Nanomaterials

Imaging the electrochemical reaction in solid oxide fuel cells

By Eileen De Guire / August 25, 2011

Electrochemical strain microscopy images ion mobility. The overlay shows electrochemical activity of platinum nanoparticles on a yttria-stabilized zirconia surface, showing ionic activity along the triple phase boundaries. Credit: ORNL My…

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Table-top particle accelerators & long-lived data storage from nanostructured glass

By / August 19, 2011

Optical vortex generated using a radial polarization converter. Credit: Altechna; Kazansky et al., University of Southampton. Back in May, University of Southampton researchers published a short paper in Applied Physics Letters…

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Fujitsu demonstrates computational design of carbon nanotube and graphene nanodevice

By Eileen De Guire / August 17, 2011

Carbon nanotube and graphene electrode nanodevice. The electrical properties of a 1,000 atom nanodevice were calculated using first-principles computation methods. Credit: Fujitsu Laboratories press release. A key tenet of the…

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Ceramics and glass business news of the week

By / August 9, 2011

Here’s what we’re hearing: Corning prepares to again produce missile nosecones They called them Falcon, Hawk, Tartar, Sidewinder, Sparrow and Svenska. They were missiles that used one of Corning Inc.’s…

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Defense agency soliciting proposals for materials research for countering WMDs

By / August 9, 2011

Credit: DTRA. We received the following from the DOD Basic and Applied Sciences Directorate, Defense Threat Reduction Agency: DTRA’s mission is to safeguard America and its allies from Weapons of Mass…

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Video of the week: Rice University demos technique to ‘write’ supercapacitors on sheets of graphite oxide

By / August 9, 2011

A team led by Rice University professor Pulickel Ajayan has been experimenting with the property of graphite oxide to act as an ionic conductor when hydrated. One of the “tricks” they…

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Materials stories that may also be of interest

By / August 5, 2011

Check ’em out: Low-cost system spots failing bridges; new sensor technology helps make bridges safer Rice University researchers ‘armchair’ nanotubes could improve power grid’s efficiency Russia offers Germany help on…

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Materials stories that may also be of interest

By / July 29, 2011

Sun-free photovoltaics: Silicon chip micro-reactors contain photonic crystals on both flat faces, with external tubes for injecting fuel and air and ejecting waste products. In use, these reactors would have…

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The energy race: Increasing energy density in lithium-air batteries

By Eileen De Guire / July 28, 2011

Depiction of the essential functioning of the lithium-air battery. Ions of Li combine with oxygen from the air to form particles of Li oxides, which attach themselves to carbon fibers…

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Cements division announces officers, fellows, Brunauer Award and posters winner

By / July 26, 2011

Above, Vanderbilt’s Catherine Gay presented the talk “Dispersion of CNFs in Cement Composites” at the recent 2nd Advances in Cement-based Materials meeting organized by ACerS Cements Division and ACBM. Credit:…

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