Category Chemistry/Nanotechnology

Self-Healing Metal Oxides could Protect against Corrosion

Researchers find an ultrathin layer of aluminum oxide, though solid, can flow like a liquid instead of cracking. Researchers have found that a solid oxide protective coating for metals can, when applied in sufficiently thin layers, deform as if it were a liquid, filling any cracks and gaps as they form.

The thin coating layer should be especially useful to prevent leakage of tiny molecules that can penetrate through most materials, such as hydrogen gas that could be used to power fuel-cell cars, or the radioactive tritium (a heavy form of hydrogen) that forms inside the cores of nuclear power plants.

Most metals, with the notable exception of gold, tend to oxidize when exposed to air and water...

Researchers created a nanofilm that can store data holographically and is environmentally stable. Here, Shencheng Fu carries out experiments with the new film. Credit: Northeast Normal University

New holographic data storage medium could enable wearable technology that captures and stores detailed 3D images. New nanoparticle-based films that are more than 80 times thinner than a human hair may provide materials that can holographically archive more than 1,000 times more data than a DVD in a 10-by-10-centimeter piece of film...

Engineers at MIT have developed a polymer thermal conductor — a plastic material that, however counterintuitively, works as a heat conductor, dissipating heat rather than insulating it. Image: Chelsea Turner/MIT

Technique could prevent overheating of laptops, mobile phones, and other electronics. Plastics are excellent insulators, meaning they can efficiently trap heat – a quality that can be an advantage in something like a coffee cup sleeve. But this insulating property is less desirable in products such as plastic casings for laptops and mobile phones, which can overheat, in part because the coverings trap the heat that the devices produce.

Now a team of engineers at MIT has developed a polymer thermal conductor – a plastic material that, however counterintuitively, works as a heat co...

These schematics show the printing of water in oil using a nanoparticle supersoap. Gold nanoparticles in the water combine with polymer ligands in the oil to form an elastic film (nanoparticle supersoap) at the interface, locking the structure in place. Credit: Berkeley Lab

Reconfigurable material could be used for liquid electronics and chemical synthesis, among other applications. Scientists from the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have developed a way to print 3D structures composed entirely of liquids. Using a modified 3D printer, they injected threads of water into silicone oil – sculpting tubes made of one liquid within another liquid.

They envision their all-liquid material could be used to construct liquid electronics that power flexible,...