Materials Science news

Fool's gold may prove an unlikely alternative to overexploited catalytic materials

Catalytic materials, which lower the energy barriers for chemical reactions, are used in everything from the commercial production of chemicals to catalytic converters in car engines. However, with current catalytic materials ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created 8 hours ago | popularity 4.8 / 5 (4) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Hydrogen from acidic water: Researchers develop potential low cost alternative to platinum for splitting water

A technique for creating a new molecule that structurally and chemically replicates the active part of the widely used industrial catalyst molybdenite has been developed by researchers with the Lawrence Berkeley ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Feb 09, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (12) | comments 13 | with audio podcast

Flexible paper robots

(PhysOrg.com) -- These inexpensive robots can stretch, bend and twist under control, and lift objects up to 120 times their own weight. Being soft, they can apply gentle and even pressure, and adapt to varied ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Feb 09, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 4 | with audio podcast

Engineers find inspiration for new materials in Piranha-proof armor

(PhysOrg.com) -- It’s a matchup worthy of a late-night cable movie: put a school of starving piranha and a 300-pound fish together, and who comes out the winner?

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Feb 09, 2012 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (4) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Materials that shrink when heated

One common reason that people with fillings experience toothache is that their fillings expand at a different rate to the original tooth when, for example, drinking a hot drink. Contrary to intuition, however, ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Feb 09, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 1


Why staying warm in winter is a bit more complicated if you're a lizard

Recent studies at the ISIS neutron source, the Science and Technology Facilities Council’s (STFC) world leading research centre, have given a new insight into the mysterious ‘anti-freeze’ capabilities ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Feb 09, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Research provides octagonal window of opportunity for carbon capture

(PhysOrg.com) -- Filtering carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, from factory smokestacks is a necessary, but expensive part of many manufacturing processes. However, a collaborative research team from the National ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Feb 08, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 5 | with audio podcast

Carbonized coffee grounds remove foul smells

For coffee lovers, the first cup of the morning is one of life's best aromas. But did you know that the leftover grounds could eliminate one of the worst smells around – sewer gas?

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Feb 08, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

New form of hafnium oxide developed

(PhysOrg.com) -- A novel material developed by researchers at the University of Cambridge is opening up new possibilities for next generation electronic and optoelectronic devices, and paving the way for further ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Feb 07, 2012 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (5) | comments 4 | with audio podcast

All foamed up: Synthesis of macroporous polystyrene through polymerization of foamed emulsions

(PhysOrg.com) -- Packaging, insulation, and impact protection are examples of commercial uses of polymer foams. Depending on the intended application, the properties required of these foams can differ greatly. In the journal ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Feb 07, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Learning about material integrity from statistical data

Whether it protects space satellites or sequesters nuclear waste, scientists want to understand tiny features that could significantly alter how a material behaves. Locating microscopic defects can be done ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Feb 07, 2012 | popularity 3 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Nanodiamond coatings safe for implants: study

Nanodiamonds designed to toughen artificial joints also might prevent the inflammation caused when hardworking metal joints shed debris into the body, according to an early study published this week in the ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Feb 05, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (8) | comments 5 | with audio podcast

As strong as an insect's shell

Harvard researchers at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering have come up with a tough, low-cost, biodegradable material inspired by insects’ hard outer shells. The material’s ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Feb 03, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (8) | comments 0

Economizing chemistry, atom by atom

In chemistry, downsizing can have positive attributes. Reducing the number of steps and reagents in synthetic reactions, for example, enables chemists to boost their productivity while reducing their environmental ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Feb 03, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

New zeolite material may solve diesel shortage

World fuel consumption is shifting more and more to diesel at the expense of gasoline. A recently published article in Nature Chemistry by a research team at Stockholm University and the Polytechnic University of Valencia in Spa ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Feb 01, 2012 | popularity 3 / 5 (1) | comments 0

More News

Studying the chemistry as it happens in catalytic reactions

(PhysOrg.com) -- While retaining their speed, catalysts have lost some of their secrets, thanks to a new probe built by scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to help clarify the steps catalysts ...

From cancer research to energy storage, Berkeley Lab scientist takes on big challenges

On a typical day, Rizia Bardhan walks through the doors of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s Molecular Foundry and immerses herself in the tricky business of tweaking optical spectroscopy equipment ...

Light but stable: novel cellulose-silica gel composite aerogels

(PhysOrg.com) -- Delicate and translucent as a puff of air, yet mechanically stable, flexible, and possessing amazing heat-insulation properties—these are the properties of a new aerogel made of cellulose ...

Chemists to develop new materials for hydrogen storage in vehicles

(PhysOrg.com) -- The biggest challenge with hydrogen-powered fuel cells lies in the storage of hydrogen: how to store enough of it, in a safe and cost-effective manner, to power a vehicle for 300 miles?  ...

Pine transformed by modern alchemists

Swiss researchers have given pinewood the hardness and smooth touch of precious wood. L’EPFL+ECAL Lab presents the first objects made of this new material in Helsinki today.

Other News

Google users warned of threat to smartphone wallets

Anonymous knocks CIA website offline (Update)

Complex wiring of the nervous system may rely on a just a handful of genes and proteins

NASA sees wide-eyed cyclone Jasmine

NASA sees Giovanna reach cyclone strength, threaten Madagascar

Putting the squeeze on planets outside our solar system

The power of estrogen -- male snakes attract other males

New error-correcting codes guarantee the fastest possible rate of data transmission

Grass to gas: Researchers' genome map speeds biofuel development

Hovering not hard if you're top-heavy, researchers find

New power source discovered

Humans may have helped the decline of African rainforests 3000 years ago

Human cognitive performance suffers following natural disasters, researchers find

Both maternal and paternal age linked to autism

New understanding of DNA repair could eventually lead to cancer therapy



How seawater could corrode nuclear fuel

Japan used seawater to cool nuclear fuel at the stricken Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant after the tsunami in March 2011 -- and that was probably the best action to take at the time, says Professor Alexandra ...

Scorpions inspire scientists in making tougher surfaces for machinery

Taking inspiration from the yellow fattail scorpion, which uses a bionic shield to protect itself against scratches from desert sandstorms, scientists have developed a new way to protect the moving parts of ...

New uses for diesel by-products

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new catalytic process discovered by the Cardiff Catalysis Institute could unleash a range of useful new by-products from diesel fuel production.

Chemists find new material to remove radioactive gas from spent nuclear fuel

(PhysOrg.com) -- Research by a team of Sandia chemists could impact worldwide efforts to produce clean, safe nuclear energy and reduce radioactive waste.

Avoid the fallout: New ligands for nuclear waste treatment

(PhysOrg.com) -- Storage and containment of the "nuclear legacy", the highly radiotoxic residues from spent nuclear reactors is a pressing problem for the nuclear power industry that must be solved if nuclear ...


Google users warned of threat to smartphone wallets

Anonymous knocks CIA website offline (Update)

Complex wiring of the nervous system may rely on a just a handful of genes and proteins

NASA sees wide-eyed cyclone Jasmine

NASA sees Giovanna reach cyclone strength, threaten Madagascar

Putting the squeeze on planets outside our solar system

The power of estrogen -- male snakes attract other males

New error-correcting codes guarantee the fastest possible rate of data transmission

Grass to gas: Researchers' genome map speeds biofuel development

Hovering not hard if you're top-heavy, researchers find

New power source discovered

Humans may have helped the decline of African rainforests 3000 years ago

Human cognitive performance suffers following natural disasters, researchers find

Both maternal and paternal age linked to autism

New understanding of DNA repair could eventually lead to cancer therapy

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