#Nanoribbon material keeps gases captive Rice university rightoriginal Studyposted by Mike Williams-Rice on October 11 2013an enhanced polymer could make vehicles that run on compressed natural gas more practical and even prolong the shelf life of bottled beer
and far lighter than the metal in tanks now used to contain the gas say researchers.
By adding modified single-atom-thick graphene nanoribbons (GNRS) to thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) the team at Rice made it 1000 times harder for gas molecules to escape Tour says.
The researchers led by Rice graduate student Changsheng Xiang produced thin films of the composite material by solution casting GNRS treated with hexadecane and TPU a block copolymer of polyurethane that combines hard and soft materials.
The GNRS geometry makes them far better than graphene sheets for processing into composites Tour says.
Stress and strain tests also found that the 0. 5 percent ratio was optimal for enhancing the polymer s strength. he idea is to increase the toughness of the tank
but a glass bottle until they figured out how to modify plastic to contain the carbon dioxide bubbles.
and in some ways it s the reverse problemhe says. xygen molecules get in through plastic and make the beer go bad.
#At super high temps, white graphene stops rust Atomically thin sheets of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) have the handy benefit of protecting
and steel with similar results. hat's amazing is that these layers are ultra thin
The researchers were able to stabilize the light s frequency by developing a silica glass chip resonator with a specially designed path for the photons in the shape of
In addition to its use as a frequency reference for lasers a reference cavity could one day play a role equivalent to that of the ubiquitous quartz crystal in electronics.
#Ink-jet printing creates soft nanostructures A new way to make nanostructures combines advanced ink-jet printing technology with block copolymers that spontaneously form ultra-fine structures.
The ability to fabricate nanostructures out of polymers DNA proteins and other oftmaterials has the potential to enable new classes of electronics diagnostic devices and chemical sensors.
but there are significant challenges in achieving true nanoscale dimension. ur work demonstrates that processes of polymer self-assembly can provide a way around this limitationsays John Rogers professor of materials science and engineering at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Combining jet printing with self-assembling block copolymers enabled the engineers to attain the much higher resolution as suggested by lead author Serdar Onses a postdoctoral scientist at Illinois. Onses earned his doctorate at the University of Wisconsin
Back at the University of Illinois engineers place a block copolymer atop this pattern. The block copolymer self-organizes directed by the underlying template to form patterns that are at much higher resolution than the template itself.
Previous work has focused on the deposition and assembly of uniform films on each wafer or substrate resulting in patterns with essentially only one characteristic feature size
But practical applications may need block copolymers of multiple dimensions patterned or spatially placed over a wafer. his invention to use ink-jet printing to deposit different block copolymer films with high spatial resolution over the substrate is highly enabling in terms of device design
and manufacturing in that you can realize different dimension structures all in one layernealey says. oreover the different dimension patterns may actually be directed to assemble with either the same
or different templates in different regions. he advanced form of ink-jet printing the engineers use to locally deposit block copolymers is called electrohydrodynamic or e-jet printing.
##and manmade products constructed from similar materials has to do with the hierarchical architecture of the biological materialsâ##the way the silica-based skeletons are built up from different structural elements some
For example Greer s group has shown previously that at the nanoscale some metals are about 50 times stronger than usual
Next the researchers used a technique called two-photon lithography to turn that design into a three-dimensional polymer lattice.
Then they uniformly coated that polymer lattice with thin layers of the ceramic material titanium nitride (Tin)
and removed the polymer core leaving a ceramic nanolattice. The lattice is constructed of hollow struts with walls no thicker than 75 nanometers. e are now able to design exactly the structure that we want to replicate
and then process it in such a way that it s made out of almost any material class we d likeâ##for example metals ceramics
In the Nature Materials work the team tested the individual octahedral cells of the final ceramic lattice
Typical ceramics fail because of flawsâ##the imperfections such as holes and voids that they contain. e believe the greater strength of these nanostructured materials comes from the fact that
For the purposes of this experiment the researchers placed silica##manganese oxide eadson the matchstick material and introduced hydrogen peroxide as the chemical fuel in one particular place.
They placed the atchsticksin a mixture alongside ordinary polymer microspheres. When the hydrogen peroxide was added the microspheres continued to move in the direction of convection currents
and is used commonly in muds for oil drilling, in modern construction, in medical applications and as a binder by iron and steel foundries.
