Materials

Three-Layer Method Makes Plastic More Transparent and Adds Electrical Conductivity

This process could improve large touchscreens, LED light panels, and window-mounted infrared solar cells.

Woven Nanotube Fibers Turn Heat into Power

Invisibly small nanotubes aligned as fibers and sewn into fabrics can turn heat from the Sun or other sources into energy.

Superlattice for Sustainable Quantum Electronics

The material could potentially provide a platform for error-free quantum computing.

Turning Thermal Energy into Electricity

Applications include power and energy, communications, and sensors.

Self-Sustaining, Intelligent Electronic Microsystems from “Green” Material

Researchers have created an electronic microsystem that can intelligently respond to information inputs without any external energy input, much like a...

New Products

Battery monitoring, flow meters, torque sensors, and more.

Lightweight, Strong Plastic Beats Steel and Bulletproof Glass

A plastic known as 2DPA-1 is super-strong and super-light.

Nanoscale Sensors Measure Elusive Water Levels in Leaves

A new technology uses nanoscale sensors and fiber optics to measure water status just inside a leaf’s surface, where water in plants is most actively managed.

How to Make a Phase Change Material: Magnets and Rubber

The two components offer predictable responses that support new robots and new energy-absorbing materials.

SAE WCX Preview: Staying Ahead of the Curve

SAE WCX 2022 will convene the engineering community to connect, learn, and collaborate on the biggest issues facing the mobility industry.

How to Measure High Voltage with No Physical Contact

Dr. Israel Owens and his team at Sandia National Laboratories have used a crystal smaller than a dime and a laser smaller than a shoebox to safely measure 20 million volts without making physical contact to the electrode.

New Photonic Effect Could Speed Drug Development

Twisted nanoscale semiconductors manipulate light in a new way. This effect could be harnessed to accelerate the discovery and development of life-saving medicines as well as photonic...

Biosensors Using Field-Effect Transistors Show Great Promise

Demand for sensitive and selective electronic biosensors — analytical devices that monitor a target of interest in real time — is growing for a wide range of applications....

Tires Turned into Graphene Make Stronger Concrete

An optimized flash process could reduce carbon emissions.

Cleaner Water Through Corn

Activated carbon made from corn stover filters 98 percent of a pollutant from water.

Polymer-Based Battery Enables Fast Charging and Low Operating Temperatures

The battery charges faster than a lithium-ion battery and is fire-safe and eco-friendly.

Optical Coating Exhibits the Same Color in Reflection and Transmission

Fano Resonance Optical Coatings can both transmit and reflect the same color simultaneously.

Dyeing Process Gives Textiles Electronic Properties

Textiles and items of clothing can be converted into e-textiles without affecting their original properties.

Healable Carbon Fiber Composite

The carbon fiber reinforced material can be repeatedly healed with heat.

Load-Bearing Material Mimics Human Cartilage

The synthetic material is soft but can withstand heavy loading with minimum wear and tear for engineering applications.

Bio-Inspired, Blood-Repelling Glue Seals Wounds Quickly

Inspired by barnacles, the paste provides an effective way to treat traumatic injuries and help control bleeding during surgery.

New Class of Nickel-Based Superalloys Withstands Extreme Heat

Parts remain crack-free and defect-resistant, making them conducive for use in metal-based 3D-printing applications.

3D-Printed Objects Sense How a User is Interacting with Them

Sensing is incorporated directly into an object’s material, with applications for assistive technology and “intelligent” furniture.

3D Printing of Polymers

A 3D-printable elastomer yields soft, elastic objects that feel like human tissue.

Fabrication Method for Large-Scale Production of Perovskite Solar Cells

The sulfolane-additive process yields easy fabrication, low cost, and long operating life.

Fabricating Superconducting Circuitry on Both Sides of an Ultrathin Silicon Layer

A new fabrication methodology addresses the need for a thin, double-sided circuitry board.

Q&A: A Unique Material Transmits Heat in One Direction and Blocks it in Another

Professor Jiwoong Park and his team have made a material that is crystalline in the X-Y direction, but amorphous in the Z direction.

Micro-Robots Propelled by Air Bubbles and Ultrasound

A remotely controlled microswimmer could navigate the human body and aid in drug delivery.