezoelectric materials, which generate an electric current when compressed or stretched, are familiar and widely used; for example, lighters that spark when a switch is pressed,...

Flexible, Gravity-Fed Heat Pipe

The advent of cryocooler technology ushers in an era where a cryogenic environment is created and maintained locally. It is no longer necessary to transport cryogen from a factory where it is produced to the...

Composite Materials Could Improve Respirator Filters

Current gas mask filters counter current threats, but there are large gaps in knowledge about how they do so at the molecular level. Many of the filters were developed to handle a wide range...

Nickel Oxide Compound for High-Temperature Superconductors

Superconducting materials are technologically important because electricity flows through them without resistance. Only low-temperature superconductivity seemed possible before 1986,...

Transfer Technique Produces Wearable Gallium Nitride Gas Sensors

A transfer technique based on thin sacrificial layers of boron nitride could allow high-performance gallium nitride gas sensors to be grown on sapphire substrates and then...

R&D Effort Produces Magnetic Devices to Enable More Powerful X-ray Lasers

A team of researchers have designed, built, and tested two devices, called superconducting undulators, which could make X-ray free-electron lasers (FELs) more powerful,...

Self-Protected, Low-Temperature Nanosolder

Nanosolders allow for increased capabilities in the formation of soldered interconnections for heat-sensitive electronic packages. The desired characteristic of nanosolder is to have a low process...

Using Microwaves to Produce High-Quality Graphene

Engineers have developed a simple method for producing high-quality graphene that can be used in next-generation electronic and energy devices. The method essentially bakes the compound in a...

Recovering Metals from Electronic Waste

End-of-life electronic devices such as smartphones, computers, televisions, and other electronics contain significant amounts of valuable metals including base metals (zinc, tin, lead, nickel, and...

Omnidirectional Mobile Robot with Two Moving Parts

SIMbot is an updated version of the ballbot, an elegantly simple robot whose tall, thin body moves on top of a sphere slightly smaller than a bowling ball. SIMbot features a motor with just one...