After combining equal amounts of RTIL and naturally occurring Bentonite clay into a composite paste
and combined the RTIL/clay with a small amount of thermoplastic polyurethane to form a membrane sheet that can be cut into various shapes and sizes,
Weighing in at two thirds less than aluminum magnesium is the lightest structural metal. But the usefulness of the metal is restricted severely by its poor resistance to corrosion.
Research efforts to develop lighter metals have explored way to create a stainless or corrosion-resistant form of magnesium.
A team led by Nick Birbilis an associate professor of materials engineering at Monash University found that the addition of very low levels of arsenic to magnesium retards the corrosion reaction by effectively#poisoning#the reaction before it completes.
#In an era of light-weighting for energy and emissions reductions there is a great demand for magnesium alloys in everything from portable electronics to air
The arsenic effect we discovered is now being trialed as a functional additive to existing commercial alloys.#
The researchers point out the work is a tarting point for exploring the composites made from GNRS and other transition metal oxides for lithium storage applications.
or mechanical peeling, from a crystal of graphite. But exfoliation is a time-consuming process that will never be practical for any of the many potential applications of graphene that require industrial mass production. httpv://www. youtube. com/watch?
is about 90 percent as strong as the ideal crystal. his is an exciting result for the future of graphene,
or more in size, says Hone. his strength will be invaluable as scientists continue to develop new flexible electronics and ultrastrong composite materials.
or ultrastrong composites that could replace carbon fiber. Or, the researchers speculate, a science fiction idea of a space elevator that could connect an orbiting satellite to Earth by a long cord that might consist of sheets of CVD graphene,
#For the study published online in the Journal of the American Ceramic Society Jackson and colleagues characterized samples of Roman concrete taken from a breakwater in Pozzuoli Bay near Naples Italy.#
and five times as long#made of a layer of gold bonded to a layer of silicon nitride.
Because metals will naturally convert some energy from infrared light into heat researchers can connect the amount the material expands to the amount of infrared light hitting it.#
A fiber optic cable pointed upward at this system bounces light off the underside of the silicon nitride layer enabling the researchers to determine how far the structure has bent upwards.#
Light hits a shallow tank of liquid plastic and cures it one layer at a time, slowly building up an entire 3d object.
which print layers of melted plastic that then hardens, DLP machines print upside down. The printed object base adheres to a flat metal sheet that slowly raises out of the tank of liquid.
The solution might be the Biolite stove-it's a collapsible wood-burning cook stove that uses almost any forest-found fuel
from wood, pine cones, leaves, pellets, rice husks, even dung, it means fuel need not be carried,
The Biolite stove is a collapsible wood-burning cook stove that uses almost any forest-fou...
PBS covered an India stove trial initiative that aims to cut the air pollution from traditional wood
Tiny beads of polystyrene are used also, which absorb ethylene and concentrate it near the nanotubes.
Normally, the fungus feeds on chitin and breaks it down into monomer amino sugars. With the addition of the new genes,
Known as the Octopus Siphon Actuator the miniature prototype system consists of four joined 20 x 6-cm (7. 9 x 2. 4-in) elastomer balls
This is called nacre (also known as mother-of-pearl) and it's what gives the shell its strength#the outer surface of the shell is made almost entirely of calcium carbonate
Fran#ois Barthelat studied the internal structure of nacre which is comprised of individual microscopic tablets that interlock in a fashion similar to Lego blocks.
and is also planning on applying it to other brittle materials such as ceramics and polymers.
or get lost in the woods with Reese Witherspoon. Though Oculus Rift and play are going to go hand-in-hand don't forget about work.
Its composite-bladed turbine starts generating electricity at a minimum wind speed of 1. 7 meters (5. 6 ft) per second,
Products that use silica-based nanoparticles for biomedical uses such as various chips drug or gene delivery and tracking imaging ultrasound therapy and diagnostics may also pose an increased cardiovascular
and interaction of silica-based nanoparticles with biological systems write the researchers. Because our research demonstrates a clear cardiovascular health risk associated with this trend steps need to be taken to help ensure that potential health
The implant consists of a stretchy silicone substrate covered in cracked-gold conducting tracks leading to electrodes made from a silicon/platinum microbead composite.
such as"ninja polymers"and artificial nanoparticles made of lipids. But this latest breakthrough by researchers from Novobiotic in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Northeastern University in Boston, the University of Bonn in Germany,
which is exposed to different types of pollution from agrochemical residues to metals from leather tanneries.
