Category Technology/Electronics

Magnetic microbot capturing, dragging and releasing a live cell. Credit: Koohee Han and Dr. Wyatt Shields, provided by Prof. Orlin D. Velev, NC State University.

Researchers at North Carolina State University and Duke University have developed a way to assemble and pre-program tiny structures made from microscopic cubes – “microbot origami” – to change their shape when actuated by a magnetic field and then, using the magnetic energy from their environment, perform a variety of tasks – including capturing and transporting single cells.

The findings pave the way for microbots and micro-origami assemblies that can serve as cell characterization tools, fluid micromixers, and components of artificial muscles and soft biomimetic devices...

MIT researchers have developed a new design system that catalogues the physical properties of a huge number of tiny cube clusters. These clusters can then serve as building blocks for larger printable objects. Credit: Computational Fabrication Group at MIT

Designing the microstructure of printed objects. Today’s 3D printers have a resolution of 600 dots per inch, ie they could pack a billion tiny cubes of different materials into a volume that measures just 1.67 cubic inches. Such precise control of printed objects’ microstructure gives designers commensurate control of the objects’ physical properties – eg. density or strength, or the way they deform when subjected to stresses...

Carbon Nitride Aerogels for the Photoredox Conversion of Water. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2017; DOI: 10.1002/anie.201705926 © Wiley-VCH

Carbonitride aerogels mediate the photocatalytic conversion of water. Nanochemistry meets macrostructures: Chinese scientists report the synthesis of a macroscopic aerogel from carbonitride nanomaterials which is an excellent catalyst for the water-splitting reaction under visible-light irradiation. The study published in the journal Angewandte Chemie adds new opportunities to the material properties of melamine-derived carbonitrides.

Melamine can be polymerized with formaldehyde to give a highly durable and light resin, but it can also condensed to form nanostructures of carbonitride materials...

A sample of heat – conducting polymer is tested for thickness in U-M’s Lurie Nanofabrication Facility. Image credit: Joseph Xu, Michigan Engineering

Advanced plastics could usher in lighter, cheaper, more energy-efficient product components, including those used in vehicles, LEDs and computers – if only they were better at dissipating heat. A new technique that can change plastic’s molecular structure to help it cast off heat is a promising step in that direction. Developed by a team of University of Michigan researchers in materials science and mechanical engineering and detailed in a new study published in Science Advances, the process is inexpensive and scalable.

The concept can likely be adapted to a variety of other plastics...