Materials Science News

Snow-TENG: (a) harnessing and sensing biomechanical movements by attaching a snow-TENG to different locations of the human body; (b) measurement of the electrical output from a snow-TENG device that uses a snowfall mode when attached on the (i) shoulder, (ii) wrist, and (iii) knee; (c-i) a photograph of the snow-TENG device assembled and attached to the bottom of a snow boot as a self-powered biomechanical sensor; (c-ii) electrical outputs from the snow-TENG as the wearer performs different movements -- running, jumping, walking, and marching. Image credit: Ahmed et al, doi: 10.1016/j.nanoen.2019.03.032.

Researchers Develop Snow-Based Energy Harvester

Apr 16, 2019 by News Staff

An international team of scientists from the United States, Canada, Egypt and Ireland has developed a snow-based triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) that...

Ordinary-looking pajamas are transformed into ‘smart’ ones with five strategically placed sensors that measure heartbeat, respiration and posture. Image credit: Trisha L. Andrew.

Phyjama: Smart Pajama with Self-Powered Sensors Could Help Improve Sleep Patterns

Apr 3, 2019 by News Staff

A team of researchers led by University of Massachusettes Amherst’s Dr. Trisha Andrew has developed ‘smart’ pajamas embedded with self-powered sensors...

Researchers Create and Test New Kind of Airplane Wing

Apr 1, 2019 by News Staff

Assembled from hundreds of tiny identical pieces, the new wing can change shape to control the plane’s flight. The wing design was tested in NASA’s...

A 3D image of a supercrystal from phase-field simulations. Image credit: L-Q Chen Group, Penn State.

Physicists Create Stable ‘Supercrystals’

Mar 26, 2019 by News Staff

Stimulation with ultrafast light pulses can realize and manipulate states of matter with emergent structural, electronic and magnetic phenomena. According...

Chen et al’s rewritable paper demonstrates excellent rewriting performances (legible time > 6 months and reversibility > 100 times); its color rapidly changes from blue to colorlessness when the temperature is higher than 149 degrees Fahrenheit (65 degrees Celsius), and the colorless state can be maintained at room temperature; the color returns to blue when the temperature is lower than 14 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 10 degrees Celsius). Image credit: Chen et al, doi: 10.1021/acsami.8b14625.

Scientists Develop Long-Lasting, Easy-to-Use Rewritable Paper

Dec 10, 2018 by News Staff

A team of materials scientists in China has created a ‘rewritable’ paper that can be drawn or printed on over and over again; the messages can last...

Mok et al developed flexible organic photovoltaics with a chemical additive that mitigates the material’s brittle qualities without losing efficiency. Image credit: Jeff Fitlow / Rice University.

Researchers Develop Flexible Organic Solar Cells

Nov 21, 2018 by News Staff

A team of scientists from Rice University, Houston Community College and Brookhaven National Laboratory has developed flexible organic photovoltaics that...

Han et al created an epoxy-graphene foam compound that is tough and conductive without adding significant weight. Image credit: Rice University.

Researchers Create Tough, Conductive Epoxy-Graphene Foam Compound

Nov 16, 2018 by News Staff

A team of scientists led by Rice University has combined epoxy with an ultra-stiff graphene foam and carbon nanotube scaffold to build a resilient composite...

An electrode network and cyanobacteria were 3D printed on a mushroom to generate bio-electricity. Image credit: Joshi et al, doi: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.8b02642.

Bionic Mushrooms Covered in Cyanobacteria Produce Bio-Electricity

Nov 7, 2018 by News Staff

A team of researchers at the Stevens Institute of Technology has developed bionic mushrooms patterned with energy-producing cyanobacterial colonies and...

Fluorescence optical microscopy image showing emulsion droplets consisting of caged multi-compartmentalized spheroids containing a closely packed mixture of proteinosomes dispersed in oil. Scale bar - 100 μm. Image credit: Gobbo et al, doi: 10.1038/s41563-018-0183-5.

Researchers Develop Artificial Prototissue Capable of Beating

Oct 16, 2018 by News Staff

A team of scientists at the University of Bristol, UK, has developed a synthetic prototissue that is capable of synchronized beating. The team’s work,...

