Category Chemistry/Nanotechnology

Researchers have created a new class of materials called “glassy gels” that are very hard and difficult to break despite containing more than 50% liquid. Coupled with the fact that glassy gels are simple to produce, the material holds promise for a variety of applications.

Gels and glassy polymers are classes of materials that have historically been viewed as distinct from one another. Glassy polymers are hard, stiff and often brittle. They’re used to make things like water bottles or airplane windows. Gels – such as contact lenses – contain liquid and are soft and stretchy.

“We’ve created a class of materials that we’ve termed glassy gels, which are as hard as glassy polymers, but – if you apply enough force – can stretch up to five times t...

A research team has successfully developed a catalyst coating technology that significantly improves the performance of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) in just four minutes.

Dr. Yoonseok Choi from the Hydrogen Convergence Materials Laboratory at the Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER), in collaboration with Professor WooChul Jung from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at KAIST and Professor Beom-Kyung Park from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Pusan National University, led the research.

Their findings were published in Adva...

Smaller than a coin, this optical device could enable rapid prototyping on the go. Researchers have demonstrated the first chip-based 3D printer, a tiny device that emits reconfigurable beams of visible light into a well of resin that rapidly cures into a solid shape. The advance could enable a 3D printer small enough to fit in the palm of a person’s hand.

Imagine a portable 3D printer you could hold in the palm of your hand...

Researchers at the University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science have figured out how to take a miracle material, one capable of extracting value from captured carbon dioxide, and do what no one else has: make it practical to fabricate for large-scale application.

The breakthrough from chemical engineering assistant professor Gaurav “Gino” Giri’s lab group has implications for the cleanup of the greenhouse gas, a major contributor to the climate change dilemma...