Materials & Coatings

Diversifying the Supply Chain for Producing Large-Scale Metal Parts

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory are using advanced manufacturing techniques to revitalize the domestic production of very large metal parts that weigh at least 10,000 pounds each and are necessary for a variety of industries, including clean energy. Read on to learn more.

Flexible Silicon Photovoltaics: A Breakthrough in Space-Grade Solar Power

In-space manufacturing is expected to become a core part of future space economy by using assets in orbits or beyond Earth orbit for use in space. Tech Briefs interviewed space-focused solar energy startup Solestial’s CTO Stanislau Herasimenka about the key technology developments leading to this increased momentum for space-based manufacturing and the role solar power will play in it. Read on for the full interview with Herasimenka, edited for length and clarity.

Sensitive Yet Tough Photonic Devices Are Now a Reality

Engineers at the University of California San Diego have achieved a long-sought milestone in photonics: creating tiny optical devices that are both highly sensitive and durable — two qualities that have long been considered fundamentally incompatible. Read on to learn more.

Using AI to Perfect the 3D Printing of Metals

Professor Ashif Iquebal together with Professor Aviral Shrivastava and their team at Arizona State University are developing methods for improving the quality of highly critical metal parts manufactured using 3D printing.

PGUOM Can Block Noise Without Blocking Air

The Zhang Lab’s latest advance, Phase Gradient Ultra-Open Metamaterial (PGUOM), centers on broadband silencing. Read on to learn more about it.

Tiny But Mighty: Next-Gen Transistors Hold Great Promise

As electronics become smaller, it is becoming increasingly difficult to continue scaling down silicon-based transistors. Now, a research team led by the Institute of Industrial...

Researchers Develop Recyclable, Healable Electronics

Between upgrades and breakdowns to cellphones, tablets, laptops, and appliances, so many electronic devices are getting tossed in the trash that they've taken on a name of their own:...

New Tech May Lead to Smaller, More Powerful Wireless Devices

A new class of synthetic materials could herald the next revolution of wireless technologies, enabling devices to be smaller, require less signal strength and use less power.

Capturing Water from Thin Air

Engineers from Australia and China have invented a sponge-like device that captures water from thin air and then releases it in a cup using the sun’s energy, even in low humidity where other technologies such as fog harvesting and radiative cooling have struggled. Read on to learn more.

Developing Durable Solar Panels Without Silicon

Using a new technology, Juan-Pablo Correa-Baena's lab has found a way to stabilize perovskite solar cells, which are built like a battery. Read on to learn more.

Ferroelectric Material Adapts to Light Stimuli by Reorganizing Atomic Connectivity

With this groundbreaking discovery of time-dependent changes in networked nanodomains, developers are on the path to building adaptive networks for information storage and processing. Read on to learn more.

Nanofibers Yield Stronger, Tougher Carbon Fiber Composites

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have developed an innovative new technique using carbon nanofibers to enhance binding in carbon fiber and other fiber-reinforced polymer composites — an advance likely to improve structural materials for automobiles, airplanes and other applications that require lightweight and strong materials.

Sealing the Future of Hydrogen: Advanced Gaskets for Electrolyzer Efficiency

As a key technology in the transition to cleaner energy, electrolyzers are critical in enabling hydrogen production without reliance on fossil fuels. However, these renewable systems face significant engineering challenges that require meticulous technical attention. Read on to learn more.

New Products

See the new products, including Shin-Etsu Silicones of America's SDP-6560 A/B liquid-dispensed gap filling, a non-adhesive curing silicone thermal interface material; Navitas Semiconductor's new portfolio of Gen-3 ‘Fast’ (G3F) 650 V SiC MOSFETs; Freudenberg Sealing Technologies' optimized sealing material for e-mobility applications; and more.

Diagnosing a Dud May Lead to a Better Battery

A team of chemists led by Feng Lin and Louis Madsen found a way to see into battery interfaces, which are tight, tricky spots buried deep inside the cell. Read on to learn what this means.

Spray Drying Tech Used in Instant Coffee Applied to High-Capacity Battery Production

The Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute (KERI) and the Korea Institute of Materials Science have jointly developed spray drying technology-based high-performance dry electrode manufacturing technology for the realization of high-capacity secondary batteries. Read on to learn more.

From Mine to Battery: The Growing Importance of Graphite Purity and Provenance

Collaborating across sectors and keeping up with developments in analysis tools will be crucial as the transition to a more sustainable energy landscape occurs in the future. Read on to learn more.

Test Your Knowledge of Solid-State Batteries

Solid-state battery technology offers several major advantages but also presents some engineering challenges. Test your knowledge of solid-state batteries in this quiz.

Autonomous Structures Can Be Programmed to Jump Days in Advance

Researchers have created dynamic structures that leap into the air on a predetermined schedule without intervention from computers or external stimuli. Precisely when these...

Additive Manufacturing Enables Advanced Thermal Control Systems for Next-Generation Space Missions

3D Systems is collaborating with researchers from Penn State University and Arizona State University on two projects sponsored by NASA intended to enable groundbreaking alternatives to current thermal management solutions.

3D-Printing Method Makes Two Materials from One Resin

Isabel Arias Ponce and her team at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have demonstrated a new resin that simultaneously creates solid objects and dissolvable structural supports, depending on what type of light it is exposed to.