Materials & Manufacturing

Iron Could Be Key to Less Expensive, Greener Lithium-Ion Batteries

Researchers are hoping to spark a green battery revolution by showing that iron instead of cobalt and nickel can be used as a cathode material in lithium-ion batteries. Read on to learn more.

Researchers Use Inkjet Printing to Make a Portable Multispectral 3D Camera

The palm-sized light field camera could improve autonomous driving, classification of recycled materials, and remote sensing. Read on to learn more about it.

Rapidly Testing Stretchable Sensors

Engineers have developed a new technique for making wearable sensors that enables medical researchers to prototype and test new designs much faster and at a far lower cost than existing methods. Read on to learn more.

New Transistor Could Shrink Communications Devices on Smartphones

After announcing a ferroelectric semiconductor at the nanoscale thinness required for modern computing components, a University of Michigan team has demonstrated a reconfigurable transistor using that material. Read on to learn more.

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.

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-Printing Flexible Devices without Mechanical Joints

Eva Baur, a Ph.D. student, used 3D-printed double network granular elastomers (DNGEs) to print a prototype ‘finger,’ complete with rigid ‘bones’ surrounded by flexible ‘flesh.’ The finger was printed to deform in a pre-defined way, demonstrating the technology’s potential to manufacture devices that are sufficiently supple to bend and stretch, while remaining firm enough to manipulate objects. Read on to learn more.

A Method to Accurately Center Quantum Dots Within Photonic Chips

Researchers have developed standards and calibrations for optical microscopes that allow quantum dots to be aligned with the center of a photonic component to within an error of 10 to 20 nanometers (about one-thousandth the thickness of a sheet of paper). Such alignment is critical for chip-scale devices that employ the radiation emitted by quantum dots to store and transmit quantum information. 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.

How Tough Is Your Material? 3D Images Will Tell You

John Kolinski and his team at the Laboratory of Engineering Mechanics of Soft Interfaces aim to understand how cracks propagate in brittle solids, which is essential for developing and testing safe and cost-effective composite materials for use in construction, sports, and aerospace engineering.

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.

VaCNT Makes Up a Promising Membrane Material

Researchers of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and partners carried out steroid hormone adsorption experiments to study the interplay of forces in the small pores. They found that vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (VaCNT) of specific pore geometry and pore surface structure are suited for use as highly selective membranes.

Oxygen-Free Chemical Vapor Deposition Method to Make Graphene

Engineers are poised to clean things up with an oxygen-free chemical vapor deposition (OF-CVD) method that can create high-quality graphene samples at scale. Their work directly demonstrates how trace oxygen affects the growth rate of graphene and identifies the link between oxygen and graphene quality for the first time.

New Methods in Preparing and Purifying Nanomaterials

Innovators at NASA’s Glenn Research Center have made several breakthroughs in treating hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) nanomaterials, improving their properties to supplant carbon nanotubes in many applications.

Pulling Carbon Dioxide Out of the Air

The team plans to integrate such CO2-capturing materials with its earlier porous sponge platform, which has been developed to remove environmental toxins including oil, phosphates, and microplastics.

Mimicking 'Plant Power' Through Artificial Photosynthesis

According to the researchers, this proof-of-concept system could be adapted to help produce precursors for plastics or other chemical feedstocks, as well as scaled up to produce larger amounts of sustainable biofuels.

Enhancing the Performance of All-Solid-State Batteries

A research team from Pohang University has successfully enhanced the performance and durability of all-solid-state batteries. This breakthrough was made possible through the implementation of a novel approach known as bottom electrodeposition. Read on to learn more.

Designing Safer, Higher-Performance Lithium Batteries

Examining lithium metal batteries using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy may help in the design of new electrolytes and anode surfaces for high-performance batteries. Read on to learn more.

A Breakthrough in Solid-State Electrolytes for All-Solid-State Batteries

A new synthesis process for solid electrolytes marks a crucial stride toward the commercialization of all-solid-state batteries free from the risks of explosion and fire. Read on to learn more.

Sodium Battery Is Capable of Rapid Charging in Just a Few Seconds

A research team has developed a high-energy, high-power hybrid sodium-ion battery capable of rapid charging. The innovative hybrid energy storage system integrates anode materials typically used in batteries with cathodes suitable for supercapacitors. Read on to learn more.

Miniature 3D-Printed Actuators to Control Soft Robots

Researchers from NC State University have demonstrated mini soft hydraulic actuators that can be used to control the deformation and motion of soft robots that are less than a millimeter thick. The researchers also demonstrated that this technique works with shape memory materials.

Engineered Skin Tissue Grants Robots Special Properties and Abilities

Researchers have found a way to bind engineered skin tissue to the complex forms of humanoid robots. This brings with it potential benefits to robotic platforms such as increased mobility, self-healing abilities, embedded sensing capabilities and an increasingly lifelike appearance.

Creating 2D All-Organic Perovskites

Perovskites are among the most researched topics in materials science. Recently, a research team solved an age-old challenge to synthesize all-organic two-dimensional perovskites, extending the field into the exciting realm of 2D materials. This breakthrough opens up a new field of 2D all-organic perovskites, which holds promise for both fundamental science and potential applications.

Portable Science Enclosure Features Unique Innovations

Innovators at NASA Johnson Space Center have designed a science enclosure system for science experiments conducted aboard the International Space Station (ISS). It allows users the ability to safely manipulate objects of study within the transparent enclosure by utilizing protective boundary layer innovations whose designs may be transferable to other containment systems.

Next-Generation Binder for Lithium-ion Batteries

In a recent study published in the journal ACS Applied Energy Materials, researchers have utilized poly(vinylphosphonic acid) (PVPA) as a binder for a micro-SiO electrodes, achieving superior performance compared to conventional cells. Read on to learn more.

Recyclable ‘Water Batteries’ That Won’t Catch Fire

A global team of researchers and industry collaborators led by RMIT University has invented recyclable ’water batteries’ that won’t catch fire or explode. Read on to learn more.

Cobalt-Free Electrodes Achieved with Nickel Ions

A team of researchers from Japanese and French universities has developed a practical nickel-based electrode material that opens new avenues to cobalt-free batteries for electric vehicles. Read on to learn more.

Manufacturing Materials to Bring Bio-Inspired Robots to Life

In bringing bio-inspired robots to life, scientists must first create soft matter counterparts that match the softness and functionality of biological tissue. University of Nebraska–Lincoln engineer Eric Markvicka is at the forefront of these efforts. Read on to learn more.