HEADLINES ARCHIVE
A Phthalate Substitute Promises Safer Plastics
An alternative plasticizer that doesn’t leach out of polyvinyl chloride is under development.
Plastic Bottle Waste Repurposed as Useful Aerogels
World’s first PET aerogels reduce plastic waste and are suitable for heat and sound insulation, oil spill cleanup, carbon dioxide absorption and fire safety applications.
Creating a Metal as Strong as Captain America’s Shield
Army Research Lab’s new material could be used for spacecraft, military vehicles and more.
Funding Secured for Safer Fuel Rod R&D
The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded a $33.7 million project to continue development of advanced fuel rod technologies.
Plant-based Road Salt May Not Be So Eco-Friendly After All
As winter approaches, the discussion over natural alternatives to road salt heats up. Joining that discussion are York University researchers who are suggesting that one of those natural alternatives isn’t necessarily eco-friendlier.
Composite Material Regulates Its Own Temperature
Materials scientists at the University of Nottingham, U.K., adopted a bio-inspired engineering approach to develop a thermally-functional material made of a synthetic polymer.
Video: Oil-repellent Membranes Engineered for the Oil and Gas Industry
A new coating technology offers a way to keep oil from clogging filter membranes and other equipment used in the oil and gas industry.
Liquid Gold: Bio-Bricks, Fertilizer Produced with Nutrient Recovery Urinal
Bricks of different shapes and tensile strengths are grown from a common waste material: human urine.
Dendrites Detained by Li Metal Battery-Nanotube Duo
Multiwalled carbon nanotube film quenches lithium metal dendrites in batteries that charge faster, last longer.
Comparison of Materials Choices for Heat Exchanger Tubes
Choosing materials for a chemical shell-and-tube heat exchanger is difficult, even for engineers with many years of experience, simply because there are so many options.
Watch How a Wood Sponge Separates Oil and Water
The renewable resource-based sponge demonstrated high mechanical compressibility and excellent oil/water absorption selectivity.
Surface Coating Repels All Bacteria, Viruses and Other Liquids
The coating can be modified and adjusted to allow some things to stick to the surface and repel others or modified to repel everything.
3D-printed Steel Bridge to be Installed in Amsterdam
The bridge will also include sensors to analyze how the structure performs during high traffic times.
Watch: Mass Production of Microscale Robots
A new manufacturing process bodes well for developing microscopic robots that swim through the bloodstream to detect disease or traverse pipelines to monitor structural integrity.
Ancestral Enzymes Become New Catalysts
Past ancestral reconstruction studies have demonstrated that pre-Cambrian enzymes were often much more thermostable than currently available forms.
Freshwater Mussels' Shells Record Fracking Pollution
Researchers are using the shells of freshwater mussels to document pollution from fracking chemicals over time.
Five Reasons Why Hexoloy® SE is the Material of Choice for Lithium-Ion Battery Manufacturing
Suppliers are responding to increasing battery demands by developing new lithium-ion chemistries for greater energy density, boosting recycling efforts and expanding battery production.
Producing Stronger Transition-metal Nitride Thin Films
A new deposition method improves the thermal and chemical stability of transition-metal nitride thin-film layers.
Fruit Fly Neural Activity Inspires Smoother Robots
Scientists from the EPFL Brain Mind Institute and Interfaculty Institutes of Bioengineering developed a method to record the limb control activity and neural circuits of a fruit fly.
New 3D Printing Technique Could Create 3D-Printed Arteries
University of Colorado Boulder engineers created a 3D printing technique that controls the firmness of the printed object, allowing doctors to create artificial arteries and organ tissues.