Self-Growing 3D Objects

Professor Sameh Tawfick and his team at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana have developed a 3D process that grows polymer objects in a controlled manner to achieve a desired shape.

A Triple-Layer Battery Resistant to Fire and Explosion

The triple-layer solid electrolyte features a robust middle layer that boosts the battery’s mechanical strength, while its soft outer surface ensures an excellent electrode contact, facilitating an easy movement of lithium ions. Read on to learn more.

Flexible Lightweight Radiation Shielding

An innovator at NASA Langley Research Center has developed a novel method for making thin, lightweight radiation shielding that can be sprayed or melted onto common textiles used in clothing such as cotton, nylon, polyester, Nomex, and Kevlar. Read on to learn more about it.

Leveraging the Plasma Pen for Solving Complex Adhesion Challenges

By leveraging plasma pen technology into inline processes, manufacturers can achieve stronger, more reliable bonds, improved wettability, and enhanced performance across various materials. Read on to learn more about what this means.

Engineering Carbon-Based Semiconductors for Next-Gen Electronics

A Duke University team's approach takes a metallic nanotube, which always lets current through, and transforms it into a semiconducting form that can be switched on and off. Read on to learn more.

Reducing Electronic Waste with Biodegradable and Recyclable Luminescent Polymers

Researchers have developed a strategy to design luminescent polymers with high light-emitting efficiencies from the start that are both biodegradable and recyclable. Read on to learn more.

Nanostitches for Lighter, Tougher Composite Materials

MIT engineers have shown they can prevent cracks from spreading between composite’s layers, using an approach they developed called “nanostitching,” in which they deposit chemically grown microscopic forests of carbon nanotubes between composite layers. Read on to learn more about it.

AI Discovers Stiff and Tough Microstructures

A team at MIT has moved beyond traditional trial-and-error methods to create materials with extraordinary performance through computational design. Their new system integrates physical experiments, physics-based simulations, and neural networks to navigate the discrepancies often found between theoretical models and practical results. Read on to learn more.

A New Shape-Changing Polymer for Better Soft Material Construction

A team of scientists has created a new shape-changing polymer that could transform how future soft materials are constructed.

Crafting Safe, Long-Cyclable Lithium Metal Batteries for High Temperatures

A research team led by Professor Dong-Myeong Shin of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Hong Kong has developed a new generation of lithium metal batteries, representing a significant advancement in the field. Here, an interview with Shin to learn more about the technology.

4D Printing of Shape Memory Polymers

Researchers have successfully demonstrated the 4D printing of shape memory polymers in submicron dimensions that are comparable to the wavelength of visible light. Read on to learn more.

Products of Tomorrow

See the products of tomorrow, including a 3D microwave antenna, smart CCTV systems trained to spot blockages in urban waterways, and a full-scale prototype for six telescopes that will enable, in the next decade, the space-based detection of gravitational waves.

Wearable Solar Concentrators

The novel solar concentrators can be applied to textile fibers without the textile becoming brittle and susceptible to cracking or accumulating water vapor in the form of sweat. Read on to learn more.

New Technology Uses Light to Engrave Erasable 3D Images

Imagine if physicians could capture 3D projections of medical scans, suspending them inside an acrylic cube to create a hand-held reproduction of a patient’s heart, brain, kidneys, or other organs. Then, when the visit is done, a quick blast of heat erases the projection, and the cube is ready for the next scan. A new report by researchers at Dartmouth and Southern Methodist University outlines a technical breakthrough that could enable such scenarios, and others, with widespread utility. Read on to learn more.

Aerospace & Defense Finalist: Laser-Generated Anti-Icing and Anti-Fogging Transparent Materials

AlchLight has invented and pioneered a non-coating laser surface processing (LSP) technology that turns regular transparent materials such as glass and polymers superhydrophobic. It's the Aerospace & Defense Finalist. Read on to learn more.

Manufacturing & Materials Finalist: RHOBARR™ Barrier Dispersions Platform

Meet Allyson Marianelli, Lead Researcher at Dow, whose RHOBARR™ Barrier Dispersions Platform is a Manufacturing & Materials Finalist.

Hexagonal Electrohydraulic Modules Shape-Shift into Versatile Robots

Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems (MPI-IS) have developed hexagon-shaped robotic components, called modules, that can be snapped together...

Solving The Doping Problem: Enhancing Performance in Organic Semiconductors

Physicists at the University of Cambridge Cavendish Laboratory have discovered two new ways to improve organic semiconductors by removing more electrons from the...

Molecular Highway for Electrons in OLEDs

Now, a team from the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research has developed a new material concept that could allow efficient blue OLEDs with a strongly simplified structure. Read on to learn more.

A New Hydrogel to Regrow Damaged Heart Tissue

University of Waterloo Chemical Engineering Researcher Dr. Elisabeth Prince teamed up with researchers from the University of Toronto and Duke University to design the synthetic material made using cellulose nanocrystals, which are derived from wood pulp. The material is engineered to replicate the fibrous nanostructures and properties of human tissues. Read on to learn more.

Bringing Circular Economy for Plastics One Step Closer to Reality

The chemical process can essentially vaporize plastics that currently dominate the waste stream and turn them into hydrocarbon building blocks for new plastics.

Crafting Safe, Long-Cyclable Lithium Metal Batteries for High Temperatures

A research team has developed a new generation of lithium metal batteries, representing a significant advancement in the field. Their innovation centers on microcrack-free polymer electrolytes which promise extended lifespan and enhanced safety at elevated temperatures.

RTV Silicone Sealing Method for Component Interfaces

The RTV sealing method may benefit terrestrial applications that may demand cure-in-place internal seals. The method could also innovate manufacturing processes for components by enhancing the speed of assembly while increasing seal integrity. Read on to learn more.

New Membrane Mirrors for Large Space-Based Telescopes

Researchers have developed a new way to produce and shape large, high-quality mirrors that are much thinner than conventional space-telescope mirrors. The final product is even flexible enough to be rolled up and stored compactly inside a launch vehicle. Read on to learn more.

3D Printing with an Unknown Material

This research could help to reduce the environmental impact of additive manufacturing, which typically relies on nonrecyclable polymers and resins derived from fossil fuels. Read on to learn more.

3D-Printed Actuators Can Move, Lock Soft Robots into New Shapes

Researchers have demonstrated miniature soft hydraulic actuators that can be used to control the deformation and motion of soft robots that are less than a millimeter thick.

Developing Safer Batteries with Solid-State Polymer Electrolytes

A 100 percent solid-state, high-performance polymer electrolyte addresses issues with liquid electrolytes for safer battery cell designs. Read this article to learn more.

Self-Cleaning Coatings for Space or Earth

Electrodynamic dust shields (EDSs) are a key method to actively clean surfaces by running high voltages (but low currents) through electrodes on the surface. The forces generated by the voltage efficiently remove built-up, electrically charged dust particles. Innovators have developed a new transparent EDS for removing dust from space and lunar solar cells among other transparent surfaces.