Tech Briefs

Materials & Manufacturing

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Access our comprehensive library of technical briefs on materials and manufacturing, from engineering experts at NASA and government, university, and commercial laboratories.

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Briefs: Nanotechnology
Researchers are scaling up the production of vertically aligned single-walled carbon nanotubes that could revolutionize diverse commercial products ranging from rechargeable batteries, automotive parts and sporting goods to boat hulls and water filters.
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Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Scientists used a 3D printer to create a high-performance metal alloy with an unusual composition that makes it stronger and lighter than state-of-the-art materials currently used in gas turbine machinery.
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Briefs: Green Design & Manufacturing
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.
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Briefs: Green Design & Manufacturing
Researchers have moved a step closer to finding a use for the hundreds of millions of tons of plastic waste produced every year that often winds up clogging streams and rivers and polluting our oceans.
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Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Air pollution is a major public health problem. Now, an MIT research team is rolling out an open-source version of a low-cost, mobile pollution detector that could enable people to track air quality more widely.
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Briefs: Medical
A new sensor — so cheap and simple to produce that it can be hand-drawn with a pencil onto paper treated with sodium chloride — could clear the way for wearable, self-powered health monitors.
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Briefs: Imaging
Computing using light can potentially provide lower latency and reduced power consumption, benefiting from the parallelism of optical systems.
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Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Building 3D-Printed Materials with Liquids
A research team has been tinkering with the use of 3D printing with liquids to create spongy materials for use in myriad industries.
Briefs: Materials
New research shows the glittering, serpentine structures that power wearable electronics can be created with the same technology used to print concert t-shirts.
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Briefs: Design
A Terminator-style shape-shifting robot able to LIQUEFY and reform has been developed by engineers inspired by sea cucumbers.
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Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Purdue University researchers have developed a method to add particles to filament and disperse them evenly through a traditional fused deposition modeling 3D printer.
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Briefs: Medical
Researchers have developed a highly specialized 3D-printing technique that allows microfluidic channels to be fabricated on chips at a precise microscale.
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Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
The piezoelectric “meta-bot” is capable of propulsion, movement, sensing, and decision-making.
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Briefs: Materials
New research suggests that laser-based devices are poised to become a lot smaller.
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Briefs: Photonics/Optics
3D nanometer-scale metamaterial structures hold promise for advanced optical isolators.
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Briefs: Energy
The commercially relevant approach opens a potential pathway to improve charging speeds for electric vehicles.
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Briefs: Energy
An international research collaboration led by UCLA has developed a way to use perovskite in solar cells while protecting it from the conditions that cause it to deteriorate.
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Briefs: Materials
The material could pave the way for better, safer solid-state batteries.
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Briefs: Electronics & Computers
The device uses soft robotics, ultra-thin electronics, and microfluidics.
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Briefs: Energy
The polymeric solid electrolyte realized a wide potential window, a high Li-ion conductivity, and a high Li-ion transference number.
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Briefs: Design
Following nature's example, Lufthansa Technik and BASF have jointly developed the functional surface film AeroSHARK for commercial aircraft.
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Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
This system can track the motion of the entire body with a small sensory network.
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Briefs: Energy
24M Technologies has simplified Li-ion battery production with a new design that requires fewer materials and steps to manufacture each cell.
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Briefs: Materials
Sodium-Ion Battery Anode for Energy Storage
The high cost and limited supply of lithium necessitate the development of alternative energy storage systems.
Briefs: Materials
A new battery design could help ease integration of renewable energy into the nation's electrical grid at lower cost, using Earth-abundant metals.
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Briefs: Nanotechnology
The smart bandage can dispense antibiotic, monitor wound-healing biomarkers, and report important data directly to doctors.
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Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Traditional oxygen sensors have significant drawbacks and suffer from high power consumption.
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Briefs: Wearables
The thermoelectric textile produces a small amount of electricity when heated on one side.
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Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
The system promotes myocardial regeneration after a cardiac event.
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