Materials & Coatings

Low-Cost Technology for Detecting, Measuring Lead Concentrations in Water

Engineers at MIT, Nanyang Technological University, and several companies have developed a compact and inexpensive technology for detecting and measuring lead concentrations in water, potentially enabling a significant advance in tackling this persistent global health issue. Read on to learn more.

Novel Flexible Terahertz Camera Can Inspect Objects with Diverse Shapes

A team of researchers from Tokyo Tech, led by Associate Professor Yukio Kawano, has designed a flexible and free-standing THz sensor array that can be used to image blind ends of irregularly shaped objects. Read on to learn more about it.

Low-Power Hydrogen Sensor Detects Leaks in an Instant

KAUST researchers have invented a robust, highly sensitive, low-cost hydrogen sensor that outperforms available commercial detectors, offering a vital safeguard for the burgeoning hydrogen economy. Read on to learn more.

Monitoring the Injection Molding Process to Improve Quality and Lower Costs

The digitalization of industrial measurement solutions has come a long way. With the help of these levers, plastic injection molders have effective tools at hand to tackle current challenges, be it cost pressure and competitiveness, high product quality, or sustainability requirements. Read on to learn more.

AI Breakthrough Unlocks ‘New’ Materials to Replace Lithium-Ion Batteries

In research published in Cell Reports Physical Science, an NJIT team successfully applied generative AI techniques to rapidly discover new porous materials capable of revolutionizing multivalent-ion batteries. Read on to learn more.

Thick Electrodes’ Chemistry Matters More Than Structure for Battery Performance

A team of Rice University researchers led by materials scientist Ming Tang showed that even if the materials used in thick battery electrodes have nearly identical structures, their internal chemistry impacts energy flow — and, hence, performance — differently. This finding goes against conventional wisdom in the field. Read on to learn more.

Developing High-Energy, Stable All-Solid-State Lithium Batteries Using Aluminum-Based Anodes and High-Nickel Cathodes

Researchers from Nanjing University, led by Professor Ping He and Professor Shaochun Tang, have published a comprehensive study in Nano-Micro Letters on the development of high-energy, stable all-solid-state lithium batteries using aluminum-based anodes and high-nickel cathodes. Read on to learn more about it.

New AI Tool Predicts Lithium Metal Anode Failures from Just Two Early Cycles

In a groundbreaking study, researchers at Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School and the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, have developed a predictive model that uses electrochemical data from the initial cycles of LMBs to forecast potential failures. Read on to learn more.

A Cleaner, Scalable Process to Recycle Lithium-Ion Batteries

In a major step forward for sustainable energy technology, researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, led by Professor Yan Wang, William B. Smith Professor of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, have developed a new, scalable method to recycle lithium-ion batteries in a way that is both efficient and environmentally friendly. Read on to learn more.

Next-Generation Elastomer Seals: Enhancing Battery Safety and Sustainability in E-Mobility

As the EV market accelerates toward mass adoption, the need for durable, efficient, and scalable battery technologies is reshaping supply chain priorities across the automotive and energy sectors. Advanced sealing materials, such as high-performance elastomers, are emerging as strategic enablers in this transformation. Read on to learn more.

‘Bone-ified Muscles’ Could Be Robots’ Next Flex

Northwestern University engineers have developed a soft artificial muscle, paving the way for untethered animal- and human-scale robots. The new muscles, or actuators, provide the...

Black Metal Could Give a Heavy Boost to Solar Power Generation

In the quest for energy independence, researchers have studied solar thermoelectric generators (STEGs) as a promising source of solar electricity generation. Unlike the...

World’s Fastest, Low-Cost, Ultraefficient Silicon Carbide Power Module

Global energy demands are surging, pushed by energy-intensive data centers powering artificial intelligence and increased manufacturing. How will the world meet these...

Scalable Supercapacitor Technology Made from Graphene

Supercapacitors are siblings of batteries. Both technologies store electrical energy. Batteries have a high energy density but a low power density. In other words, they can store a lot...

3D Printing Lightweight Concrete Structures that Absorb Carbon Dioxide

Shu Yang and her materials research team at the University of Pennsylvania, along with the architect Masoud Akbarzadeh, Director of the Polyhedral Structures Laboratory, have developed a 3D-printed concrete based on diatomaceous earth that has enhanced carbon capture, is strong, and uses less CO2-producing cement.

Catching Up on (and Advancing) MXenes

Haozhe “Harry” Wang, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering (ECE) at Duke University and an expert in developing new methods for manufacturing materials, continues to push the boundaries in MXene research.

Multi-Robot Lab Racing to Discover the Next Quantum Dots

Researchers at North Carolina State University have unveiled Rainbow, a first-of-its-kind multi-robot self-driving laboratory that autonomously discovers high-performance quantum dots...

A Tangled Robot

The slimy, segmented, bottom-dwelling California blackworm is about as unappealing as it gets — but get a few dozen or a thousand together, and they form a massive, entangled blob that seems to take on a life of its own.

Dust-Powered 3D Printing

AI SpaceFactory sells 3D printers informed by its work on Marshall Space Flight Center’s Centennial Challenge, which the company won with print material containing crushed basalt similar to ground cover on Mars.

How ISS Will Be Evaluating Photovoltaic Materials

Solar cells account for approximately six percent of the electricity used on Earth; however, in space, they play a significantly larger role, with nearly all satellites relying on advanced solar cells for their power. That’s why Georgia Tech researchers will soon be sending 18 photovoltaic cells to the International Space Station (ISS) for a study of how space conditions affect the devices’ operation over time. Read on to learn more.

Thin Film Sensor for Ultra High-Temp Measurement

Innovators at NASA Johnson Space Center have developed a thin film sensor that measures temperatures up to 1200 °F, and whose prototype successor may achieve measurements up to ~3000 °F — which was the surface temperature of the Space Shuttle during its atmospheric reentry. Read on to learn more.