Category Chemistry/Nanotechnology

Aluminium plates which have only been sandblasted (in the background of the picture) cannot be glued successfully. The two glued plates separate again at the interface between glue and metal – this can be seen by the fact that there is no white glue residue visible on one of the two plates. The aluminium plates in the foreground of the picture were treated with the etching process “nanoscale-sculpturing” before being glued. These plates could also be separated. But the white glue particles left on both plates demonstrate that the bond between metal and glue is not broken, but rather the glue itself. Credit: Photo/Copyright: Julia Siekmann / Kiel University

A bubble-wrapped, sponge-like device that soaks up natural sunlight and heats water to boiling temperatures, generating steam through its pores. Credit: George Ni at MIT

The UW–Madison engineers use a solution process to deposit aligned arrays of carbon nanotubes onto 1 inch by 1 inch substrates. The researchers used their scalable and rapid deposition process to coat the entire surface of this substrate with aligned carbon nanotubes in less than 5 minutes. The team’s breakthrough could pave the way for carbon nanotube transistors to replace silicon transistors, and is particularly promising for wireless communications technologies. STEPHANIE PRECOURT

A focused ion beam microscope image shows 3-D graphene layers welded together in a block. The material is biocompatible and its material properties meet the standards necessary for consideration as a bone implant, according to researchers at Rice University. Click the image for a larger version. Courtesy of the Ajayan Group