Materials & Manufacturing

Add-On Device Makes Home Furnaces Cleaner and Safer

Scientists at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed an affordable add-on technology that removes more than 99.9 percent of acidic gases and other emissions to produce an ultraclean natural gas furnace.

Baking Soda Could Turn Concrete into an Effective Carbon Sink

Recent discoveries by MIT engineers have revealed that introducing new materials into existing concrete manufacturing processes could significantly reduce their carbon footprint without altering concrete's bulk mechanical properties.

Improving Battery Performance with More Efficient Electrodes

To improve battery performance and production, Penn State researchers and collaborators have developed a new fabrication approach that could make for more efficient batteries that maintain energy and power levels.

New Technique for Environmentally Friendly Battery Recycling

Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, have created a new and efficient way to recycle metals from spent electric vehicle (EV) batteries. The method allows recovery of 100 percent of the aluminum and 98 percent of the lithium in EV batteries.

Designing Solid-State Batteries with Mechanics in Mind

A team developed a framework for designing solid-state batteries (SSBs) with mechanics in mind. Their paper, published in Science, reviewed how these factors change SSBs during their cycling.

New Gel Polymer Electrolyte to Revolutionize the Safety of Li-ion Batteries

A collaborative research team has achieved a groundbreaking milestone in battery technology. Their remarkable achievement in developing a non-flammable gel polymer electrolyte is set to revolutionize the safety of Li-ion batteries by mitigating the risks of thermal runaway and fire incidents.

A Combustion-Powered Quadrupedal Robot

Cornell researchers have combined soft microactuators with high-energy-density chemical fuel to create an insect-scale quadrupedal robot that is powered by combustion and can outrace, outlift, outflex, and outleap its electric-driven competitors.

A Soft Robotic Gripper Mimics a Woven Structure

Dr. Song Kahye along with Professor Lee, Dae-Young have jointly developed a soft gripper with a woven structure that can grip objects weighing more than 100 kg with 130 g of material. To increase the loading capacity of the soft robot gripper, the team applied a new structure inspired by textiles.

Origami-Inspired Robot Uses Single Motor for Self-Folding and Movement

Centimeter-scale walking and crawling robots are in demand both for their ability to explore tight or cluttered environments and for their low fabrication costs. Pulling from origami-inspired construction, researchers have crafted a more simplified approach to the design and fabrication of these robots.

Novel Control Method in Tailless Aircraft

A research team at the Illinois Institute of Technology has for the first time demonstrated the use of a novel control method in a tailless aircraft. The technology allows an aircraft to be as smooth and sleek as possible — making it safer to fly in dangerous areas where radar scans the sky for sharp edges.

Megawatt Motor Could Lead to Electrifying Large Aircraft

A team of MIT engineers is creating a one-megawatt motor that could be a key stepping-stone toward electrifying larger aircraft. The team has designed and tested the major components of the motor.

Robust Serial Communications

Devices of all types are becoming more intelligent and may include native Ethernet. However, there are many opportunities where proven serial communications will remain the best choice for cost-effective communications.

Method Detects Defects in 2D Materials

To further shrink electronic devices and to lower energy consumption, the semiconductor industry is interested in using 2D materials but manufacturers need a quick and accurate method for detecting defects in these materials to determine if the material is suitable for device manufacture.

Making the Structure of ‘Fire Ice’ with Nanoparticles

Cage structures made with nanoparticles could be a step toward making organized nanostructures with mixed materials, and researchers at the University of Michigan have shown how to achieve this through computer simulations.

Algae-Powered Devices Inspired by Bioluminescent Waves

Researchers at the University of California San Diego have developed soft devices containing algae that glow in the dark when experiencing mechanical stress, such as being squished, stretched, twisted, or bent.

Self-Organizing Lasers Could Lead to New Materials

Researchers from Imperial College London and University College London have demonstrated the first spontaneously self-organizing laser device, which can reconfigure when conditions change.

Alternative Transparent Coating Suitable for Optics with Vacuum Deposition Layer

Researchers have developed a viable dust, water, and ice mitigation optical coating for space flight, aeronautical, and ground applications. The innovation of the LOTUS coating prevents contamination on sensitive surfaces.

Multicolored Light-Emitting Array on a Single Chip

A team of researchers demonstrated the first light-emitting array with 49 different colors on a single chip. This novel optoelectronic device is built on metal-oxide semiconductor capacitors.

New Blue Light Technique Could Enable Advances in Understanding Nanoscale Technologies

With a new microscopy technique that uses blue light to measure electrons in semiconductors and other nanoscale materials, a team of researchers is opening a new realm of possibilities in the study of these critical components, which can help power devices like mobile phones and laptops.

Carbon Fiber Sleeve Tempers Battery Thermal Runaway

Innovators at NASA Johnson Space Center have developed a carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) sleeve, that, when fitted over a cylindrical Li-ion battery cell, can prevent cell-to-cell propagation by containing a thermal runaway (TR) event to the originating cell.

Developing Fast-Charging Lithium-Metal Batteries

Engineers have made progress toward lithium-metal batteries that charge as fast as an hour. This fast charging is thanks to lithium metal crystals that can be seeded and grown — quickly and uniformly — on a surprising surface.

Dry Manufacturing Process for EV Batteries

Researchers continue to refine the process to improve electrochemical performance. The goal is to balance the benefits and drawbacks of the thicker electrode: It has the potential for higher energy loading and is easy to roll, but it may provide less power, since the ions have further to travel.

Ultrathin Solar Cells Aim to Improve Satellite Life

Most space satellites are powered by photovoltaic cells that convert sunlight to electricity. Exposure to certain orbit radiation can damage the devices. Scientists have proposed a radiation-tolerant photovoltaic cell design that features an ultrathin layer of light-absorbing material.

Manufacturing Rotational Mechanisms with Integrated Sensors

Integrating sensors into rotational mechanisms could make it possible for engineers to build smart hinges that know when a door has been opened, or gears inside a motor that tell a mechanic how fast they are rotating. Engineers have now developed a way to easily integrate sensors into these types of mechanisms.

Small Shape-Shifting Miniature Robot with Big Impact

Engineers at CU Boulder have designed a robot called CLARI, which stands for Compliant Legged Articulated Robotic Insect, that has the potential to aid first responders after major disasters in an entirely new way.

A New Method to Measure the Motion of Soft Robots

Prompted by conversations regarding soft robotics, a research group has developed a design for a new sensor using 3D electrodes inspired by the folding patterns used in origami, able to measure a strain range of up to three times higher than a typical sensor.

Silicon Nose: Small Sensor ‘Smells’ Incipient Seizures

In people with epilepsy, seizure-alert dogs can smell small changes in body chemistry and warn of an impending seizure an hour or more before it occurs. Inspired by this feat of nature, a team of researchers has developed a way to replicate that ability with technology.

A Vertical Electrochemical Transistor to Revolutionize Bioelectronics

A Northwestern University research team has developed a revolutionary transistor that is expected be ideal for lightweight, flexible, high-performance bioelectronics. The electrochemical transistor is compatible with blood and water and can amplify important signals.