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[Images above] Credit: NIST

NANOMATERIALS

Hybrid nanomaterials bristle with potential

Researchers have developed a controlled method for making triple-layered hollow nanostructures. The structures consist of a conductive organic core sandwiched between layers of electrocatalytically active metals. Potential uses range from better battery electrodes to renewable fuel production.

Novel sensors could enable smarter textiles

A team of engineers is developing next-generation smart textiles by creating flexible carbon nanotube composite coatings on a wide range of fibers, including cotton, nylon, and wool. Fabric coated with this sensing technology could be used in future “smart garments.”

Color effects from transparent 3-D printed nanostructures

Computer scientists from the Institute of Science and Technology Austria and the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology have created a computational tool that automatically creates 3-D-print templates for nanostructures that correspond to user-defined colors.

ENERGY

Battery breakthrough: Doubling performance with lithium metal that doesn’t catch fire

A rechargeable battery technology developed at the University of Michigan could double the output of today’s lithium-ion cells—drastically extending electric vehicle ranges and time between cell phone charges—without taking up any added space.

OTHER STORIES

‘Building up’ stretchable electronics to be as multipurpose as your smartphone

By stacking and connecting layers of stretchable circuits on top of one another, engineers have developed an approach to build soft, pliable 3-D stretchable electronics that can pack a lot of functions while staying thin and small in size.

New soft bioelectronic mesh tested on human wrist and pulsating pig’s heart

A research team at the Center for Nanoparticle Research, within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS), has succeeded in developing a wearable and implantable device, that measures electrophysiological signals and applies electrical and thermal stimulations.

Smart clothes with electrodes

Researchers have developed tiny fibers made of elastomer and can incorporate materials like electrodes and nanocomposite polymers— perfect for applications in smart clothing and prostheses, and for creating artificial nerves for robots.

Introducing the latest in textiles: Soft hardware

Researchers have embedded high-speed optoelectronic semiconductor devices, including light-emitting diodes and diode photodetectors, within fibers that were then woven at Inman Mills, in South Carolina, into soft, washable fabrics and made into communication systems.

These tags turn everyday objects into smart, connected devices

Engineers have developed printable metal tags that could be attached to everyday objects and turn them into “smart” Internet of Things devices. The metal tags are made from patterns of copper foil printed onto thin, flexible, paper-like substrates and reflect WiFi signals.

Twisted electronics open the door to tunable 2-D materials

Columbia University researchers report a major advance that may revolutionize the electronics field, a “twistronic” device whose characteristics can be varied by simply varying the angle between two different 2-D layers placed on top of one another.

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