Category Physics

University of Delaware researchers have developed a self-healing membrane for fuel cells. Credit: Kathy F. Atkinson, University of Delaware

Self-healing membrane for hydrogen fuel cells have been developed by scientists. The membrane is typically made from a polymer called Nafion®. During fuel cell operation, it undergoes chemical and mechanical degradation, leading to cracks and pinholes that shorten its life. To address this issue, three members of the University of Delaware’s Department of Mechanical Engineering, Ajay Prasad, Liang Wang and Suresh Advani, have developed a membrane incorporating microcapsules prefilled with a Nafion® solution.

“The microcapsules are designed to rupture when they encounter defects in the membrane and then release the prefilled Nafion® solution to heal t...

Ying Zhang et al. High-capacity, low-tortuosity, and channel-guided lithium metal anode, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2017). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1618871114 Credit: University of Maryland

Inspired by the structure of wood, engineers at the University of Maryland have used modified wood as a unique architecture for the negative electrode of a lithium (Li) metal battery, seeking to prevent some of the key factors that lead to battery failure. Li-ion shuttling in rechargeable batteries provides energy to power your phone, laptop, or even just a light bulb. When the battery is charged, the negative electrode: Li metal expands; and when it is discharged, the Li metal deflates...

Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a technique that uses light to get flat, plastic sheets to curve into shapes such as spheres, tubes or bowls. Credit: Amber Hubbard

Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a technique that uses light to get two-dimensional plastic sheets to curve into three-dimensional (3D) structures. The advance builds on earlier work by the same team, which focused on self-folding 3D structures. The key advance here is that rather than having the plastic fold along sharp lines – into polygonal shapes such as cubes or pyramids – the plastics bend and curve.

Researchers Michael Dickey and Prof. Jan Genzer f NC State, were early leaders in the field of self-folding 3D structures...

Portals can allow the exploration of the dark sector with the Standard Model particles Portals mix or connect the dark sector particles with the Standard Model particles. Through the portals it is possible to explore the dark sector particles using the Standard Model particles. The portals play a basic and critical role in the study of the dark sector particles both theoretically and experimentally. Credit: Image courtesy of Institute for Basic Science

Once upon a time, the Universe was just a hot soup of particles. In those days, together with visible particles, other particles to us hidden or dark might have formed. Billions of years later scientists catalogued 17 types of visible particles, with the most recent one being the Higgs boson, creating the ‘Standard Model’...