#ISAAC robot joins NASA to weave advanced composites The robot revolution continues at NASA this month as its Langley Research center in Hampton,
Virginia prepares to bring its Integrated Structural Assembly of Advanced Composites (ISAAC) robot online. One of only three robots like it in the world,
it will be formally commissioned on January 26 before being put to work making lighter, stronger composite components for aerospace vehicles.
but fabricating composites was not one of its strengths. What was needed was a versatile, flexible machine that can change functions quickly.
According to NASA, more conventional composite manufacturing requires these ribbons to be laid down at one of three angles 0 degrees, 45, or 90.
NASA says that this versatility will not only help in creating better composites but it will also speed up the prototyping process As well as ISAAC begins work on the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate Advanced Composites Project and the Space technology Mission Directoratecomposites for Exploration Upper Stage,
it will not only be able to create scale models for wind tunnel tests, but even fan blades for the wind tunnel itself.
but by and large these objects are made still solely of dumb plastic. This may be about to change thanks to the Voxel8 a printer presented at CES that makes it much easier to blend plastic conductive ink
The only two printing materials currently supported are standard PLA plastic and the silver conductive ink but the startup has said users will be able to upgrade their printer in the future as more functional
and polymer layers where the light is collected. Furthermore, graphics can be printed to improve its visual appearance.
#Polymer gel that stores light energy A team led by Nicolas Giuseppone, professor at the Université de Strasbourg,
at CNRS Institut Charles Sadron, has developed a polymer gel that is able to contract through the action of artificial molecular motors.
these nanoscale motors twist the polymer chains in the gel, which as a result contracts by several centimeters.
which cross-link the polymer chains to each other, by rotating molecular motors made up of two parts that can turn relative to each other when provided with energy.
as soon as the motors are activated by light they twist the polymer chains in the gel, which makes it contract.
it is turned into mechanical energy through the twisting of the polymer chains, and stored in the gel.
the amount of energy contained in the contraction of the polymer chains becomes very high,
Local and state seizures without federal participation amounted to 57 percent of the dollar value of the seized items under Equitable Sharing since 2008$3 billion out of $5. 3 billon.
For when heated, vanadium dioxide s crystals begin to rapidly contract along one dimension, while expanding along the other two,
#At lunch, eating teriyaki chicken out of a styrofoam container from the deli by the bus station felt like heaven compared with the slog of the day.
#Scientists develop new liquid metal that will let you print circuits on paper, T-shirts, or even leaves Soon we could be able to print circuits as well as 3-D products in the comfort of our homes.
Three scientists in China have found a#way#to create a metal that s liquid at room temperatures,
that could be printed on glass or transparent plastic. The key innovation, MIT Technologyreview#says, is the alloy of gallium and indium that the scientists discovered.
It s printable at room temperature, while many other printable circuit inks require high temperatures##up to 400 degrees Celsius,
and poor adhesion between the liquid metal and the substrate often impede the flexible printing process,
the liquid metal here no longer needs to be oxidized pre to guarantee its applicability on target substrates,##Qin Zhang, Yunxia Gao,
#Mini Metal Maker: A $1000 3d printer that prints metal http://www. vimeo. com/78961565 The Mini Metal Maker prints 3d objects from digital files directly in precious metal clay, rather than in plastic.#
#Once these clay objects air-dry, they are fired in a kiln to produce beautiful solid metal objects of high purity and precision.
Using metal clay essentially replaces the entire wax-casting or lost-wax process ordinarily needed to do this.
The Mini Metal Maker will add new capability for the DIY inventor or artist by making fabrication in metal easy and direct.
The Mini Metal Maker is built around the concept of using the minimum number of parts
##The Mini-Metal Maker They have raised about $7500 out of $10, 000 to improve the precision from 500 microns to 200 microns.
##Copper, Bronze, Steel, Silver & Gold.**Refine our high-pressure extruder design. We currently have a reliable extrusion trace at around 0. 5mm
*Add a second print head for use with additional metal clays or support material.**Optimize the integrated motor carriage design
*Create the Mini Metal Forge software environment in order to foster a good user experience, particularly for the nontechnical craftsperson.*
Video)##By using a spray technique, latex, cotton or other fibers are extruded seamlessly to form layers of a breathable fabric, ideal for usage in sportswear, bandages and undergarments.