Color-changing contact lenses could help doctors determine whether drugs are being delivered to the intended treatment site. Image credit: American Chemical Society.

Researchers Develop Contact Lenses that Change Color as Drugs Released

Oct 16, 2018 by News Staff

A team of researchers in China has developed drug-delivering contact lenses that could self-report the drug release process by color change. The team’s...

UV active ink can be printed on paper making sensors cheap and easy to produce. Image credit: RMIT University.

Researchers Develop Wearable Paper-Based UV Sensors

Oct 3, 2018 by News Staff

An international team of researchers led by RMIT University has developed paper-based UV sensors that could help people manage vitamin absorption and avoid...

An example of 3D-printed LCP part with complex fiber architecture and geometry: an impact-resistant Bouligand-type structure with twisted plywood arrangement of printed fibers. Image credit: Gantenbein et al, doi: 10.1038/s41586-018-0474-7.

Researchers Develop Way to 3D Print with Liquid-Crystal Polymers

Sep 25, 2018 by News Staff

A team of researchers at ETH Zürich in Switzerland has developed an approach to 3D print recyclable materials using cheap desktop printers that outperform...

Hensleigh et al developed a new process to 3D print graphene structures. Image credit: Hensleigh et al, doi: 10.1039/C8MH00668G.

Scientists Find New Way to 3D Print Graphene Objects

Sep 12, 2018 by News Staff

A team of scientists at Virginia Tech and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has developed a new 3D printing process to create complex objects out...

This image shows a piezoelectric energy harvester in a wristwatch-like device. Image credit: Pennsylvania State University.

New Wearable Piezoelectric Device Harvests Energy from Low-Frequency Vibrations

Sep 5, 2018 by News Staff

A wearable piezoelectric energy harvester developed by scientists from the Materials Research Institute at the Pennsylvania State University and the University...

The new patch administers steroids directly to oral ulcers and forms a protective barrier. Image credit: Colley et al, doi: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2018.06.009.

Researchers Develop Muco-Adhesive Plaster that Sticks to Inside of Mouth

Jun 25, 2018 by News Staff

An international group of researchers has developed a biodegradable patch using special polymers which are able to stick to moist surfaces. The new patch,...

Similarity of structure between the enamel-like material and dental enamel. Image credit: Alvaro Mata.

Researchers Develop New Mineralized Materials that Could Regenerate Dental Enamel

Jun 7, 2018 by News Staff

A research team led by scientists at Queen Mary University of London, UK, has developed a new way to grow materials which could regenerate hard tissues....

Newcastle University researchers Steve Swioklo and Che Connon with a dyed cornea. Image credit: Newcastle University.

Researchers 3D Bioprint Human Corneas

May 31, 2018 by News Staff

The first human corneas have been 3D bioprinted by a research team at Newcastle University. Newcastle University researchers Steve Swioklo and Che Connon...

Ruthenium. Image credit: Metalle-W / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Researchers Discover 4th Room-Temperature Ferromagnetic Element: Ruthenium

May 29, 2018 by News Staff

A platinum-group chemical element called ruthenium (Ru) is the fourth single element to have unique ferromagnetic properties at room temperature. Ruthenium....

Assembly of nanostructured CNF fibers. Upper image: schematic of double flow-focusing channel used for CNF assembly; the CNF suspension is injected in the core flow (light brown color), deionized water (blue color) in the first sheath, and acid at low pH (light green color) in the second sheath flows; arrows show the flow direction; hydrodynamic and electrostatic interactions at different positions along the channel are illustrated schematically on the right. Bottom images: SEM image (left) of the fiber surface, where the dense fibrillar network with well-preserved anisotropic arrangement can be seen; SEM image (right) of the cross section of the fiber, showing the aligned nanofibrils. Scale bars are 3 μm; in insets are 400 nm. Image credit: Mittal et al, doi: 10.1021/acsnano.8b01084.

Newly-Developed Biomaterial is Stronger than Steel and Spider Silk

May 22, 2018 by News Staff

An international team of researchers has developed a new biodegradable material which is stronger than steel and even than dragline spider silk. The results...