Materials & Coatings

Smartphone-Powered Microchip Enables At-Home Medical Diagnostic Testing

The innovation opens the door for faster and more affordable at-home medical testing.

Flexible Backing Improves Brain-Computer Interface

Adding a flexible backing to this kind of brain-computer interface allows the device to more evenly conform to the brain’s complex curved surface and to more uniformly distribute the microneedles that pierce the cortex.

Recyclable Feedstocks for Additive Manufacturing

One common limitation of AM has been that produced articles cannot be recycled without substantial energy costs.

A New Fabrication Process Produces Smart Textiles

By incorporating a special type of plastic yarn and using heat to slightly melt it — a process called thermoforming — the researchers were able to greatly improve the precision of pressure sensors woven into multilayered knit textiles, which they call 3DKnITS.

A Semiconductor Material with Superior Performance

Cubic boron arsenide provides high mobility to both electrons and holes, and it has excellent thermal conductivity. It is, according to the researchers, the best semiconductor material ever found.

Novel Chemical Glucose Sensing Method Based on Boronic Acids and Graphene Foam

Since it is a chemical sensor instead of being enzyme-based, the new technology is robust, has a long shelf-life and can be tuned to detect lower glucose concentrations than current systems.

Electronic Skin Anticipates and Perceives Touch from Different Directions for the First Time

Scientists develop a new approach for miniaturization of soft ultra-compact and highly integrated sensor units for directional tactile sensitivity in e-skin systems.

Thin, Stretchable Biosensors Could Make Surgery Safer

Researchers formulated and synthesized the bio-inks, with the goal of creating create an ultra-soft, thin, and stretchable material for biosensors that is capable of seamlessly interfacing with the surface of organs.

A Biodegradable Filtration System for Waste Metal Recovery

This invention is a method of removing or adsorbing a target substance or material.

Using AI to Help Scale Up Advanced Solar Cell Manufacturing

The system makes it possible to integrate data from prior experiments, and information based on personal observations by experienced workers, into the machine learning process.

Organic Steam Generator Uses Sunlight to Purify Water

Researchers have developed an inexpensive and eco-friendly steam generator to desalinate and purify water using sunlight.

Glassy Electrolyte Holds Promise for an All-Solid-State Sodium Battery

Lithium-ion batteries are currently the preferred technology for powering electric vehicles, but they’re too expensive for long-duration grid-scale energy storage systems.

Extending the Lifetime of Organic Aqueous Flow Batteries

Over the course of their research, the team discovered that these anthraquinones decompose slowly over time, regardless of how many times the battery has been used.

Designing Sodium-Ion Batteries with Extended Longevity

In batteries, electrolyte is the circulating “blood” that keeps the energy flowing. The electrolyte forms by dissolving salts in solvents, resulting in charged ions that flow between the positive and negative electrodes.

Rice ‘Metalens’ Could Disrupt Vacuum UV Market

Tests showed the metalens they made could focus its 197-nanometer output onto a spot measuring 1.7 microns in diameter, increasing the power density of the light output by 21 times.

Upside-Down Design Expands Wide-Spectrum Super-Camera Abilities

Plasmonics is a technology that essentially traps the energy of light in groups of electrons oscillating together on a metal surface.

Lignin-Based Jet Fuel Packs More Power

An experimental plant-based jet fuel could increase engine performance and efficiency, while dispensing with aromatics, the pollution-causing compounds found in conventional fuels.

Material Inspired by Chain Mail Transforms from Flexible to Rigid on Command

Applications include a smart fabric for exoskeletons, an adaptive cast that adjusts its stiffness as an injury heals, or a deployable bridge that could be unrolled and stiffened.

Enhanced Material Stable Enough for Solar Cells

A simple change to the surface of perovskite removes a barrier to its functionality.

Plant-Based Thermotherapy Patch

Additional applications include defogging/defrosting, wearable devices, industrial heat systems, sensors, thermochromic displays, and microfluidic chips.

Piezoelectric Material Remains Effective at High Temperatures

The material remains effective as an energy harvester or sensor at temperatures to well above 572°F.

Method Pinpoints Microscale Damage in Metal

The process predicts when and where microscopic cracks will occur before they become catastrophic.

Advancing Renewable Energy Production with Solar Thermochemical Hydrogen

Hydrogen has emerged as an important carrier to store energy generated by renewable resources, as a substitute for fossil fuels used for transportation, in the production of ammonia, and for other industrial applications.

3D-Printed Micro-Robots Hold Promise for Drug Delivery

Georgia Tech researchers have shown that robots about the size of a particle of dust are capable of precise bidirectional control. By harnessing the power of a magnetic field generated by a...

Smart Molecules Act as Computer Transistors

Researchers have discovered a single-molecule switch that can act like a transistor and store binary information such as the 1s and 0s used in classical computing. The molecule is around five square...

Three-Dimensional Electronic Flying Microchip

Engineers have added a new capability to electronic microchips: flight. About the size of a grain of sand, the new flying microchip (microflier) does not have a motor or engine. Instead, it catches...

Heat-Management Material Keeps Computers Running Cool

Computer processors have shrunk to nanometer scales over the years, with billions of transistors sitting on a single computer chip. While the increased number of transistors helps make...

Platform for Quantum Technologies Using Gold

Scientists discovered a new platform for quantum technologies by suspending two-dimensional (2D) crystals over pores in a slab of gold. When heated, the metal reflows to form a porous structure and...