Plastics

What Role Will Plastics Play in Battery Electric Vehicles?

Tech Briefs readers ask a series of questions about the future of plastics in battery electric vehicles.

New on the Market: April 2021

Displacement sensors, metal 3D printers, shielding materials, and more.

Odor-Eliminating Shoe Inserts Rely on NASA-Tested Activated Carbon Cloth

The inserts use a material that NASA has considered for spacecraft filters.

Luminescent Windows Generate Energy From Inside and Out

Rice University engineers have suggested a colorful solution to next-generation energy collection: Luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) in your windows. The team designed and...

Cost-Effective Day & Night Marking Using Lasers

The marking provides easy-to-see legends on plastic buttons under widely varying illumination conditions.

Material Moves Wind Turbine Blades Toward Recyclability

The material can be recycled, making renewable energy more sustainable while lowering costs in the process.

Process Turns Plastic Bags into Adhesives

A chemical process converts polyethylene plastic into a strong, valuable adhesive.

Technology Remedies 3D Printing’s “Weak Spot”

The technology welds adjacent 3D-printed layers more effectively, thereby increasing the reliability of the final part.

Manufacturing Ultra-Thin Camera Lenses

Ultra-thin and flexible metalenses could replace traditional camera lenses.

Innovation on a Larger Scale: Robotic Fiber Placement and 3D Printing

“The disruption promised by Industry 4.0 has already begun,” says Jason Melcher from the aerospace manufacturing company Ingersoll.

Miniscule Robots of Metal and Plastic

A technique enables manufacturing of minuscule robots by interlocking multiple materials in a complex way.

Products of Tomorrow: February 2021

Next-generation solar panels, 3D-printed composites from NASA, and a new way to sterilize medical devices.

A Recycling Breakthrough: Researchers Discover a Molecule That 'Zips Up'

The "polymer of squares” could one day enable the use of plastic products many times over.

Side-Mounted Solar Modules Enhance Energy Sustainability

Research demonstrates the potential of a solar unit that can hang on the outside of a structure.

2020 Create the Future Design Contest: Manufacturing/Robotics/Automation Category Winner — RadiBond

RadiBond technology, based on nanometer-thin coatings, provides ultra-strong and ultra-tight bonding between metals and plastics.

Products of Tomorrow: December 2020

Robotic exoskeletons, a breath-test for cancer, and plastic-eating enzymes are Products of Tomorrow.

Flexible, Sturdy Robot “Grows” Like a Plant

The robot’s extendable appendage can wind through tight spaces and then lift heavy loads.

Achieving Dimensional Stability of Lightweight Thermoplastic Automotive Parts

Use of thermoplastics can contribute to weight savings for exterior components such as body panels, spoilers, and exterior trim. Some applications present...

Bacteria-Fighting RepelWrap Wins 'Create the Future' Design Contest

The RepelWrap inventors explain why their product is especially valuable as the world confronts a pandemic like COVID-19.

Turning Streetwear into Solar Concentrators

Researchers at Empa and ETH Zurich succeeded in developing a material that works like a luminescent solar concentrator and can even be applied to textiles. This opens up numerous possibilities...

Faster-Degrading Plastic for Marine Uses

This material could reduce persistent plastic accumulation in the environment.

Sunlight Converts Emissions into Useful Materials

An environmentally friendly method upcycles carbon dioxide emissions into polymers and other materials.

Cost-Effective Printed Sensors for the IoT/IIoT

With accelerated time from design to production, specialized foil sensor arrays will be expanding to many new areas.

Acoustic Monitoring of Laser Welds

Empa researchers were able to demonstrate real-time acoustic monitoring of laser weld seams.

T-Ray Camera Speed Boosted a Hundred Times Over

Real-time terahertz imaging with a single-pixel detector.

Product of the Month: September 2020 Tech Briefs

InnoSenT introduced the IMD-3000 radar system as an alternative to pushbutton switches.

Traverse System Enables Vertical Farming

See how a system feeds plants, delivering about 5,417 gallons of water per hour.

Wireless Aquatic Robot Cleans Water

Inspired by a coral polyp, this plastic mini robot moves by magnetism and light.