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    Category Chemistry/Nanotechnology

    In Great Shape: Metamaterial is World’s 1st to Achieve Performance predicted by Theoretical Bounds

    February 22, 2017, Categories  Technology/Electronics, Chemistry/Nanotechnology

    The Isomax cell configuration. Credit: UCSB Engineering

    The Isomax cell configuration. Credit: UCSB Engineering

    Mechanical engineer and materials scientist Jonathan Berger, UCSB Prof. Robert McMeeking and materials scientist Haydn N. G. Wadley from the University of Virginia, prove that the 3D pyramid-and-cross cell geometry Berger conceived is the first of its kind to achieve the performance predicted by theoretical bounds. Its lightness, strength and versatility, according to Berger, lends itself well to a variety of applications, from buildings to vehicles to packaging and transport.

    Called Isomaxâ„¢, the beauty of this solid foam – in this case loosely defined as a combination of a stiff substance and air pockets – lay in the geometry within...

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    Waste Silicon Sawdust Recycled into Anode for Lithium-ion battery

    February 22, 2017, Categories  Technology/Electronics, Chemistry/Nanotechnology, Environment/Geology

    Production process from silicon sawdust to lithium battery anode.

    Production process from silicon sawdust to lithium battery anode.

    Researchers have created a high performance anode material for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) using waste silicon (Si) sawdust. It is energy-consuming and expensive to produce Si wafers with high purity (> 99.99%). On top of that, some 50% of Si is actually discarded as industrial waste in the final cutting process. This waste is about 90,000 tons a year worldwide, an amount large enough to meet the global demands for anode materials for LIBs.

    To make this happen, under the project of “Dynamic Alliance for Open Innovation Bridging Human, Environment and Materials,” a joint research team from Tohoku University and Osaka University has developed a practical and mass-producible method of recycling the unwanted Si sawdust into a h...

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    Experiments Call Origin of Earth’s Iron into Question

    February 22, 2017, Categories  Astronomy/Space, Chemistry/Nanotechnology, Environment/Geology

    An infographic describing three theories on how the Earth got its iron signature.Designed by Laura Martin/The University of Texas at Austin Jackson School of Geosciences. Images 1 and 2 from NASA/JPL-Caltech, Image 3 from X-Science, Earth from NASA/JPL.

    An infographic describing three theories on how the Earth got its iron signature.Designed by Laura Martin/The University of Texas at Austin Jackson School of Geosciences. Images 1 and 2 from NASA/JPL-Caltech, Image 3 from X-Science, Earth from NASA/JPL.

    New research from The University of Texas at Austin reveals that the Earth’s unique iron composition isn’t linked to the formation of the planet’s core, calling into question a prevailing theory about the events that shaped our planet during its earliest years.The research, opens the door for other competing theories about why the Earth, relative to other planets, has higher levels of heavy iron isotopes...

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    Scalable 100% yield production of Conductive Graphene Inks

    February 21, 2017, Categories  Technology/Electronics, Chemistry/Nanotechnology

    We report the exfoliation of graphite in aqueous solutions under high shear rate [∼ 108 s–1] turbulent flow conditions, with a 100% exfoliation yield. The material is stabilized without centrifugation at concentrations up to 100 g/L using carboxymethylcellulose sodium salt to formulate conductive printable inks. The sheet resistance of blade coated films is below ∼2Ω/□. This is a simple and scalable production route for conductive inks for large-area printing in flexible electronics.

    We report the exfoliation of graphite in aqueous solutions under high shear rate [∼ 108 s–1] turbulent flow conditions, with a 100% exfoliation yield. The material is stabilized without centrifugation at concentrations up to 100 g/L using carboxymethylcellulose sodium salt to formulate conductive printable inks. The sheet resistance of blade coated films is below ∼2Ω/□. This is a simple and scalable production route for conductive inks for large-area printing in flexible electronics.

    Conductive inks are useful for a range of applications, including printed and flexible electronics such as radio frequency identification (RFID) antennas, transistors or photovoltaic cells...

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