Posts by Lisa McDonald
How effective is that mask? Depends on what materials it is made of
There is no shortage of options available when shopping for nonmedical face masks, yet most provide little information about their filter efficiency and breathability—important considerations for a mask that is both efficient and comfortable. But a recent study offers more complete data on the performance of an array of common materials.
Read MoreCeramic and glass business news of the week for July 20, 2020
Europe’s largest floating PV park gets local owners, sole U.S. rare earth miner goes public, and more ceramic and glass business news of the week for July 20, 2020.
Read MorePursuing a cobalt-free future: Nickel-manganese-aluminum cathodes for lithium-ion batteries
Many electric vehicles today use lithium-ion batteries that contain cobalt, an element with high ethical and environmental costs to its production. Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin explored the potential of a cobalt-free lithium-ion battery that features a nickel-manganese-aluminum cathode and found promising results.
Read MoreData-driven approaches to materials challenges, plus more inside August 2020 ACerS Bulletin
The August 2020 issue of the ACerS Bulletin—featuring data-driven methods to augment experimental methods—is now available online. Plus—USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries
Read MoreVideo: Forever eliminate ‘forever’ chemicals—boron nitride destroys PFOA, GenX
PFAS chemicals are notoriously difficult to destroy, giving them the moniker “forever” chemicals. But researchers at Rice University were recently surprised to discover that boron nitride serves as an efficient photocatalyst for degrading PFAS chemicals.
Read MoreOther materials stories that may be of interest
Strategies for recycling solar panels, vulnerabilities in 3D-printed carbon-fiber composites, and other materials stories that may be of interest for July 15, 2020.
Read MoreIsolating a better option—ceramic Faraday rotators improve optical isolator performance
Optical isolators traditionally use single crystals to polarize light—could transparent ceramics be used instead? Researchers in Japan created high-performing transparent ceramics using lanthanide rare-earth oxides, materials previously believed to not be suited for optical applications.
Read MoreCeramic and glass business news of the week for July 13, 2020
Guardian Glass launches Glass Technical Library, 9T Labs and Setforge to bring carbon fiber composite additive manufacturing to series production, and more ceramic and glass business news of the week for July 13, 2020.
Read MoreFaster is not always easier—grain boundary diffusion of cations in fluorite and perovskite oxides
Fast grain boundary diffusion of cations is a well understood phenomenon in metals—but much less is known about this phenomenon in oxygen-ion conducting metal oxides. Researchers at RWTH Aachen University simulated this diffusion and found that although metal ions move faster along the boundaries than in bulk, the process is not necessarily less energy intensive.
Read MoreVideo: Rising e-waste and a deficit of recycling
In 2017, a report on global e-waste predicted the amount of e-waste would increase to 52.2 million metric tonnes by 2021—but we already passed 53 million metric tonnes in 2019 alone, according to a new report released this month. Learn more about why e-waste amounts are surging, why current recycling systems are not keeping up, and what can be done to combat the problem.
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