This one is printed entirely out of metal and the gun s design was copied from a classic 1911 model.
The 3d-printed metal gun was constructed using a laser sintering process capable of shaping tougher metals like stainless steel.
since the folks at Solid Concepts have fired already successfully their handgun 50 times without it failing. 3d printers capable of printing metal are#on the rise,
#Japanese inventor finds solution to global trash problem by converting plastic to oil This Youtube video about the invention of a plastic-to-oil converting machine went viral
We should shun single-use plastic (such as your average PET bottle or disposable container) altogether,
polyethylene, polystyrene and polypropylene##PP, PE,#PS plastics), there is no toxic substance produced and any residue can be disposed of with regular burnable garbage.
Tons of plastic from the US and Japan are#floating in the Pacific ocean killing mammals and birds.
Thankfully, there are those who fully appreciate that plastic has a higher energy value than anything else commonly found in the waste stream.
that leaves 28%of plastic to be buried in landfills or burned. According to Plastic Waste management Institute#data,##effective utilization##includes not just the 20%that is actually recycled,
##If we burn the plastic, we generate toxins and a large amount of CO2. If we convert it into oil,
The machines are able to process polyethylene, polystyrene and polypropylene but not PET bottles. The result is a crude gas that can fuel things like generators or stoves and,
One kilogram of plastic produces almost one liter of oil. To convert that amount takes about 1 kwh of electricity,
since the makeup of Japanese household waste has been#found to contain#over 30%plastic, most of it from packaging.
and schools to teach people about recycling culture and the value of discarded plastic, spreading the Japanese concept ofmottainai,
##This plastic is every where in the world, and everyone throws it away.####A mountain to climb down The wonderful invention of plastics has spawned a huge problem that we are struggling to solve.
With peak oil looming, things are set to change, but we find ourselves on top of an oil and plastic mountain,
and plastics dependence and help raise awareness of the carbon footprint of its production and use.
Somehow we all know that plastics is a habit we need to kick. But that doesn t seem to make it any easier.
Today steel pipes will soon be replaced with tomorrow air pipes, and we will forget what life was like
Last year, Harvard university researchers led by engineering professor Robert Wood introduced the first Robobees, bee-size robots with the ability to lift off the ground
Wood and colleagues wrote in an article for Scientific American. The hive must be resilient enough
Although Wood wrote that CCD and the threat it poses to agriculture were part of the original inspiration for creating a robotic bee,
India, which has hundreds of thousands of tonnes of the metal amid its terrain has announced plans to build a thorium-based nuclear reactor by 2016.
Their approach relies on adding collagen to the phosphoric acid binder solution to create a composite material with the calcium phosphate,
They printed scaffolds using the composite material on an adapted 3d Systems ZPRINTER 450 and subjected them to a series of laboratory tests.
#Imprint Energy is developing flexible, printed batteries for wearable devices Ultrathin zinc-polymer battery. Imprint Energy is developing flexible,
The California startup has been testing its ultrathin zinc-polymer batteries in wrist-worn devices and hopes to sell them to manufacturers of wearable electronics, medical devices, smart labels,
Ho developed a solid polymer electrolyte that avoids this problem, and also provides greater stability,
full-color 3d printer Mcor Iris 3d printer Most people think 3d printing involves a machine that either extrudes molten plastic, in a way similar to how a hot glue gun works,
Plastics are the only materials that can be melted, and then quickly hardened in a safe environment that doesn t require a tremendous amount of heat.
That s right, no expensive polymers, resins, or other materials are required. That s what makes the Mcor line of 3d printers both unique and refreshing to those tired of the tremendous expenses associated with 3d printing in general.
It uses electric charge to separate semiconducting nanotubes useful for transistors from those that conduct electricity like metals
Just a thin layer of this amazing polymer will hide anything under it from being perceived by your sense of touch.
#New recyclable plastics discovered by accident A collection of new plastics that are recyclable and adaptable have been developed by researchers
stiff plastics and flexible gels that can mend themselves if torn. The findings, reported in the journal Science, could lead to cheaper and greener cars, planes and electronics.
It is the first time that durablethermoset plastic has been produced in a recyclable form. Dr Jeanette Garcia, from IBM s Almaden Research center in San jose, stumbled upon the first new class of thermosets in many years when she accidentally left one of three components out of a reaction.
