Briefs: Energy
Researchers have created wearable technology to convert mechanical energy into electrical energy. It presents a step toward the practical realization of self-powered, human-integrated technologies.
Briefs: Automotive
Today's lithium-ion batteries use cathodes (one of the two electrodes in a battery) made of a transition metal oxide. Batteries with cathodes made of sulfur are considered a...
Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Researchers have created technology that is 10 times more reliable than current methods of producing unclonable digital fingerprints that can be used to...
Briefs: Energy
Methanol is a key feedstock for the production of chemicals, some of which are used to make products such as plastics, plywood, and paints. Methanol also can fuel vehicles or be reformed to...
Special Reports: Power
Power Electronics & Battery Technology - August 2019
This compendium of recent articles from the editors of Tech Briefs and Aerospace & Defense Technology looks at the latest advances in power electronics and energy storage.
Blog: Energy
Blog: Energy
Articles: Photonics/Optics
The critical angle lens reflector has commercial applications that supersede ordinary mirrored reflectors. The physics of the critical angle lens reflector are based on the optics...
Briefs: Energy
Whereas hydrogen fuel cells (e.g., proton exchange membrane (PEM) and other fuel cells) generate electricity from the chemical reaction between pure hydrogen and oxygen, direct carbon fuel cells...
Briefs: Materials
A system was developed that can remove radioactive cesium contamination from porous structures such as brick and concrete that are hard to clean, as well as contamination from...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Researchers have developed a hybrid transformer that has the benefit of a full planar transformer design but uses a wire-wound secondary winding to keep the parasitic winding capacitances lower. Alone, planar transformers...
Briefs: Test & Measurement
Researchers have created highly stretchable supercapacitors for powering wearable electronics that consist of crumpled carbon nanotube (CNT) forests. The supercapacitors demonstrated solid performance...
Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Innovators at NASA’s Glenn Research Center have developed a new means of avoiding and mitigating icing events for aircraft flying above 14,000 feet, dramatically improving aviation...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
3D Printing of Flexible Circuits
A process was developed for 3D printing that can be used to produce transparent and mechanically flexible electronic circuits. The electronics consist of a mesh of silver nanowires that can be printed in suspension and embedded in various flexible and transparent plastics (polymers). This technology can enable...
Briefs: Energy
Multistep Self-Assembly for Reconfigurable Materials
Self-assembling synthetic materials come together when tiny, uniform building blocks interact and form a structure; however, nature lets materials like proteins of varying size and shape assemble, allowing for complex architectures that can handle multiple tasks.
Briefs: Transportation
In the polymer composites industry, cure cycles are typically developed from trial-and-error or a more effective processing science approach to reduce...
Briefs: Test & Measurement
By capping liquids with graphene (an ultrathin sheet of pure carbon), researchers can easily image and analyze liquid interfaces and the surface of nanometer-scale objects...
Briefs: Materials
Techniques to prevent frost and ice formation on surfaces rely heavily on heating or on liquid chemicals that need to be repeatedly reapplied because they easily wash away. Even advanced...
Briefs: Energy
Shear Assisted Processing and Extrusion (ShAPE™) allows creation of wire, bar, and tubular extrusions that show significant improvement in material properties; for example, magnesium extrusions have...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Nearly 70 percent of the energy produced in the United States each year is wasted as heat. Much of that heat is less than 100 °C and emanates from things like computers, cars, or...
Briefs: Imaging
There's an entire world our eyes miss, hidden in the ranges of light wavelengths that human eyes can't see. But infrared cameras can pick up this light emitted as...
Briefs: Test & Measurement
Experimental photonic switches developed at UC Berkeley have shown promise toward the goal of fully optical, high-capacity switching for...
Blog: Energy
Blog: Energy
INSIDER: Nanotechnology
Wearable devices that harvest energy from movement are not a new idea, but a material created at Rice University may make them more practical.
INSIDER: Electronics & Computers
Solar power researchers have traditionally only used the power measurements from single residential solar photovoltaic (PV) systems to estimate the...
INSIDER: Automotive
Advancements in zero-emission fuel cells could make the technology cheap enough to replace traditional gasoline engines in vehicles, according to researchers at...
INSIDER: Energy
By adding utility-scale solar farms throughout New York state, summer electricity demand from conventional sources could be reduced by up to 9.6% in some places. But...
Articles: Materials
We recently had a discussion with Sri Peruvemba, VP of Strategy at BeBop Sensors (Berkeley, CA), about the technology and applications for their two-dimensional fabric sensor material. I started by asking Sri...
Top Stories
Blog: RF & Microwave Electronics
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Blog: Materials
New Material Could Lead to Better Hydrogen-Based Batteries, Fuel Cells
Podcasts: Aerospace
Countering Illegally Operated Drones at Airports, Stadiums, and Prisons
NASA Spinoff: Design
Additive Manufacturing Subtracts from Rocket Build Time
Blog: Energy
Webcasts
Upcoming Webinars: Manufacturing & Prototyping
AI on the Ascent: Optimizing Factory Schedules for Peak Production
Webinars: Materials
Top 3 Factors Impacting the Useful Life of Medical Devices
Upcoming Webinars: Automotive
How to Safely Control the Power to Your Vehicle
Upcoming Webinars: Software
Digital Twins and Simulation for Accelerated Automotive Product...
Upcoming Webinars: Manufacturing & Prototyping
EV Bodyshop Metrology: The Same but Different
Upcoming Webinars: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Integrating Additive Manufacturing Into Aerospace Production