Materials & Coatings

Plastics

Learn the latest technologies and tactics for engineering plastics. Design engineers can browse applications and technical briefs for plastics used in 3D printing, military and defense, medical devices, automotive, and all areas of manufacturing.

Stories

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Special Reports: Manufacturing & Prototyping
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Medical Manufacturing & Outsourcing - March 2023
The first 3D-printed nano-alloy...plasma treatment increases plastic part value 10x...light-powered catalysts aid drug manufacturing...how to build better "soft" robots. Those are just a few of...

Videos of the Month: Materials
Videos of the month for March 2023.
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Special Reports: AR/AI
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Additive Manufacturing - November 2022
AM/3D Printing is fundamentally changing how products are prototyped and produced in aerospace, medical, electronics, and many other fields. To help you keep pace with the latest advances, we present this...

Blog: Design
The EU has already declared that the nonbiodegradable microplastics must be eliminated by 2025, but a team of MIT scientists has perhaps expedited that timeline.
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Articles: Green Design & Manufacturing
A polymer breaking enzyme when infused into plastic causes the material to break down into its original components when submerged in compost or even warm water.
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Special Reports: Medical
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Medical Manufacturing & Outsourcing - August 2022
A novel ink that enables 3D printing of bone with living cells...advances in ultrasonic welding of plastics...additive manufacturing of self-powered wearable devices. Read these stories and more...

Briefs: Materials
Engineers have invented a way to spray extremely thin wires made of a plant-based material that could be used in N95 mask filters, devices that harvest energy for electricity, and potentially the...
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Briefs: Aerospace
Researchers combined additive manufacturing with conventional compression molding to produce high-performance thermoplastic composites reinforced with short carbon fibers. The approach...
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Briefs: Materials
This method prints 3D structures made of metal and plastic, paving the way for 3D electronics.
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Briefs: Energy
This process could improve large touchscreens, LED light panels, and window-mounted infrared solar cells.
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Blog: Materials
A plastic known as 2DPA-1 is super-strong and super-light.
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Special Reports: Packaging & Sterilization
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Medical Manufacturing & Outsourcing - February 2022
How virtual, cloud-based technologies are powering the next industrial revolution...transforming plastic parts into high-value products...designing optics for medical 3D printing. Read these...

Briefs: Materials
The carbon fiber reinforced material can be repeatedly healed with heat.
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Briefs: Green Design & Manufacturing
An optimized flash process could reduce carbon emissions.
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Blog: Materials
An everyday material that we all know well may lead to safer, longer-lasting batteries for the electric vehicle.
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Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
These elastomers have a wide range of uses for the building, automotive, and electronics industries.
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Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Biobots based on muscle cells can swim at unprecedented velocities.
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Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
SensiCut, a smart material-sensing platform for laser cutters, can differentiate among 30 materials commonly found in makerspaces.
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Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
The camera combines lasers, computers, and terahertz waves to see “unseen” details.
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UpFront: Aerospace
NASA's satellite data reveals the pandemic's effect on our atmosphere, and a team of shoebox-sized rover scouts is prepped for the lunar surface.
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Blog: Materials
A team has created a new type of carbon fiber reinforced material that reverses any fatigue damage -- you just need a little heat.
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Special Reports: Design
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Medical Manufacturing & Outsourcing - November 2021
In this new report from the editors of Medical Design Briefs and Tech Briefs magazines, discover how the latest advances in 3D printing, machining, molding and more are changing the way...

Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Directly visualizing external stresses of plastics is useful in development of materials with improved mechanical properties.
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Articles: Green Design & Manufacturing
Once triggered, the enzyme-embedded plastics self-destruct, completely degrading and eliminating microplastics in days.
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Question of the Week: Green Design & Manufacturing
Will Technology Help to Reduce Plastic Pollution?
Our October Q&A in Tech Briefs highlighted an achievement from Professor Aaron Sadow of Ames Laboratory in Iowa. Sadow’s chemical process produces valuable biodegradable chemicals from discarded plastics, which are then used as surfactants and detergents in a range of applications.
Blog: Green Design & Manufacturing
The 2021 Create the Future Design Contest winner wants to build a truly recyclable bioplastic.
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Q&A: Materials
A chemical process produces valuable biodegradable chemicals from discarded plastics.
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Briefs: Photonics/Optics
The process produces rapid, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly material.
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Briefs: Electronics & Computers
High-voltage direct current cables can more efficiently transport electricity over long distances.
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Videos