Materials & Coatings

Capturing Water from Thin Air

Engineers from Australia and China have invented a sponge-like device that captures water from thin air and then releases it in a cup using the sun’s energy, even in low humidity where other technologies such as fog harvesting and radiative cooling have struggled. Read on to learn more.

A Path to Safer, High-Energy Electric Vehicle Batteries

This research has far-reaching implications, offering a path to safer, more efficient batteries that can support the growing demand for electric vehicles. As the world moves towards cleaner energy solutions, these advancements are crucial for making EVs more viable and attractive for consumers. Read on to learn more.

Researchers Develop Efficient Lithium Extraction Method, Setting Stage for Sustainable EV Battery Supply Chains

In the race to meet the growing global demand for lithium, a team of researchers from Rice University’s Elimelech lab has developed a breakthrough lithium extraction method that could reshape the industry. Read on to learn more about it.

Leading the Charge to Better Batteries

A team led by Kelsey Hatzell, Associate Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, has uncovered insights that could help power a new type of battery, called an anode-free solid-state battery, past lithium-ion’s limitations.

A Successful Catalyst Design for Advanced Zinc-Iodine Batteries

Aqueous zinc-ion batteries have attracted extensive attention due to their high safety, abundant reserves, and environmental friendliness. However, the low electrical conductivity of iodine hinders the redox conversion for an efficient energy storage process with zinc. Read on to learn how a research team addressed the existing issues in Zn-I2 batteries.

Better Texture for Better Batteries

To create the new batteries needed for EVs, mobile devices, and renewable energy storage, researchers have explored new materials, new designs, new configurations, and new chemistry. But one aspect — the texture of the metals used — has been historically overlooked. Read on to learn more.

Ultra-Sensitive Sensor with Gold Nanoparticle Array

Researchers have developed a new type of sensor platform using a gold nanoparticle array. The sensor is made up of a series of gold disk-shaped nanoparticles on a glass slide. When an infrared laser is pointed at a precise arrangement of the particles, they start to emit unusual amounts of ultraviolet light. Read on to learn more.

Fast-Charging, Long-Running, Bendable Supercapacitor

This technology has potential as a portable power supply in several applications, including electric vehicles, cellphones, and wearable technology.

Soft Sensing, Self-Healing Materials for Robotic Hands and Arms

These materials can detect when they are damaged, take the necessary steps to temporarily heal themselves, and then resume work.

Carbon Fiber-Carbon Nanotube Yarn Hybrid Reinforcement

Innovators at the NASA Glenn Research Center have developed a toughened hybrid reinforcement material made from carbon fiber and carbon nanotube (CNT) yarn for use in polymer matrix composites (PMCs). The new material improves toughness and damping properties of PMCs, enhancing impact resistance, fatigue life, as well as structural longevity. Read on to learn more.

A New Method to Design Better Metallic Materials

In a new study, researchers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign reported that automated high-resolution electron imaging can capture the nanoscale deformation events that lead to metal failure and breakage at the origin of metal failure. Read on to learn more.

New Smart Sensor Takes the Pain Out of Wound Monitoring

A major challenge in self-powered wearable sensors for health care monitoring is distinguishing different signals when they occur at the same time. Researchers addressed this issue by uncovering a new property of a sensor material, enabling the team to develop a new type of flexible sensor that can accurately measure both temperature and physical strain simultaneously but separately to more precisely pinpoint various signals. Read on to learn more.

Researchers Pioneer Nanosensor for Real-Time Iron Detection in Plants

Researchers have developed a groundbreaking near-infrared fluorescent nanosensor capable of simultaneously detecting and differentiating between iron forms — Fe(II) and Fe(III) — in living plants. Read on to learn more about it.

Revolutionizing High-Performance Computer Memory Storage

Magnets generate invisible fields that attract certain materials. Far more important to our everyday lives, magnets also can store data in computers. Exploiting the direction of the magnetic field, microscopic bar magnets each can store one bit of memory as a zero or a one — the language of computers.

Better Microelectronics from Coal

A joint research effort led by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has shown how coal can play a vital role in next-generation electronic devices. Read on to learn more about it.

Material Could Unlock New Functionality in Semiconductors

Researchers have designed and synthesized a unique material with controllable capabilities that make it promising for future electronics including cellphones and computers. Read on to learn more.

A Quick and Easy Way to Produce Anode Materials for Sodium-Ion Batteries Using Microwaves

A research team led by Dr. Daeho Kim and Dr. Jong Hwan Park at the Nano Hybrid Technology Research Center of the Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute has developed a groundbreaking process technology that enables ultrafast, 30-second preparation of hard carbon anodes for sodium-ion batteries, using microwave induction heating. Read on to learn more.

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.

Fabricating Ultrastrong Aluminum Alloys for Additive Manufacturing

Purdue University material engineers have created a patent-pending process to develop ultrahigh-strength aluminum alloys that are suitable for additive manufacturing because of their plastic deformability. 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.

New High-Speed Microscale 3D-Printing Technique

Researchers at Stanford University have introduced a more efficient processing technique that can print up to 1 million highly detailed and customizable microscale particles a day. Read on to learn more about it.

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.

Critical Minerals Recovery from Electronic Waste

A PNNL research team used a simple mixed-salt water-based solution and their knowledge of metal properties to separate valuable minerals in continuously flowing reaction chambers. 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.

A New Way to Stretch Diamond for Better Quantum Bits

A future quantum network may become less of a stretch thanks to researchers at the Argonne National Laboratory, the University of Chicago, and Cambridge University. By “stretching” thin films of diamond, they created quantum bits that can operate with significantly reduced equipment and expense. Read on to learn more.

Creating Materials with Stiffness, Thermal Insulation

Researchers have demonstrated the ability to engineer materials that are both stiff and capable of insulating against heat. This combination of properties is extremely unusual and holds promise for a range of applications, such as the development of new thermal insulation coatings for electronic devices. Read on to learn more.

New Glass is More Damage Resistant, Greener

Worldwide, glass manufacturing produces at least 86 million tons of carbon dioxide every year. A new type of glass aims to cut this carbon footprint in half. Read on to learn more about the invention: LionGlass, engineered at Penn State.

Detecting Additive Manufacturing Defects in Real Time

A research team led by Associate Professor Tao Sun has made new discoveries that can expand additive manufacturing in aerospace and other industries that rely on strong metal parts. Read on to learn more.