Coatings & Adhesives

5Ws of the Silk Transistor

Researchers at Tufts University have created microprocessor-scale transistors that can detect and respond to biological states and the environment.

Videos of the Month

See the videos of the month, including one on using kirigami to produce a stronger adhesive, one on taking electric vehicle technology to the next level, one on the SPARK Electric Racing Team, and one on the Electric Vehicle Club at Purdue University.

NASA’s Emissive Material Adapted for High-Tech Fabrics

A coating material developed by NASA for protecting spaceplanes’ heat shields is now being used in high-tech fibers and fabrics.

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.

DNA Combined with Glass Results in a Stronger, Lighter Material

Researchers say that by building a structure out of DNA and then coating it with glass, they have created a very strong material with very low density.

New Priming Method for Improving Battery Lifecycle

Scientists at Rice University’s George R. Brown School of Engineering have developed a readily scalable method to optimize prelithiation, a process that helps mitigate lithium loss and improves battery life cycles by coating silicon anodes with stabilized lithium metal particles.

Products of Tomorrow

See the products of tomorrow, including microscale robots, LOTUS coating, and a wearable e-tattoo.

Nanomaterial Promises Big Benefits for Bendable Electronics

An international team of scientists is developing an inkable nanomaterial that they say could one day become a spray-on electronic component for ultra-thin, lightweight, and bendable displays and devices.

New Polymer Coating Could Boost EV Batteries

Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have developed a conductive polymer coating – called HOS-PFM – that could enable longer lasting, more powerful lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles.

Cohesive Circuit Protection for Wearable Electronics

The cellulose nanofiber coating counters bending damage and retains electrode function under water.

Cryogenic Selective Surfaces

A new thermal control coating material, developed for use as a coating or rigid tiles, reflects essentially all solar radiation in the space environment.

Peeling Back the Layers: Adhesives Testing for Wearables

Trends in wearable technology follow those of the broader biomedical and electronics industries — devices are getting smaller, smarter, and easier to use. Specifically, wearables in...

The Rise of Electric Vehicles

Did you know that electric vehicles have been around for over a century? Test your knowledge about the history of EVs in this quiz.

Videos of the Month

Videos of the month for March 2023.

Can EV Batteries Be Recycled?

Many companies and universities are partnering to develop EV battery-recycling technologies. But can EV batteries be recycled?

5 Ws of Ice-Shedding Coating

A team of researchers at University of Houston have developed a deicing spray in which detachment can be accurately controlled and accelerated.

New Coatings Reduce Impact Ice Adhesion Strength

Researchers at NASA Langley are developing polymer coatings that reduce impact ice adhesion strength.

Adding Vibrations to Electronics to Reduce Vibrations

A counterintuitive way to protect atomically thin electronics: adding vibrations to reduce vibration issues.

Inflatable Space Habitats Use Sensors Embedded in Webbing for Structural Health Monitoring

A novel approach is moving away from conventional structural health monitoring testing methods for inflatable space habitats in favor of using sensors embedded in the flexible structural restraint webbing layers.

Self-Folding Origami Honeycombs Perfect for Protective Packaging

A research team has demonstrated a promising method to easily manufacture self-folding origami honeycomb structures.

UV-to-Red-Light Converting Films Accelerate Plant Growth

An interdisciplinary team from Hokkaido University’s Engineering and Agriculture departments and the Institute for Chemical Reaction Design and Discovery (WPI-ICReDD) has developed...

Florida Tech College of Engineering and Science

The Florida Institute of Technology is a private research university in Melbourne, FL. The university was founded in 1958 as Brevard Engineering College to support NASA in providing advanced education for professionals working in the space program.

2022 Create the Future Design Contest: Manufacturing/Robotics/Automation Winner - Large-Scale 3D Printing with Tubes

The 3D printing industry has grown quickly over the last decade with average compound annual growth rates of around 27 percent leading to a market size of $17.7 billion in 2022.

High Atomic Number Coatings for Fabrics

This new approach is useful for building radiation shields via the Z-grading method, the process of layering metal materials with different atomic numbers to provide radiation protection for protons, electrons, and x-rays.

Achieving Desired Level of Wettability for Unlikely Materials

MIT researchers have developed a way of making even the most unlikely pairings of materials take on a desired level of wettability.