news 2023

Scientists have discovered how to make thermosets like gels, rubbers and elastomers so they can be degraded and be re-formed without loss of function. Published on Tuesday 19 December 2023 Last updated on Thursday 21 December 2023 A team of UK scientists has got a step closer to making several different types of plastic much easier to recycle, using a method that could be applied to a whole range of difficult-to-recycle polymers, including rubbers, gels and adhesives.

From clean energy technologies to an antenna on the moon, 2023 was a great year for science at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory ÜBerkeley Lab). We made great leaps in fundamental research that will shape future discoveries for decades to come and developed new solutions and processes poised to make near-term impacts.

University of Wisconsin-Madison engineers have used a spray coating technology to produce a new workhorse material that can withstand the harsh conditions inside a fusion reactor. The advance, detailed in a paper published recently in the journal Physica Scripta , could enable more efficient compact fusion reactors that are easier to repair and maintain.

Most people can relate to having a laptop charger break right where the flexible cable meets the solid adapter. This is just one example of how difficult it is to effectively interface hard and soft materials. Using a unique 3D printing process, TU Delft researchers produced hybrid multi-material interfaces that reached a remarkable closeness to nature's design of bone-tendon connections.

While the lithium-ion batteries in disposable electronic cigarettes are discarded after a single use, they can continue to perform at high capacity for hundreds of cycles, according to new research from UCL and the University of Oxford, supported by The Faraday Institution. The study, published in Joule , highlights a growing environmental threat from these increasingly popular vape pens, which are not designed to be recharged.

The one-step fabrication process rapidly produces miniature chemical reactors that could be used to detect diseases or analyze substances. MIT researchers have used 3D printing to produce self-heating microfluidic devices, demonstrating a technique which could someday be used to rapidly create cheap, yet accurate, tools to detect a host of diseases.

While the lithium-ion batteries in disposable electronic cigarettes are discarded after a single use, they can continue to perform at high capacity for hundreds of cycles, according to new research from the University of Oxford and UCL, supported by The Faraday Institution. The study, published today in Joule , highlights a growing environmental threat from these increasingly popular vape pens, which are not designed to be recharged.

China covers its demand for lithium, cobalt and nickel for batteries by recycling, ahead of Europe and the USA. With the increasing production of batteries for electric vehicles, the demand for the necessary raw materials is also rising. In view of the supply risks, environmental problems and precarious working conditions associated with the extraction and transportation of these raw materials, the recycling of battery materials has become an important topic in science, politics and industry.

Advanced infrared mirrors enhance climate and biofuel research via precision trace gas sensing. An international team of researchers from the United States, Austria, and Switzerland has demonstrated the first true supermirrors in the mid-infrared spectral region. These mirrors are key for many applications, such as optical spectroscopy for environmental sensing, as well as laser cutting and welding for manufacturing.

A team from the Institute of Molecular Science (ICMol) of the University of Valencia has taken a step forward in the field of twistronics, an area that brings together physics, chemistry and nanotechnology towards the search and control of new and extraordinary properties in graphene and other two-dimensional materials.

Pleasant to wear, extremely unpleasant to recycle: elastane makes it difficult to reuse textiles. A solution has been found at TU Wien. Clothing is far too valuable to simply dispose of and burn. Starting in 2025, used textiles are to be collected and recycled throughout the EU. Improved recycling processes are urgently needed to deal with the huge amount of textiles that will then be produced in an efficient and environmentally friendly way.

New technique developed by researchers at McGill and UQAM offers unprecedented view inside lithium-ion batteries, potentially leading to dramatically faster charging times for EVs, computers, and phones What if you could charge your electric vehicle in the same amount of time it takes to fill a tank of gas?

Modelled on nature: researchers have developed a new material that replicates the structure responsible for the blue feathers of the North American song bird, among many other birds. It also has other striking advantages. The eastern bluebird is a special bird. The blue of its feathers is unique. However, this colour is not based on pigments but on the special structure of the feather.

Google DeepMind Adds Nearly 400,000 New Compounds to Berkeley Lab's Materials Project " layout="backlink-only" Key Takeaways The Materials Project revolutionized the invention of new materials by creating them virtually, simulating their properties so researchers can focus on the most promising ones.

Antimicrobial hospital curtains Hospital germs and pathogens are not always transmitted directly from person to person. They can also spread via germ-contaminated surfaces and objects. researchers, together with the chemical company BASF, Spiez Laboratory and the Technical University of Berlin, have now developed coated textiles that inhibit or even kill pathogens.

What happens when electric current flows through a "strange metal"- TU Wien (Vienna) and Rice University (Texas) show: The established picture of electrons and "quasi-electrons" collapses. At first glance, it all sounds so simple: there are electrons in a cable, and when we apply a voltage, the electrons dash from one side of the cable to the other, and an electric current flows.

Scientists from the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) and the IMDEA Materiales Institute have developed a new experimental technique in fragmentation tests to evaluate the energy absorption capacity in the event of impact of metallic structures manufactured using 3D printing. This technique, which is more flexible, simpler and faster than others currently used, makes it possible to test the mechanical performance of these materials as protective structures.

The LIRAS technique could speed up the development of acoustic lenses, impact-resistant films, and other futuristic materials. Metamaterials are products of engineering wizardry. They are made from everyday polymers, ceramics, and metals. And when constructed precisely at the microscale, in intricate architectures, these ordinary materials can take on extraordinary properties.

Thin flakes of graphite can be tuned to exhibit three important properties. MIT physicists have metaphorically turned graphite, or pencil lead, into gold by isolating five ultrathin flakes stacked in a specific order. The resulting material can then be tuned to exhibit three important properties never before seen in natural graphite.

Research on the electrification of agricultural machinery The special requirements placed on trucks and agricultural machinery often make it difficult for engineers to bring them into the electric age. At the Agritechnica agricultural machinery fair researchers from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) are now showing what a modular development kit for electric tractors can look like.