That chunk of plastic, produced from unexpectedly simple ingredients, proved to be tremendously hard and stable.
or monomers, to be reused. It was definitely fortuitous, Dr Garcia said. The first thing I did,
often mixed with carbon fibers to form composites. Some 50%of the new Airbus a350 jet, for example, will be made from composites.
Yet until now, none of this thermoset plastic could be recycled. The potential impact here is said phenomenal
Dr Charl Faul, a materials chemist at the University of Bristol. He says the study offers avery simple, elegant answer to a very old problem.
Beyond replacing thermoset-based composites in current technology, Dr Hedrick sees the potential for many more innovative applications.
Every time you discover a new polymer-forming reaction it leads to all sorts of new materials.
As well as very hard and durable plastics the researchers adapted their procedure to a different monomer and produced flexible, self-healing gels.
These could be useful in anything from cosmetics, to paint, to the design of drug capsules, because of their particular solubility properties.
and chairs by extruding plastic in layers 0. 3 inches wide. Chairs recently on display at the RAPID conference each took about 2 hours and 30 minutes to print.
or treating the plastic with a chemical like acetone, which is used commonly to make desktop printed items smooth.
The Robox, for example, uses one extruder that prints a large volume of plastic, while a second extruder prints thin strands to add detail.
Phinergy is also experimenting with other metal-air technologies. They have developed a zinc-air battery that has some advantages over aluminum.
which would enable a piece of plastic to create the shape by self-folding. The second paper presents designs that show how to build electrical components (such as resistors, inductors, capacitors, sensors and actuators) with self-folding laser-cut materials.
For example, a PVC sheet sandwiched between two films of rigid polyester featuring slits of different sizes contracts
The PVC becomes deformed creating different angles where the edges of the polyester films press against each other.
Producing the pattern of slits is quite a difficult process as every edge in the system moves at the same time,
because it doesn contain rare earth materials and metals. Activated carbon can come from a variety of low cost, easily-available sources.
emitting an electrostatic charge that sucks that loosened dirt right into its own metal frame.
#Self-healing plastic grows back after damage The newly-developed self-healing plastic can take rather extensive damage
A plastic developed by the University of Illinois is one of the latest plastics developed that regenerates when damaged.
The difference between this plastic and scratch-healing gadgets presently available is the amount of damage that can be tolerated.
The newly-developed self-healing plastic can take rather extensive damage and heal it through a process of regeneration,
A key example was steel minimills such as Nucor. Originally, they could only produce the lowest quality steel
and weren seen as a serious threat to the big integrated mills. Nevertheless, as the technology improved
but most commonly only out of plastics. Even manufacturers using an advanced version of the technology known as additive manufacturing typically have expanded the material palette only to a few types of metal alloys.
But what if 3-D printers could use a wide assortment of different materials, from living cells to semiconductors, mixing
Other projects include printed sensors fabricated on plastic patches that athletes could one day wear to detect concussions and measure violent impacts.
Before coming to Harvard from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign last year, Lewis had spent more than a decade developing 3-D printing techniques using ceramics, metal nanoparticles, polymers,
Cryptocurrency is following the same path as precious metals in ancient civilization. Where gold was valued for its color, easy malleability, purity and its anti-corrosive properties,
Precious metals may have been the first and last good to become universally adopted as a means of exchange,
FDM printers melt string-like plastic bit by bit and lay it down in layers to create an object.
Spectrom adds dye to the plastic as it melts, allowing printers to shift between colors. hat we find really innovative in our approach is we went back to the roots of paper printing
#New 3d printed materials lighter than water and as strong as steel A Nanoscribe 3d printer can print models of the Empire state building in a space the width of a human hair using precision lasers.
believe such 3d printers may help craft a new generation of materials lighter than water and strong as steel.
Today, the sturdiest materials tend to be the densest (like metals and the least dense materials tend to be the weakest (like foams.
Although bone and wood are already strong and light, nature s design can be refined. Inspired by organic materials,
and hardens a droplet of liquid plastic on a slide. A computer moves the plate under the laser,
and to further strengthen the polymer, they coated it with a thin film of alumina (aluminum oxide).
it would floatand as strong as some steel alloys. See video of their experimentation at the bottom.
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